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The point of a quality improvement program should not only be to improve a
product or the delivery of healthcare but it should also be to save time and money by reducing or eliminating waste or errors. For example, a doctor or nurse practitioner writes a prescription. We wouldn’t deliver some of the best quality pills along with a few randomly chosen pills and we wouldn’t completely incorrectly fill the prescription. To do either could create serious consequences. Rather, we want to only deliver the best quality. But there is another side to not achieving the best quality. If we incorrectly fill the prescription, even if there is no patient harm, there
is waste. Once the error is found, the prescription must be refilled and paperwork redone. Wasted time and money for the healthcare provider!

Quality projects build processes that prevent errors and waste. In fact, the main goal
of lean healthcare is to eliminate waste in a structured approach. The Japanese use
the term kaisen event. They use this idea to eliminate waste in any environment,
whether manufacturing or service orientated.

Quality projects that I have done have always resulted in avoidance of waste and
thus a savings in time and cost. Almost all projects I have read about in journals
present the savings of cost and time. Hence, if you are involved in a quality project
you need to calculate the costs in time and money of accomplishing a process as it
currently exists and then do the same for the “quality improved” process. There
should be a substantial savings of both time and money. After all, time is money.

To make the required analysis I suggest that one of the project team members be
your cost accountant or chief financial officer. Doing so will improve the accuracy of
calculations of savings. Plus, you will impress upon one of the leaders of your
healthcare unit the importance of continuing quality projects. In fact, your project
team will probably be lauded for their achievement.

Finally, in totaling the costs of a project, don’t forget to factor in the costs of the
team in time and money. Count the costs of materials used, the pays of all involved
and the time spent by all on the project. If the project is well executed and planned,
you should realize a substantial cost/benefit ratio. That is, the costs of executing
the project should be a fraction of the realized savings. Calculating this ratio speaks
the language of upper management and directors and produces positive benefits,
such as the demand for more of such projects. You will be able to aptly demonstrate
that “Quality is Free.”

Overall, as demonstrated, quality improvement projects should not only deliver a
superior product but also should demonstrate the savings in time and money. Doing
so ensures the continuance of quality improvement at a site, which will produce
superior products with little waste.

Donald Bryant helps healthcare providers meet their challenges. If you liked
this article and want more free tips, visit
http://www.bryantsstatisticalconsulting.com for a free article to help you start
making improvements at your site immediately.

Many service businesses appear to be operating efficiently enough. But are they really, having been in the service business and worked along side the Manufacturing Sectors of many an industry, it is amazing the insight into true efficiency one can get.

For instance an interesting thought exercise is to study and apply the Finite Capacity Scheduling Models of manufacturing to a service business. I did this for my company and saw its many cross over uses in the Mobile Car Washing service sector. Routing is similar to routing of parts, scheduling is almost exactly the same as scheduling manufacturing runs of products to be made. Washing the actual car is a process. There is a right way, a wrong way and there is the most efficient way using the least amount of energy. We searched for it, found it, practiced it, refined it and then taught it. You can do this exercise to, pick any service company and try it.

What other human endeavors can learn from manufacturing? Well certainly processes of efficiency and perfection apply to other things such as Net-Centric Systems, delivery, sports, military, distribution, energy, medicine, government and even Space. It is all the same, name of the game is efficiency and no “Screw Ups” a bit like NASA, hard to have a “do over” when Murphy strikes? When trapped in linear time, you cannot reset the simulator in the current paradigm of the life experience, YET. Please be thinking here.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

1. More Variety - You will be able to offer your customers a larger variety of of products and services.

2. A bigger Sales Force - The number of sales people will increase when you form this alliance. You will spend less time on hiring new employees and still increase your sales force.

3. More Marketing Dollars - Your marketing and advertising budget will increase and both businesses will share the marketing and advertising costs. You will add products and services to your existing customer base.

4. Batch Products - You can increase your sales and profits by combining products with your strategic partners. Adding new products and services will help you increase your profits.

5. A bigger Work Force - Your business will gain a larger number of skilled professionals. This will help you grow your business faster.

6. Beat your Competition - You will be selling to a larger target
audience, thus beat your competition by selling more products and services. You will increase your existing customer base.

7. Add Credibility - You will exchange endorsements with your alliance partners thus adding credibility with your existing customers and potential new customers.

8. Faster Growth Path - You can expand your business at a faster pace. You will develop new products and services because of the larger sales force.

9. Problem Solving Partner - You will solve your customer’s problems faster with the larger base of customer service people. You will learn from your alliance partner how to improve your customer service.

10. A Think Tank - You will have a larger number of people to bounce ideas off of and have a sounding board to solve problems and gain new ideas to grow your business.

This article was written by Patricia Desiderio, founder and owner of Patty’s Gifts and Baskets LLC, a corporate gift consulting firm. Patricia writes articles for various organizations on business topics for small lbusinesses. Contact information at: http://www.pattysgiftsandbasketsrus.com

Take a few moments to consider this: if you could increase the performance of your staff by just 5%, what difference would this make to your company?

It is useful to remember that organisations are not successful, it is the people who work there that are successful. It is people that drive the business forwards, slow it down, or even put in into reverse! Dig into any organisational problem and you are likely to find people. Conflict, stress, misunderstanding, poor communication skills, resistance, low morale and low productivity all have their origins in people and relationship issues. The value of an organisation can be measured by the expertise of its staff and their ability to work together. Thus behind every success in business, is people. Invest in your people, and let them invest in the business.

Research indicates that a typical managers wastes 25% of his/her time to unwarranted conflict, misunderstanding and personality clashes, leading directly to a loss in team performance and productivity. Some 60% of performance issues in a team can be attributed to poor interpersonal skills - or soft skills. Proving that soft skills development is no soft option in today’s competitive world.

Organisations may be using state of the art information technology and yet managing people on outdated people principles which may lead to stifling energy and creativity, and in effect, wasting peoples motivation and valuable resources - possibly, without even realising.

The Winning Relationships programme is a highly practical mix of brief presentations, experiential learning, change, and empowerment. It is skills focused and will leave the participants with real understanding, proven techniques and appreciation of rewarding relationships. People are our working environment; and there is a direct correlation between managing relationships successfully and profit margin.

There can be reduced costs on traditional training as Winning Relationships aligns with and can replace some of the training around performance management and development, diversity, team building, leadership, customer service - internal & external, sales training, the people side of project management and 360 degree feedback.

The results you can expect on an individual level include self motivation, more openness to change, receptive to feedback and taking ownership for their issues, responsibilities and outcomes. Teams will develop a stronger sense of identity, an improved self-belief, greater trust and understanding (of self and others), increased openness and collaboration. The benefits to the individual, team and organization might be seen as faster and smoother operations, more flexibility, more reliability, less stress and cheaper costs through reduced absenteeism and staff turnover, a happier more productive workforce, increased sales and an improved bottom line.

What makes it so special? It works - and the results are sustained through an integrated programme ensuring consistency of message, models and values.

The emphasis is not on ‘management information’ to be digested but on transformational experiences that make a real difference that people can and will buy in to. The programme has a series of ongoing workshops, fun activities, simple follow-ups and measurement tools. Some of the tools and follow-up sessions can be run by you - the client - if you choose, thus developing a greater sense of ownership and lowering costs. Creating Winning Relationships is important at all - executive, management and operations - in all businesses across the globe. Where ever you find people, you find relationships. Making them Winning Relationships, making your company a Winning Company and a great place to work makes good people sense and therefore good business sense.

Being skilled in relationships is fundamental to business success and impacts directly on productivity, morale and the bottom line.

PJ Stevens is a trainer and motivational speaker based in the UK. Visit his website at http://www.leapplc.com

Clients who have already experienced his business development and teambuilding programmes include Siemens, Sony, PepsiCo Foods, Estee Lauder, BAE Systems, Jaguar Cars and Sun Microsystems. It has been operated in UK, USA, South Africa, Russia and Europe.

Have you created a formal business plan for the business, which clearly sets out the sales targets and profits that your business is going to achieve? I’m not talking about one of those business plans that people often create when starting a business, which is put on the shelf never to see the light of day again. I’m talking about a useful working document, which you have created to clearly map out where the business is going. One that shows the growth of the business over the coming months and years ahead and one that paints a picture of exactly how the business should look in terms of turnover, staffing numbers, premises, sales per sales person, and so on.

As it’s only by clearly laying out a business plan to this level of detail that you’ll be able to establish how far along your journey you are at any stage, and whether in fact you are on course or not.

If you are serious about business growth, and are looking for some guidance and support in putting your ideas into practice then maybe the Pti International Business Acceleration Programme is just what you are looking for.

The Business Acceleration Programme is a your six month step by step business growth programme resulting in More Profit - More Easily - More Often!

With your business, you need to put a clear stake in the ground of where you are today, as well as where you want to get to. Only once you have these points clearly fixed in your mind, and in the mind of your team are you able to create a workable and sustanable business growth strategy.

Written by Graham Nicoll, Business Development Director of Pti International is a renowned speaker and business growth consultant. Visit http://www.pti-worldwide.com or Graham’s Blog at http://graham-nicoll.blogspot.com/

MEETING DISRUPTERS: If two participants are carrying on a personal discussion that interferes with a meeting, direct a clear and simple question to one of them. In order to avoid embarrassing them, address them by name before asking the question. An alternative is to restate a previously expressed suggestion and then ask them for an opinion.

HECKLERS: A participant with a negative viewpoint can continually undermine the flow of a meeting with snide comments or emotional tirades. Don’t argue or chastise this person. Focusing attention on emotional barriers, such as a heckler, deflects responsibility away from participants and the issue at hand. If you lose your cool, the heckler wins. Beat a heckler at his/her own game by asking the person what they would do. Ask the same questions of other participants by asking the same question. Raise questions that bring in the other sides of the issue or put responsibility on the individual by taking a positive approach to redefining the problem. If the heckler continues to be disruptive, chances are the group will take care of it, since the heckler is now heckling them.

ENEMIES: If you know two participants with conflicting viewpoints are going to attend your meeting, reduce the conflict with carefully planned seating arrangements. Discourage “dividing up sides”, which occurs when participants with opposing views line up on opposite sides of the table. Break up opposing groups since any united front will promote rigidity and entrenchment in preconceived ideas. When people are separated physically, they naturally tend to think separately and less dogmatically. When two individuals are continually at odds, a different approach may work: seat them side by side. Their physical proximity often lessens volume, intensity and verbal attacks are less likely.

SORE LOSERS: Voting is the quickest, most clear-cut method of making group decision. However, it may also be the least effective. Taking a vote may force participants to make a choice before they are prepared which divides the group into “winning” and “losing” camps. Those who lose may feel that their position did not get a fair hearing which results in their lack of motivation to help implement the winners decision. A more productive way to reach a decision is through consensus. The matter should be discussed until all of the participants are ready to accept the solution. Although everyone may not feel like a winner, they all can have greater satisfaction by contributing to the solution.

Copyright AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: TrainingConsortium

CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Introduction

The successful introduction and passing of the work choices legislation in Australia in December 2005 embarks Australia on the most comprehensive shake up of industrial relations since federation.

While naturally the ‘devil is in the detail’ what we do know is the industrial and employment environment has forever changed.

Changes include

• A unitary (single) system of industrial relations where previously there had been a federal system and one for each state,

• An emphasis on the Australian economy away from wages and conditions,

• Changes to Awards and Agreements including transitional arrangements,

• A reduction in the number of awards from an estimated 4,000 to 12,

• The setting up of the Australian Fair Pay Commission to determine minimum wages and conditions,

• A reduction in the powers of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission,

• State Industrial Relation Commissions will become redundant,

• Flexible work practices and the ability to cash out of some benefits (annual leave). These changes may lead to problems with workplace health and safety obligations,

• New Dismissal Provisions that are not as straightforward as have been trumpeted,

• New transmission of business rules (buying and selling a business and your people),

• Union restrictions,

• The scrapping of the ‘no disadvantage test’.

Will these changes affect my Business!

With these changes to the industrial relations systems comes complexity. It will be a very lax business that enters this new era without some understanding of how these changes may affect their business.

Some examples include,

• Small business owners will need to understand the broader concepts of employer obligations applicable to their unique business situation.

• Your ‘Accounting’ software may need minor changes (in some instances).

• You will be ill advised to terminate an employee before taking advice even if you have less than 100 employees. Employees are already starting to make claims for unlawful dismissal i.e. discrimination.

• The cost of defending a discrimination claim is dramatically higher than unfair dismissal. In one case we were involved in recently for age discrimination the legal fees for defending the case were quoted at $30,000 and this was before any settlement of the matter.

• The changing of awards and agreements will add a layer of complexity to business until the transitional phase has passed (5 years).

• If you intend to purchase a business you would be advised to appraise yourself of the transmission of business changes.

In conclusion business owners will now need to grapple with a new layer of complexity.

Biz Momentum are up to date with work choice changes and can assist your business.

You will find other helpful free articles at www.biz-momentum.com

Philip Lye is CEO of Biz Momentum which provides service is Employee and Industrial Relations, Human Resource Management and Workplace Health & Safety.

Philip assists small to medium businesses manage their people needs.

Visit http://www.biz-momentum.com for other helpful articles.

The way you set things up can pay off greatly

As an inside sales representative for a major material handling company, half of the phone calls I receive start the same way: “I’m looking for racking.” It’s a promising start, but it’s usually followed by, “I’m not sure how much I need,” “I don’t know what kind I need” or “I am new to this.”

I could be hundreds or even thousands of miles away from these potential customers and their problems, but with the help of faxes, email, the Internet and digital cameras, we are usually able to share enough information to develop a proposed layout and a request for quotation.

People new to the warehouse or purchasing start out knowing that they have product sitting on the floor taking up space needing to utilize their vertical space better. After all, they are not just paying for square footage; they are heating, cooling and maintaining a three-dimensional space. Even more importantly, that vertical space is a wasted asset that could be used to store needed inventory and can free up floor space for more productive uses.

What else do you need to know? In just a few minutes, you can gather all the information you need before calling your sales representative. This includes:

The length, width and height of a single pallet that has product on it.
The weight of the pallet with product.
The clear height on the warehouse - that is, the actual usable inside height of the warehouse at its lowest and highest points.
Your forklift’s specifications, especially dimensions and lifting capacity.
The length of the rows of racking you wish to create.
The number of pallets you wish to store.
Decide whether you want used, renewed or new material.

Drive in for More Space

Let’s start with the last one first. Face it, racking is racking. It rarely becomes obsolete because of new technology. If your needs can be met by quality refurbished racking, you will save money. However, in order to be certain that your needs will be met, make certain you trust your supplier and the refurbishing process they employ.

Most material handling vendors that deal in used and renewed equipment have finely tuned their methods of pricing in order to give you a quote based on the information listed above. Let’s use drive-in racking as an example.

Drive-In racking is a type of “last in, first out” (LIFO) racking meaning product is loaded as far back in the rack as it will go. When unloading, the nearest available pallet is selected from the same side, as opposed to a FIFO (first in, first out) system where you usually load the product from the rear. In FIFO applications, product either flows to the forward of first position on a conveyor or it will be driven through the system.

Drive-in systems are widely used throughout the warehouse industry in places that have large volumes of pallets to store and seek an affordable, dense pattern. If you have a warehouse with clear floor space, high ceilings and hundreds of pallets to store on a tight budget, the choice is simple. Instead of creating a maze of rows and aisles, as you would with standard selective pallet racking, you create one large grid with access on a single side to drive in.

Keep in mind that the space savings are not the only benefit you will realize, although an estimated 80-85% space utilization can be achieved. Another factor in calculating your return on investment (ROI) is the potential savings in labor, equipment, product damage and operating costs.

Even so, gaining 50% more capacity to store your loads in an existing space can be very attractive when you consider the cost of additional warehouse space. Instead of figuring out which direction you are going to grow and how big an addition you will need for your building, you will instead think of the things that you can do with the space left over after consolidating.

Advantages of a Clean Floor

After doing away with selective pallet racking and consolidating into one easy to access area, you will soon realize the rest. You will instantly notice that you are no longer driving down aisles to find product, turning corners and dodging the pallets that have been left on the floor, obstructing your path. Another noticeable difference is that there are fewer upright frames that can be damaged. Once you turn into the drive-in system past the front uprights, your forklift is between a set of drive-in rails on which the pallets rest (except the bottom one). The product is further protected if the system is designed to allow only pallet loads that are confined to the size of the pallet. Systems designed for product overhang are still able to provide a certain level of protection.

Usually, the forklift that operated within the structure will be the same unit that loads and unloads freight from a truck. The distance traveled by the forklift decreases per pallet retrieved or stored, reducing wear and tear on the unit. The ability to access the pallets faster and safer means that you can also increase your rate of picking per man hour, again increasing your ROI.

Another way to save your company money by using drive-in racking is to double-stack your pallet loads on the bottom level. This will increase the maneuverability of the forklifts and will systematically reduce loading and retrieval time by carrying two pallets at once. This can only be done where identical SKU’s are stored and cubed loads of the same items are forecasted for shipment. Pallet loads must be stable and free standing while you double-stack them, without causing damage to the product. The total combined weight of the double stack must not be more than what the forklift is able to handle.

These are just a few of the things you can think about before calling your sales representative. Other issues will come up before you make your purchasing decision, but a little planning can save a lot of time.

Jason Deiter is a sales representative for SJF Material Handling, Inc. of Winsted, Minnesota, a nationwide supplier of material handling equipment and services for 27 years. He can be reached at 800-598-5532 or jdeiter@sjf.com. You can find more information about warehouse racks including drive-in and static storage racks at www.SJF.com.

Life is filled with essentials, and if we do not have the ingredients to make it work, then we are out of luck. Time management is one of the most important essentials in our life. If you think about it, we have 24- hours in each day, and seven or eight of those hours dedicated to sleep. One of the golden rules is “Sufficient for each day, for no one knows tomorrow.” This is very true, because we do not know if a hurricane will wipe out our neighborhood, or if an act of disaster will hit our area and change all the plans, we made. So the steps to finding essentials in time management should be evaluated carefully. Planning is one of the elements to managing time, yet plans can change. This is why it is important to make a list of the tasks you are assigned and complete them as soon as possible. Once you finish your task, it becomes easier and you can move on to other tasks. You can start by reviewing emails and notes, since the two are essential ingredients that make time management work.

Email Essentials at Work

If you work at a company that offers an email account and most of your business is handled via Internet, then you know that excessive emails are annoying. Customer accounts, contracts, and other important documents we do not want to loose, so to keep your mailbox from piling up, it is smart to only give your email address to clients. We can avoid emails piling up by not providing information to advertisements that ask for our information. If you want to place, an order for a product be sure to use an email account that does not send out information over the Internet. Many companies have a managing program that works to save time. Databases often store valuable information, and should be maintained. If you store information on the database, be sure to delete or store old files in a different area, so you can save time. If your email accounts only stores documents that are important to your business, you can save not only time, but also you can spare yourself from liabilities that may creep up. It depends on the company and what type of email account they require the employee to use, but Microsoft Outlook includes features such as address books, business and other features that help the user stay organized.

Essential Notes

Notes are essential since they too play a role in time management. Learning the techniques to taking good notes is a start in the right direction. When we take good notes, we are able to stay organized and run our life smoothly. If you attend a lot of meetings, it might be wiser to meet with the parties attending the meeting before it starts. This can help manage time by informing the co-workers ahead of the game what the meeting entails, as well as enabling you to take notes before the meeting starts. Essentials in time management also include taking time out for yourself, preparing, keeping your priorities in order, and working toward the goals you set.

For more information about time management, visit Time Management

Ask anybody on January 2nd 2003 if they have New Years Resolutions or goals and nine out of ten will say, “Yes!” …Ask the same people about their resolutions three months later and they’ll look at you like a small goat discovering a new fence for the first time.

All good intentions aside, exhaustive studies have shown only 3% of the population engage in some form of goal-setting and only 1% on average, write them down.

It should be noted that there is no small coincidence in the 1% that write goals down and the highest achieving, highest income-earning men and women around the world.

Setting goals is the genesis from which things great and not so great are accomplished. Read any book on achievement or watch the Biography Channel and see the quintessential message is clear: Goals = Success!

If it’s that simple though, why is it then, are most people so unsuccessful in the fundamentals of Real goal-setting?

One legitimate answer may be our generation is busier than any generation in the past. Life today is not static and our preoccupation with just trying to ‘get by’ runs juxtaposed to the activities needed for maintaining concentrated goal achievement. Fair enough.

On the other hand, these same studies I mentioned are just as clear on the real reason most people - the ones who bother to set goals - will never achieve them. They don’t write them down relying rather they be left to our memories to manage.

In my soon to be released Thought Book, I wrote: Your goals are future landmarks on paths created by You.

Goal experts, however, will be quick to point out, “Unwritten goals are nothing more than Wishes”… and we know the world is full of people with plenty of wishes. Go to any lottery office or anywhere they sell things like DotCom Stock. In one place they wish they’d bought more, in the other they wish they hadn’t bought any at all!

Real goal-achievement has so nothing to do with merely wishing or thinking of what we’d like to accomplish and everything to do with Not Forgetting.

As the young man once said, “My memory is the thing I use to forget with”. If we buy-off on the precept, we are now the busiest, most preoccupied generation, it’s no stretch then to believe the experts when they say, “Goals left only to memory are destined to fade like so many wishes”.

*********************************************************************************

Before we look for the remedy to the goal-achievement challenge, it’s important we understand the fundamental psychology of goal setting. That is to say, how it works.

Psychological studies on the highest achieving men and women demonstrate, people with clear, specific goals, immediately and by default, become psychologically Goal Oriented individuals. [No mystery there].

Since goals take place in the future, those with goals also by default become psychologically, motivationally, Future Oriented individuals.

Finally, since we can agree we go to the trouble of having goals because we want to achieve them, another automatic psychological outcome is we immutably become psychologically, motivationally, human-behaviorally, actively, Success Oriented individuals.

[To put that into perspective, we can all think of people we know who are naturally, Failure Oriented individuals].

These hallmarks are known as the Three Unique Psychological Success Orientations - the stuff that governs everything we do in the present, the moment, the now, as we go about our lives putting people, places and things together to affect positive outcomes in the future as it relates to our goals.

That is, however, if we don’t forget them!

The good news is, the simple act of reviewing our goals and activities on a daily basis, serves, in and of itself, to ensure we don’t forget them - thereby keeping them fresh, clear, specific and at the front of our mind.

As mentioned and psychological studies show, unforgotten goals quite naturally engender Unique Psychological Success Orientations that by default, impact in a positive way, our thoughts and activities as we go through our lives focused undauntedly in the moment on things we wish to accomplish.

The Bottom Line:

Those without goals, more often than not, find themselves directionless relying mostly on things like luck. Goal-Setting is only the first step. Constant Goal-Review is the activity that ensures Goal-Achievement and Success!

About The Author

Paul Shearstone aka The ‘Pragmatic Persuasionist’ is one of North America’s foremost experts on Sales and Persuasion.

An International Keynote Speaker, Author, Writer, Motivation, Corporate Ethics, Time & Stress Management Specialist,

Paul enlightens and challenges audiences as he informs, motivates and entertains.

To comment on this article or to book the Pragmatic Persuasionist for your next successful event we invite to contact Paul Shearstone directly @ 416-728-5556 or 1-866-855-4590

www.success150.com / www.paulshearstone.com or paul@success150.com.