If you are a Star Wars fan, you could call this "Creating balance in the 'work' force."
Finding ways to accommodate new and changing regulatory demands is a challenge for most organizations.
Very often I hear that operations is too busy to take on yet another process for their work force to follow.
Even when the compliance process is as streamlined as it can be, front line workers may not have the capacity to properly execute and manage, let alone make continuous improvements to a new process. When compliance is layered on top of an already busy work force how could it be otherwise?
One step that companies can take to create space is to simplify their existing processes before adding new ones.
An effective way to do that is to remove sources of waste from existing processes by:
eliminating unnecessary steps,
reducing delays in acquiring resources,
reducing unnecessary approvals, and
no longer collecting information that is not needed
By eliminating sources of waste you free up time for everyone to work on activities that are better aligned to the desired outcomes.
Plan-Do-Check-Act Questions:
What sources of waste do you see in the processes you use?
What steps can you take to reduce or eliminate these sources of waste?
What step can you take today to create space for compliance?
