Sustaining Project Gains

The Experience stage closes the loop, so that a continuous cycle of performance improvement evolves. The whole process needs to feel good, and your staff needs to feel good about it too. You can bring this about in three ways:

Communication

It is really important that your staff know what is going on right from the start. Staff buy-in is critical to the success of the project. They also need to be aware of the end result you are expecting from the project.

During the project, communication is even more important. Milestones will be identified jointly, and progress towards those milestones needs to be communicated. Initial ROI benefits need to be shared also, so those involved in the actual process improvement project – and even those not so involved – can see that results are coming, especially if they have been achieved ahead of time and under-budget. This is crucial for Sustaining Project Gains.

Celebration

Achievement of milestones needs to be celebrated, with public congratulations to those who have contributed to the achievement of the milestones. It’s time to party! The importance of recognizing and celebrating achievement can have really positive impact on what is to follow in the project. It is a strong motivating factor.

Staff Feedback

It is critical to stay in touch with your staff through the project to confirm that the benefits to the customer, for example, are also being felt by the staff. One of the common features of process improvement projects is the removal of process bottlenecks. The removal of a bottleneck should result in increased staff satisfaction – the staff can perform more effectively – and this should make them feel better. Checking staff feedback regularly will confirm this, and is also the basis for the positive results that give reason for celebration.

Our key role in the Experience stage is providing the transition tools so you can take over the ongoing task of ensuring that your organization sustains peak performance.

Sustaining Project Gains

Communication

Celebration

Staff Feedback

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