Ceptara

• The customer experience is king: design, execute, monitor and adjust (Plan-Do-Check-Act).
• Cost savings come in the oddest places, leave no stone unturned. 
• Know your limits and use experts to help, such as a mentor, coach or consultant.

In keeping with my series about how we’re not as far along as we think, I’d like to talk about a few major faux pas I’ve seen recently.  One was at a famous and large retailer, Walmart.  The other is visible from my backyard.

• Decide what problem to fix
• Do something new or differently
• Check to see if it helped
• Capture and standardize the new practice

I had an opportunity to speak to a few Everett (WA) small businesses this morning by presenting at the [Three Morning Seminar Series].  We had limited attendance, so it was a great way to have more intimate conversations with those that were there.

We talked about three Lean Six Sigma tools that are useful for all small businesses:

• Never be satisified with the status quo and don't sacrifice yourself along the way
• Get a fresh perspective (usually an outsider) to tell you what can be right in front of you
• Work ON your business or organization or group, and don't give up!

Small businesses have a unique sense of reality.  If they don't do the work, they can't make payroll, people lose confidence, and the business immediately feels the impact.  At Ceptara, we're also a small business and we feel your pain.  It's challenging to find, keep and motivate customers.  It's difficult to work efficiently and effectively so the business maximizes its profitability and people can take vacation.

Download this deck to learn about how Ceptara can help you in your small business...

Quality is the ticket just to get into the game.  And yet we think it will just appear naturally if we hire the right people.  Some firms have established an organizational mechanism to drive quality, however, most organizations, especially those that are immature, are more likely to allow quality to be something that gets fixed just before the customer sees the end product.

SUMMARY

• Focus on action not messaging, use tasks to track work
• Establish projects to make tasks manageable
• Process your inbox to zero using the 5Ds
• Block time for planning
• Focus on what's important, subordinate everything else

A pointer to the download is at the bottom of the page, you must be logged in to view the link.

Ceptara's Organizer is an Outlook 2007 or later add-in designed to help you achieve greater personal effectiveness by focusing attention on your personal objectives through the creation and management of projects and tasks.

A FREE fully functional 45 day trial can be downloaded.  A registration screen will be presented periodically until the end of the trial period and then every time Outlook is started until the add-in is purchased or uninstalled.

Look at any continuous improvement philosophy, and at its heart you will find standardization. When people don’t perform a process the same way each and every time, quality suffers, lead times are erratic (and long), and productivity is hamstrung. No operation can prosper without stable processes that can deliver consistent results.

Established in 2002 and headquartered in the Greater Seattle Washington area, Ceptara is a private, employee owned business focused on providing management consulting, coaching, training and tools to organizations and knowledge workers to help them achieve their goals effectively.