Maximizing Competitive Position and Improvements Using Standards
Compliance to a standard, voluntary or mandated, does not mean that all of your business problems will be solved. It can be, in fact, only the tip of the iceberg. Real improvements for a business’ competitive position depends to what degree the organization has made compliance part of the overall culture of continuous improvement.
Below are ten useful tips on how to make standards work in your business as a catalyst for improvement.
- Think of standards strategically.
Its a common wisdom to lead and adopt standards before it is mandated or imposed either by customers or regulators. Plan adequately and pursue aggressively targeted standards which make business sense and open up a window for new market development and competitive advantage. - Use standards as benchmarks to establish where you are.
By becoming more consistent regarding processes and outputs, your organization will be in a better position to evaluate exactly what processes need improving. Without consistent outputs, improvement efforts can merely amount to wasted shots at a moving target. - Participate in the development of standards in your industry.
Get involved with key organizations, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Smart leadership understands that gaining a true competitive advantage requires more than being able to comply with the latest imposed standard. True gains are achieved by proactive involvement in setting the standards in the industry, and taking a lead role. - Foster standardization environment within your business operation.
Look at new product development in light of existing standards and in terms of where standards do not currently exist. Encourage your organization’s creativity and strive to establish standards within your industry, not merely to comply to them. Lead organization’s effort to standardize and institute best processes and practices and set higher standards off performance. - Foster standardization environment within your business operation.
Look at new product development in light of existing standards and in terms of where standards do not currently exist. Encourage your organization’s creativity and strive to establish standards within your industry, not merely to comply to them. Lead organization’s effort to standardize and institute best processes and practices and set higher standards off performance. - Market your organization’s development or compliance to standards.
Leverage the third party certifications to maximize your position in the marketplace. Compliance to standards, whether they happen to be voluntary or mandatory, increase customer or purchaser’s confidence in your products and services. - Make sure that the task of getting certified to a standard results in tangible performance improvements.
Use your time preparing your business for compliance to standards to identify those activities that are not adding value and eliminate them. Look at each standard as an opportunity for growth and development within your company. Documenting activities and processes provides an opportunity to isolate ad hoc activities which may not be necessary. For example, are there any activities which are still being done despite recent implementation of new technology, possibly out of habit? Perhaps there is a training issue which needs addressing. Eliminate wasted time and resources. - Listen to customers and operating processes.
Your customers can tell you what each of the features of a product or service means to them. Be sure that what you have to offer, or any improvements or changes proposed to a product, add value to your customer. Follow the business processes to make sure they are synchronized and tracked and are in conformance to standards, Let compliance to standards be a part of this feedback loop and the conscience to your continuous improvement journey. - Encourage open communication and discussion regarding the implementation of new standards.
Let all team members understand what adherence to the new standards means to them. Involve those who represent a cross section of the organization, since changes in any one area can have ramifications in other areas of the organization. Let employees feel that they are in charge of finding better ways of meeting the goal of compliance to or development of standards, instead of that the standards are being imposed on them. - Build and foster an environment of continuos improvement.
Make sure the entire organization views the achievement of compliance to a standard as a beginning point to continuos improvement, and not as an end in itself. It may take more effort to support continuing compliance to standards than it did to meet the initial compliance goal. Make sure that the focus remains supported even after the initial work is done. Encourage the continuation of the documentation and examination activities which led to compliance initially. Monitor trends in the industry which could break ground for new standards. Will your company be in a position to comply with standards that might emerge from significant new trend.