Building Stronger Teams and Improving Process Performance with the Break a Record (BaR) Concept
Breaking a record is an exciting experience, and it's even more exciting when done as a group. That is the essence of the Break a Record (BaR) Concept, in which a group of motivated individuals come together to push the boundaries of what they are capable of accomplishing.
The journey starts with the Challenge phase, in which the BaR Owner identifies a process and metric that needs to be improved. It could be anything from shortening the time it takes to respond to customer inquiries to increasing output. Once the goal has been established, a cross-functional team is formed, and a BaR Leader is appointed to guide the group to success.
One such team was led by Sarah, an operations manager who had a passion for process improvement. She had noticed that there were delays in the shipping department due to a bottleneck in the packing process. Sarah decided, after consulting with her team, that this was an excellent opportunity to implement the BaR concept and improve packing time.
Packing associates, quality assurance experts, and shipping coordinators were all excited to take on the challenge. They set a goal of packing and shipping 100 orders in one hour, a 20% improvement over their current performance and 10% better than their best performance. The team was confident that by streamlining the packing process and eliminating unnecessary steps, they would be able to meet this goal.
With the goal in mind, the team got to work, brainstorming ideas and identifying potential roadblocks that could prevent them from reaching their objective. One of the major bottlenecks they identified was the placement of labels on the boxes, which took up valuable time. To address this issue, they decided to pre-print and pre-attach the labels to the boxes, cutting labelling time in half.
The team closely monitored their progress as they worked towards their goal, looking for any signs of deviation from their plan. Any problems were quickly resolved, and the team celebrated milestones along the way, such as packing and shipping 50 orders in 30 minutes.
The BaR Event had finally arrived, and the team was eager to put their plan into action. The team worked in unison as the clock ticked, each person performing their role with precision. The team felt adrenaline pumping through their veins as they packed and shipped order after order, knowing they were breaking their personal best.
Following the event, the team reflected on their experience and identified the winning moves that enabled them to reach their goal. They analysed data, gathered feedback, and shared best practices, which were then implemented in the packing process.
The BaR Event's success had a long-term impact on the team's morale and engagement. They were proud of their accomplishment, knowing that they had worked together to accomplish something great. The challenge had brought them closer together, forming a bond that would last long after the event. The team has also raised the standard and now they are packing 90 orders per hour day-in day-out.?
Finally, the BaR Concept helped Sarah and the team to drive process improvements,? team building, and provide a sense of accomplishment and pride that inspired the team to break a record.