Chamber Operational Excellence
Transcript of Chamber Operational Excellence
Published: March 20, 1921
Copyright © The New York Times
A Rich Heritage…
“OUR TASK NOW IS NOT TO
FIX THE BLAME FOR THE
PAST, BUT TO FIX THE
COURSE FOR THE FUTURE.”
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Today’s Opportunity!
Today’s Goals
• Define Operational Excellence
• Identify basic assumptions about
Operational Excellence.
• Use real-life lessons learned to ensure
successful implementation of
Operational Excellence
Operational Excellence (OpX)
• Outwardly focused on being flexible to
meet stakeholder demand
• Inwardly focused on reducing/
eliminating the waste and cost in all
processes
• Efficient use of time and resourcesGoals
Highest Quality, Lowest Cost, Shortest Time, Maximum Flexibility
Efficiency = Time and
Resources
• The extent to which time is well used
for the intended task.
– The efficiency of the planning department
is deplorable.
• The extent to which a resource, such
as electricity, is used for the intended
purpose.
– The efficiency of this light bulb is 40%.
TIME IS MONEY!
Basic Assumptions
• Operational Excellence requires a
“willing suspension of disbelief”
• Everything can be improved
• The benefit of improving something may
not outweigh the pain/cost
• Operational Excellence does mean
imposing structure
Basic Assumptions
(continued)
• What is in your/your staff’s/a volunteer’s
“head” can’t be reliably duplicated
• Operational Excellence requires data
and intelligence not assumptions
• Trust is essential (approvals can waste
time and resources)
• The 80/20 rule is crucial to Operational
Excellence
Pareto Analysis
• The Law of Focus
– 20% of activities cause 80% of delays in a given process
– 20% of volunteers do 80% of the work
– 20% of events take 80% of staff time
– You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time
• Pareto Graphs can be done in
Excel
Focus on saving $
in the top 80%
“It’s not what you don’t know that
will hurt you. It’s what you know
that isn’t so that will do you in.”
Saitchel Paige
It’s all about
the Data!
Real Life Example –
West Coast Chamber
• Project at a Chamber of Commerce
• Membership sales team were all using different ways to communicate
• Team was “unqualifying” potential members in their head without calling
• No call tracking/goals existed
• New process = doubled new Membership sales
Organizational Sales
Leadership (OSL)
By comparing notes on prospects in the
community, you may find that there are
businesses that have never been asked to
join. Since building a focused new strategy
and process at this Chamber to increase
membership sales, the CEO says, “we have
discovered businesses right at our back door
that say they would love to join the Chamber,
but have never been asked to.”
Opportunities for Improvement
• Membership –
– Dues structure
– Sales
• Communication
– Printing
– Consolidation
– Production
• Events
– Focus
– Frequency
• Internal
Operations
– Expenses
– Contracts
– Processes
Get a Team Together
• Select a team of 5 – 7 people who know
your operation from different
perspectives
• Meet for 3 to 4 hours to discuss
opportunities for improvement
• Remind everyone of the Basic
Assumptions
• Challenge everyone to let go of the
“status quo”!
The Seven Areas of “Waste”
1. Waste of Overproduction – Preparing unneededreports, reports not read or acted on, multiplecopies in storage
2. Waste of Time (Idle) – Batch processing,i.e., monthly closings, weekly billing, monthlycollection reports
3. Waste in Transportation – Unneeded steps,document/data travel distance
4. Waste of Processing – Excessive sign-offs
5. Waste of Stock on Hand (Inventory) – Transactions waiting to be processed
6. Waste of Movement (Worker) – Unneeded data entry, extra steps
7. Waste of Making Defective Products – Incorrect data entry
Change Management
Remember the
Human Element
Change Management
• Consider all elements before committing
to changes
• Document the changes that are being
made
• Give the changes time to work!
• Celebrate successes
Remember…
…Sometimes you have to
step back to move
forward!!Mick Fleming, ACCE
Thank You!