Why Do Some Improvement Projects Fail?

Dec 2, 2014 5:54:49 PM

In all organisations at any point in time, there are a number of initiatives under way to improve performance.  These may be formal or informal, generated in meetings or in the tea room, part of a company wide Continuous Improvement Drive, products of a suggestion scheme or quality circle, knee-jerk reactions to recent incidents etc.

Often they are not even labelled “Improvement Projects,” but in fact they are, if they attempt to move the organisation forward.


Although these projects are important in achieving mission critical goals, all too often results are less than expected. WHY?


There are many reasons of course, but in my experience there are two, which I have seen occurring again and again, and which are relatively easy to resolve.
 

The first one has to do with the selection of the projects. Improvement projects, no matter how big or small, which are not seen to be aligned to mission critical goals, are bound to fail. One reason for failure is that the various stakeholders do not see it as worth their time and effort and shun all attempts by the Champion to get them around a table.


Even though a project may be aligned, it may not be perceived as such due to the lack of understanding of business performance information.


This is a condition I have seen in many organisations I have worked with, resulting in the development of the KEPNERandFOURIE Business Improvement process.


One element of this is the setting up of War Rooms at all levels which ensures that relevant information is provided in a useful format.  This enables people at all levels to track appropriate performance factors impacting on mission critical goals, and to identify relevant improvement projects.


One of my clients who has done this is Tronox-Kzn Sands in Empangeni South Africa. With War Rooms established at every level they have seen that people now understand how the company operates, how their section impacts the cost per ton targets, what is important in order to improve, etc. The War Rooms allow them to generate their own improvement projects which, because they are based on real performance data have a greater acceptance.

tronox_kznsands

The War Rooms at Tronox have generated mission critical projects at all levels based on real data resulting in levels of performance never achieved before.

 

The second reason for failure has to do with leadership. I can see a big difference between those clients where the leaders take a real, empowering stance and actively direct and support Champions, and those clients who do not.


A perfect example of this is a chemical processing company in the Western Cape South Africa. The management team of one of the facilities, under the guidance of the production executive, do not just see the projects as a means to improve company performance, but also to develop young leaders. With a strong emphasis on mentoring, real support is provided by management, and regular formal progress review sessions ensure steady progress.


So, if you want real bottom line success from improvement projects, ensure that their selection is based on strategically aligned performance information, and secondly, ensure that leaders actively direct and support the Champions in their efforts.

Learn More about  the History of Decision Making 

Nick Bickell

Written by Nick Bickell

Cape Town South Africa. | Senior Consultant-TDG South Africa
Nick focuses on the implementation of strategies, systems and competences, which enable clients in any industry to implement business improvement programs. Nick enjoys working hands-on with management teams to achieve sustainable bottom line results.

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