Reducing Customer Casualties

By Michael B. Tatham, President, The Tatham Group

You would think that a recession might wake organizations up and make them focus on reducing customer casualties.  And many spend a lot of time and money working on this issue.  However, no matter how hard organizations try to ‘create customer focus’ the business is disconnected and therefore is just not capable.  If you keep doing what you’ve always done…

Recently at Tatham we had a piece of equipment producing poor quality output.  After many experiments, the root cause remained elusive.  After diligently explaining the situation to the service department, and all the experiments we had run, they decided to call in a service representative to take a look.

First disconnect: Upon his arrival we had to explain the entire issue over again including the experiments we ran.  Déjà vu?

Second disconnect: Immediately, we were informed that what we were using the machine for was not what it was designed for (even though it was specifically recommended to us by the sales department).  Annoyance.

Third disconnect: He did not have the right tools with him to diagnose the problem.  Frustration.

Finding Elegance in a Handful of Nails

By Michael Tatham Jr., President, The Tatham Group

I started working in the company at what I thought was the lowest level – producing training materials and processing customer orders. What I learned in this role were the key components to the success of any company: there is no role more important than one that services the customer, the more simple a process is the more elegant and everyone plays a critical part if the company is integrated.

More importantly, I learned the critical success factor for our company over the past forty years: our human nature leads us toward complexity. It is the desire to please, challenge or prove worthiness; the creation of rules, roles and processes to make ourselves feel special; the fear of losing control that creates a convoluted path to the customer receiving what they need; inability to accept and admit failure in order to learn from it; and many more. Since birth our environment has reinforced these behaviors making it difficult for us to change to an environment of success that requires less resources to maintain.

Adding Steps to Simplify

By John Munce, Deployment Executive, The Tatham Group

We process types often talk about simplifying processes. We’re on a relentless march to find the value-add step and then perform only that step. There can be a rallying cry for a team: Take out steps! Cut rework! Take out checking! Build in quality! Find the absolute minimum number of steps! Less is more!

But sometimes simplifying the process means adding in a step. It can seem unnecessary, even irrational.

My friend Ann is a process type and fierce project manager who’s dying of pancreatic cancer. When I went to see her the other day, she launched into a process critique of end-of-life health care. The medical establishment came off with a strong B. One item in particular fascinated her.

A nurse from hospice had come for the introductory visit. There was lots of chatting and information sharing. The nurse inspected the house and talked with my friend about whether she would want a hospital bed or other special equipment. Then she presented The Gift.

The Future Is Friendly

By Michael Tatham Jr, President, The Tatham Group

Are the members of Generation Y lazy or just searching for an environment to thrive in?

 The late 1990’s introduced an environment that expected more of Generation Y, the group that falls into the approximate birth timeline of 1980-1999.  This was a time when technology and more specifically the Dot Com phenomenon began. According to Wikipedia: “They needed to be faster and more efficient (with the advent of better technology), smarter (increase in college enrollment), and available (40-60 hour work weeks) than Boomers and Gen X. Therefore some of the defining characteristics of Gen Y are tech-savviness, family-centric, achievement-oriented, team-oriented and attention-craving”.  

New Website!

Our new website is now live.  Take a look www.tathamgroup.com and send us your feedback.

That’s Just The Way We Do Things Here

Check out this great blog post by Glenn Whitfield: Process Improvement – Been there, done that. Have you Really?  Couldn’t say it better ourselves.

Manage risk in any industry using one simple tool: a checklist

Great story in the Globe and Mail yesterday about how a simple checklist could save the entire Canadian health care industry billions of dollars in medical errors. While we’re pleased to see more people paying attention to this concept, these findings aren’t new. A similar study was done in the U.S. to assess and triage cardiac patients in the ER. This study found that using a checklist significantly reduced the number of patients who were improperly diagnosed, and thus increased the likelihood that those who truly were having a heart attack got treatment faster.

At The Tatham Group, we believe that using checklists to follow a process is paramount – and this concept is built directly into our method. In fact, our work with The Credit Valley Hospital points to the benefits of applying a systematic method to ambulatory care. However, there are two small details that seem to have been overlooked. The first, is that a checklist will only be successful if it’s based on a good process. What we mean by this, is that if the process itself is broken – no checklist will make things any better. And secondly, unless people are being measured by how well they can follow this checklist, it will fall by the wayside. But a well-designed process and checklist for following it, with measurable goals is the best way for hospitals to manage the risk. Or any industry for that matter.

What’s your ripple effect?

They say if a butterfly flutters its wings in Brazil, it creates a breeze, then a wind, eventually fuelling a storm on the other side of the world. Commonly known as “The Butterfly Effect”, it suggests that everything is connected to everything; where even the smallest change can have enormous consequences.

“Anyone who runs a business should see where our garbage goes,” says Remi Cormier, president of R.Environs, a sustainable landscape design company. “It will change the way you manage waste forever.” On a cold, rainy afternoon, we’re driving through mounds of debris. The smell is so putrid I clamp my nose to suppress my gag reflexes from actually doing their job.

Six months ago, the young entrepreneur challenged me to visit the city’s landfill so I could see what happens when my trash lands at the curb. He argued that, “Even though we’ve found creative ways to deal with waste, it’s not enough. Real change happens when we see how all of our actions are connected.”

Doing the right thing for your business…

…MEANS DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR YOUR CUSTOMER FIRST

One of the fastest growing priorities in the business world today is how companies can be more responsible. Even though people want to produce cheaper, faster, better and more efficiently, many are also asking, but at what cost?

In fact, the world’s collective consciousness is waking up to the enormous impact that capitalism is having on the environment and society. More and more, we are choosing to support companies that reinvest in the community, rather than those who simply seek profits.

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