7 ways to improve efficiency

(without sacrificing your soul)

Continuous Improvement is all about finding efficiency and creative businesses need to be efficient to be sustainable.

But many of the concepts in continuous improvement methodology can feel hostile, cold and miss the point of what being creative is all about. The creative process relies on collaboration, reflection and experimentation to produce great output; slow processes that loop back and forth, pursuing options that might not eventuate.

Having worked in both worlds, I’ve found that there is a happy medium (wink), where these tools, tweaked and tuned to the creative context, can be hugely valuable for focusing mental energy where it is used best - delivering efficiencies for those businesses that run on mental energy.

For example, Waste is a concept in Lean 6 Sigma which was coined to describe “any action or step in a process that does not add value to the customer.” It was invented to describe a factory context (Toyota to be specific) and describes all the steps that can be removed to improve efficiency.

I will read the ugly infographics, so you don’t have to.

In a creative context, waste can refer to anything that does not add value to the creative process (and therefore the customer/client). Reducing or removing these areas of waste, frees you up to be focusing on what matters most.

So here is my list of Waste for Creatives.

Defects

Any effort caused by rework, incorrect information or mistakes

Anything that needs to be redone. In the creative studio context, this isn’t client feedback rounds (that should be an expected part of the process). This is anything that is incorrect. Projects with errors will always come back to bite you - and interrupt other work you should be more focused on; when a client finds an error, it’s always urgent.

A defect doesn’t just need to be a mistake though, it can also be a defect in relation to your internal standards. For example, you’re building a website too quickly and the back end code is messy, this will cost you time down the track when you need to update anything.

How to fix it:

• set internal standards

• implement systems that reduce variation and errors

• Quality Assurance (QA) checks - watch out though, this can become another form of waste. Use QA checks to support a culture of ‘right first time’

Overproduction & Extra Processing

Producing more than what is required, earlier than it’s needed. Doing more work or higher quality work than what is required

This is an easy one to do in a creative context because you’re often looking to impress the client and do a great job (which is great!). But doing things that are outside the scope of what they signed up for will burn your budget.

Another example of overproduction is presenting too-high fidelity deliverables too early in the process - for example, you present a fully designed brand at the first stage, rather than using reference imagery or mood boards to get feedback on the direction first.

How to fix:

• Define and then manage scope closely

• Ensure your process starts broad and conceptual and then narrows down to a refined idea before committing the bulk of your project hours to execution

Waiting

Wasted time waiting for the next step in the process

The classic bottle neck, everyone is waiting for feedback from the client, twiddling their thumbs, then all of a sudden the feedback is in and they want the updates yesterday! That time spent waiting and then rushing can be disruptive and stressful.

Alternatively, you might have the same problem happening internally - everyone is waiting on the feedback from the creative director, but they are busy so projects are held up.

How to fix:

• Commitment to a cadence for creative feedback (eg. a daily/weekly time slot) and encourage the team to manage their deadline backwards from these available times.

• Be clear with clients about their expected turnaround time for feedback - and that the project timeline will push out if delayed.

• For junior staff that are still learning and need lots of check-ins, give feedback that will grow their capacity for autonomy.

Non-Utilised Talent

Not using peoples talents, skills or knowledge

Having the right people in the right positions is important for reducing waste. For example, if you’re working on a hospitality project but you’ve assigned someone who’s only ever worked in developments, they will take longer to get up to speed.

You’ll get a better result if you draw on people’s strengths and talents. While a challenge is necessary for growing new skills, long periods of working in a position that you never feel good at is very demoralising.

How to fix

• Use the right person for the right job

Bad Communication

Missed meanings, confusion, information overload or lack of information

If you’ve every received an unclear note, you already understand this one. If you’ve then felt anxious about clarifying that note with the person who wrote it, then you definitely understand.

Bad communication can go in any direction - if a leader gives unclear feedback, it can cause a lot of wasted time for a junior to work out what they mean (particularly if they don’t feel like they can ask). And vice versa, if other staff aren’t clear about what input they need by when, you’ll burn through the timelines.

The other area that is important is with clients - are your clients clear on what information they need to provide, how many feedback rounds they get and when they will receive each deliverable?

How to fix:

• Create a culture where people feel comfortable giving, receiving and clarifying feedback

• Create clear resources for clients to understand where they are at in the process and where they will end up

Motion

Unnecessary movements

This one comes from the factory context, where placing machines that are sequential in the process near each other will reduce the transport costs.

For the creative context, consider the physical space you operate in and whether it supports the outcomes you want. For example, are your developers in an open plan office where they are easily interrupted and are struggling to get deep focus time?

If you run a remote team, is your tech stack supporting the culture and behaviour you want to see? If emails feel too formal and official, do you need to introduce a chat platform? Consider how your software is supporting or inhibiting the behaviours you need to be successful.

How to fix

• Establish the behaviours you value

• Consider physical environment

• Consider your software

Once you get familiar with these types of waste, you’ll be able to recognise them and have a shared vocabulary for what is going on. From there, you’ll know how to start to fix them.

Creative studios need to be lean and operate efficiently to be successful - particularly in the current economic climate. This doesn’t mean be less creative! In fact it means the opposite, getting rid of all the tasks that are wasting your time so you can focus on the creative output.

Any types of waste you would add to the list? Let me know!