This framework will teach you how to:
- analyze your workflows to find areas for improvement
- create and record improvements as standards
- implement systems that work best for you
Workflows
All work can be described in terms of workflows. You start with input, you perform a series of actions, and you end up with output. It’s all about getting from A to B.
Input
Input includes anything and everything used in a workflow: physical objects, digital files, environmental conditions, information, or ideas.
Actions
Actions are required to produce output. They may be sequential or concurrent and can be described at any level of detail.
Output
Output includes anything and everything produced by a workflow: physical objects, digital files, environmental conditions, information, or ideas.
Each action has a cost required to complete it. All of the actions in a workflow produce output that has some amount of value.
Cost
Time, effort, money, or other resources all contribute to cost. Some actions have physical or emotional costs that are difficult to quantify due to their longer-term effects but should not be discounted.
Value
Output value is determined by the receiver. It may be used as input to another workflow or have functional, financial, or even emotional value to an external entity.
Areas for Improvement
When analyzing workflows you may find actions associated with negative emotions like frustration, boredom, or stress. You may also discover workflows with higher cost or lower output value than expected. All of these are potential areas for improvement. Changes to these areas can be designed to reduce cost, increase output value, or sometimes both. Actions can be added, removed, altered, or rearranged to accomplish this, but both cost and value need to be evaluated to determine whether a change is really an improvement.
Example:
Imagine a baker is mixing a bowl of cake batter, and I ask them to write down their workflow. They say they’re very busy but quickly scribble this down:
Input:
- Someone asks for a cake
Actions:
- Make cake
Output:
- Cake
For them, making a cake is a simple process so they don’t need to think about it. In response, I ask them how they feel about their work. Have there ever been situations in which they felt frustrated, bored, stressed, or somehow unsatisfied? They admit that although they enjoy their work, there are some elements that they’re less happy about.
Once the cake is in the oven we sit down to sketch out their workflow in detail:
Input:
- Order sheet containing
- Customer’s name
- Type of cake they would like
- Message to go on cake
- Clean kitchen with stocked pantry
- Cake box
Actions:
- Get ingredients from pantry
- Mix batter
- Turn on oven
- Bake cake in oven
- Create icing and toppings
- Take cake out of oven
- Add icing and toppings to cake
- Put cake in box and write customer’s name on it
Output:
- Cake in box with customer’s name on it
- Dirty kitchen and under-stocked pantry
We talk about the actions, how they relate to each other, their cost (time, effort, money, etc.), and how they ultimately affect the value of the output. We also discuss related workflows for receiving orders, cleaning the kitchen, shopping for ingredients, and making the final delivery. As we go through the workflows we pay special attention to any areas associated with negative emotions.
By the time the oven dings, we not only have a better understanding of the baker’s workflows, we’ve found a few ways to improve them.
| Stressed that you can’t start baking until the work area is clean | Lower cost of time spent cleaning the work area at the start |
| Frustrated that ingredients are hard to find in the cupboards | Lower cost of frustration and time spent looking for missing ingredients |
| Disappointed when the mixer is left alone too long and cakes are over-mixed | Increase value of output by ensuring cakes are properly mixed |
| Bored when the oven is heating up | Lower cost of wasted time waiting for the oven to heat |
| Worried about spending too much on flour | Lower cost of buying flour |
| Unsatisfied with the generic designs of the cakes | Increase value by producing more unique cakes |
- Negative Emotion / Area for Improvement
- Improvement Goal
| Negative Emotion / Area for Improvement | Improvement Goal |
|---|---|
| Stressed that you can’t start baking until the work area is clean | Lower cost of time spent cleaning the work area at the start |
| Frustrated that ingredients are hard to find in the cupboards | Lower cost of frustration and time spent looking for missing ingredients |
| Disappointed when the mixer is left alone too long and cakes are over-mixed | Increase value of output by ensuring cakes are properly mixed |
| Bored when the oven is heating up | Lower cost of wasted time waiting for the oven to heat |
| Worried about spending too much on flour | Lower cost of buying flour |
| Unsatisfied with the generic designs of the cakes | Increase value by producing more unique cakes |
While icing the cake the baker asks how they’re going to make all these changes. I say not to worry, they just need to create a few standards.
Standards
When you find a better way to do something, from a single action to an entire workflow, write it down as a standard. Standards are a way of capturing improvements so they can be used again in the future. If you keep them together in a single location, they will always be easy to find when you need them. They can function as rules, but they’re not set in stone. Just like workflows, standards can always be improved.
With Standards You Can:
- Easily reference information about your workflows (no need to remember everything)
- Start with the right input
- Produce consistent output
- Ensure you’re using your most effective actions every time
- Build on past improvements
- Collaborate with your team to share knowledge
Initial Costs:
- Research and Development
Ongoing Costs:
- Maintenance (a small cost to maintain the standards collection)
Building a Habit
Habits take time and effort to form and can be hard to change. Changing a workflow, even for the better, can be difficult because it means changing a habit. Standards act as a reminder to help you learn these changes. If you build a habit to check your standards before using a new workflow, it’s the only habit you’ll need to maintain.
When to Use Standards
Standards are a powerful tool, but using them limits how you do your work. They’re ideal for repetitive, less creative workflows, but this doesn’t mean that creative workers should ignore them. Digital artists need to save their files, and even painters wash their brushes. Using standards for these kinds of workflows can free up time and energy for more interesting work. Even creative work can benefit from the constraints of standards. Imagine how an orchestra would sound if no one agreed on a key, a tempo, or the frequency of B-flat?
Systems
Systems are the tools and infrastructure you use to support your work. They could be anything from templates and software to meeting rooms and coffee machines. Systems can assist you when performing actions or automate entire workflows.
With Systems You Can:
- Decrease the cost of actions
- Automate actions and workflows
- Ensure the use of standards
- Increase output value
- Create new kinds of output
- Build a platform for further improvements
Initial Costs:
- Research and development
- Implementation
- Training
Ongoing Costs:
- Usage
- Maintenance
Building on Standards
Systems operate within a set of standards. They can only be used to improve actions or workflows that follow these standards. If your system is a screwdriver, you can’t expect it to work on a nail. This may seem like a limitation, but enforcing standards is partially why systems are so powerful. Even without automation a system will still ensure you follow improved standard workflows and get all of their benefits. Before implementing a system you should consider if the standards it supports are right for you.
When to Use Systems
Systems can be incredibly powerful, but they are often more costly to implement than standards. There are ongoing costs to use and maintain them, and if they don’t work out, there may be more costs to remove them. There is also a risk that even with careful maintenance, they might break down and halt work. When considering a system, the benefits will need to outweigh all initial and ongoing costs.
Example:
Standards and Systems
After spending a bit more time out of the kitchen, the baker and I have a few ideas on how to improve their workflows. The standards will be easier to implement, but the systems could be more effective. All the options are there, so the baker only needs to decide how much time and money to invest.
| Improvement Goal | Standard | System |
|---|---|---|
| Lower cost of time spent cleaning the work area at the start | Clean work areas when finished | Set up a cleaning cupboard nearby and keep it stocked with supplies |
| Lower cost of frustration and time spent looking for missing ingredients | Put ingredients back where you found them as soon as you’re done | Organize the shelves and label locations so ingredients are easier to find |
| Increase value of output by ensuring cakes are properly mixed | Don’t leave a mixer while it’s on | Move the mixer to a location with more counter-space so other work can be done close-by |
| Lower cost of wasted time waiting for the oven to heat | Edit Turn the oven on before mixing ingredients to give it time to heat | A new oven that heats up faster |
| Lower cost of buying flour | Buy flour in bulk from Dan’s Discount Baking Supplies | Arrange a regular delivery of flour from Dan’s Discount Baking Supplies |
| Increase value by producing more unique cakes | Do a design consultation with the client and take notes on the order form | Create a catalogue of previous cake designs that can be used as a reference during a design consultation |
- Improvement Goal
- Standard
- System
| Improvement Goal | Standard | System |
|---|---|---|
| Lower cost of time spent cleaning the work area at the start | Clean work areas when finished | Set up a cleaning cupboard nearby and keep it stocked with supplies |
| Lower cost of frustration and time spent looking for missing ingredients | Put ingredients back where you found them as soon as you’re done | Organize the shelves and label locations so ingredients are easier to find |
| Increase value of output by ensuring cakes are properly mixed | Don’t leave a mixer while it’s on | Move the mixer to a location with more counter space so other work can be done close by |
| Lower cost of wasted time waiting for the oven to heat | Turn the oven on before mixing ingredients to give it time to heat | A new oven that heats up faster |
| Lower cost of buying flour | Buy flour in bulk from Dan’s Discount Baking Supplies | Arrange a regular delivery of flour from Dan’s Discount Baking Supplies |
| Increase value by producing more unique cakes | Do a design consultation with the client and take notes on the order form | Create a catalogue of previous cake designs that can be used as a reference during a design consultation |
A Better Way To Do
To improve your work, you need to spend time away from your work. Analyze your workflows to find the most effective areas to improve. Look for ways to reduce cost and increase output value. Write down improvements as standards and find systems to support them. By using standards and systems, you ensure that your improvements are not just a one-off solution.
The Framework itself is a standard workflow for finding a better way to do. You can use it to make improvements now, but what about in the future? Will you find time to step away from your work again? What you need is a system to support this standard and ensure you continue to find a better way to do. You need to build a system for continuous improvement.
- Ryan Lintott
- 2019-01-31
Share this page:
Continuous Improvement
Build a system for continuous improvement so you will always find a better way to do.