No matter who you are or what your title is in the company, there’s always something you can be doing to make yourself better. Continuous improvement in the workplace is a two-way street. The saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” is as relevant in your personal life as it is to your business. But as a leader, it’s your duty to inspire your employees to be the best that they can be for the good of the business and themselves as a whole.
Here are 3 ways you can inspire continuous improvement amongst your workforce:
1. Align around the “why.”
Every employee in your business, regardless of position or rank, should be aligned with your High-Definition Destination (HDD). Your HDD is the high-resolution picture that shows in great detail the future as you want it to be. In order for your employees to indulge in continuous improvement, they need to see an end goal – a reason why taking action steps towards continuous improvement is valuable and necessary.
2. Celebrate learning.
Introducing continuous improvement to employees who haven’t given it a thought in years can be difficult in the beginning. To inspire your team to stick with it, you need to create an environment where learning is celebrated. This is where the debrief comes into play. A debrief is a nameless, rankless, open floor for discussion. It’s a time where everyone, regardless of their rank, can contribute their knowledge and learnings to make the team stronger.
“It isn’t who’s right; it’s what’s right.”
3. Remove barriers to improvement.
Continuous improvement is about inspiring others to unlock their full potential. As a leader, it’s your duty to help employees secure the time and resources needed to do so. Some of the most common barriers to continuous improvement stem directly from a lack of trust, transparency, and collaboration between various departments, and can easily be resolved through accountability and teamwork.
Common barriers to improvement:
- Lack of support
- Absence of ongoing training programs
- Resistance to change
- Cultural hurdles
If you’re not sure how to bring continuous improvement into your business, reach out to us here. We leverage the same principles of teamwork, accountability, and continuous learning that we utilized in our military careers. For us, failure was not an option, and it shouldn’t be for your business either.
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