Unlocking Operational Excellence: Strategies for Small Teams

Last week, I delved into my journey from freelancer to entrepreneur, discussing the mindset shifts and adjustments needed in order to become a successful entrepreneur. This week, I want to explore Operational Excellence for small teams, drawing from my experience as a COO at Generation Success to make this concept more accessible.

Understanding Operational Excellence

Before delving into practices, understanding the concept is key. There are many professionals who may be familiar with Operational Excellence, and if you are one of them, I welcome your experiences in the comments. For those who are not familiar with it and want to know more and start using the concept - you would be happy to learn that this is not just a theoretical concept; it's a practical approach that focuses on optimizing processes, enhancing efficiency, and delivering exceptional value to customers.

For small teams, operational excellence is the cornerstone of sustainable success. In today's dynamic business landscape, small teams play a vital role in driving innovation, agility, and growth. However, navigating the challenges of limited resources, tight timelines, and evolving market demands can be daunting. This is where operational excellence becomes a game-changer.

To understand Operational Excellence, you need to understand it's key concepts. One of the main concepts is that you are a process stakeholder. Process stakeholders are people who are involved in a process, who have a stake in a process and who have impact on how well the process performs. For better understanding, I'll provide a brief breakdown of the key components of a process stakeholder: a processor, a supplier, and a customer.

Processors perform the work of transformation, converting inputs to outputs in one or more activities in a process. Suppliers provide inputs to the process of process activities and then there are customers who communicate their needs.

The reponsibilities of these people are the following:

1. Suppliers know customers critical needs and expectations
2. Processors know what’s important and what should be done well in the process
3. The customers are communicating their needs and expectations to the suppliers?

In Operational Excellence, every process stakeholder is a processor, supplier and a customer.

Why Operational Excellence Matters for Small Teams

The CEO of Generation Success, James Adeleke (FRSA) , is very fond of this concept and he was the one who introduced me to it. At the time, Gen Success had a small team and they were doing a lot of things manually. In order for me to help with the changes in the processes, I needed to become a processor, a supplier and a customer.

We chose the Success Seekers project as our initial focus for improvement. My first step was to evaluate it from a consumer's standpoint. Next, I collaborated with the main Project Manager, Natalia Vshivkova , to grasp the existing process and identify its challenges.

Gradually, I began enhancing the process and eventually completed the initial phase of automation for Success Seekers. During that period, we used Zoho as our primary tool.

We achieved a 30% reduction in manual work through this automation alone. Consequently, our team experienced improved efficiency, streamlined workflows, and lower operational costs.

This approach also helped with:

1. Quality: we started consistently delivering high-quality services which built customer trust and loyalty.
2. Innovation: optimized processes freed up time and resources for innovation and creative problem-solving. The Success Seekers team now had a time to solve other more important problems and not waste time on manual work.
3. Scalability: with this we layed the foundation for scalable growth, enabling the team to expand without compromising quality.

What Should Small Teams Focus On

On my experience, I believe small teams should focus on several key pillars of opperational excellence:

1. Process Optimization: Start to analyze and streamline workflows to remove bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Maybe you can't automate everything, but you definetely can create a process that is simple to follow and easy to use without wasting time, energy or resources.
2. Quality Management: Implement robust quality control measures to ensure consistent performance and customer satisfaction.
3. Continuous Improvement: Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement, encourage team members to identify and implement enhancements. You need to give time to the new process to see if it works well and after some time make sure to come back to it and see what works and what doesn't. Leave what works, and improve what doesn't work.
4. Data-Driven Decisions: Use data analytics to make informed decisions, identify trends, and optimize processes.
5. Employee Engagement: Engage and empower team members by involving them in decision-making and recognizing their contributions.

Implementing Operational Excellence in Small Teams

While the concept of operational excellence is clear, implementing it effectively requires a strategic approach:

1. Define Goals: Nothing can be done if you don't have SMART goals. Clearly define your objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success. Think of the following: what would success mean to you for that particular project? Would that be reduced time in manual work, would it be increasing audience or revenue? Would it be reducing churn rate? Once you define this, everything will be easier.
2. Assess Current State: Conduct a thorough assessment of your current processes, identifying areas for improvement. What I said earlier, when doing a change in a process, you need to be a processor, a supplier and a customer.
3. Develop Action Plans: Create actionable plans to address inefficiencies, leveraging technology, training, and best practices.
4. Empower Your Team: Involve team members in process improvement initiatives, providing training and resources to support their efforts.
5. Monitor and Adapt: Continuously monitor progress, gather feedback, and adapt strategies as needed to stay agile and responsive. Don't forget to create and improve Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). This will not only help your team, but it will help you later when you need to make improvements in the process.

Operational excellence is not a one-time achievement but a continuous journey of improvement and innovation. By embracing the principles of operational excellence, small teams can unlock their full potential, drive business success, and create a culture of excellence that fuels long-term growth and sustainability.

If you need assistance with process improvement or CRM automation and integration, let's connect for a free strategy call. Let's see how we can work together to free your time, get rid of your headackes and make your business run like an well oiled machine.