As the improvement systems owner, you have a critical role to play in embedding organisation-wide learning.
You must ensure knowledge, learning, and improvement are not siloed. Individuals, teams, functions, – the entire hierarchy – must be connected. Enterprise-wide learning is an intrinsic component of any effective improvement framework.
All too often, opportunities for learning are left on the table or are ad hoc and sporadic. In non-lean organisations, barriers and roadblocks to learning can exist, inhibiting progress and impeding the ability to reach long-term shared goals.
However, with a robust daily management and communication structure in combination with visual exposure and problem-solving tools, these barriers can be removed and managed.
Peer-to-peer shared learning and internal knowledge management not only increase and elevate improvement capability but also enable us to move with greater velocity and focus towards our long-term shared goals together.
In this blog, we will explore the importance of organisation-wide learning in breaking down siloes and how it can be achieved through an effective improvement framework.
The challenge of breaking down siloes
In traditional organisations, siloes exist, dividing teams and departments and leading to a lack of collaboration and communication. This, in turn, can create barriers to learning and improvement. When information and knowledge are not shared across departments, the potential for improvement is limited, and inefficiencies and errors can persist.
This is where the improvement systems owner can play a crucial role in breaking down siloes and creating an enterprise-wide learning culture. By implementing a robust daily management and communication structure, barriers to learning can be identified and removed, and knowledge can be shared across teams, functions, and hierarchies.
The left of the above image illustrates traditional, top-down, departmental organisation hierarchies. Information regularly gets stuck within the individual functions; middle management gets overburdened with activity and ultimately becomes a bottlenecks.
With a commitment to undertaking a Lean approach, the right tools to support it (and therefore 100% staff engagement), organisations can take the approach illustrated on the right.
Everyone in the organisation contributing information and activity to a shared hub in real-time with no loss in oversight and even more visibility than traditional approaches. This has a meaningful effect on many areas – productivity, quality, safety, even staff loyalty and org-wide culture.
Visual exposure and problem-solving tools for organisation-wide learning every day
One of the key ways to break down siloes is through visual management supported by accessible problem-solving tools. By making information visible to all stakeholders, teams can collaborate and work together towards common goals.
An effective improvement framework should include visual management tools such as tier boards, team activity lists, visual reports, scorecards etc. This allows teams to track progress and identify areas for improvement. This data can be shared across departments and levels, enabling peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing.
Lean tools such as the A3 problem-solving template featured above or Root Cause Analysis can also be effective in breaking down siloes.
By bringing teams together to solve problems and identify root causes, knowledge and information can be shared, leading to a greater understanding of the organisation as a whole.
The importance of internal knowledge management for organisation-wide learning
Another key component of organisation-wide learning is peer-to-peer shared learning and internal knowledge management. By creating a culture of learning, improvement, and collaboration, teams can work together to share knowledge and improve processes.
An effective improvement framework should include regular training and skills development opportunities, both for individual team members and for teams as a whole. By investing in skills management, organisations can improve their overall capabilities and increase their ability to reach long-term shared goals.
Internal knowledge management systems can also be effective in breaking down siloes and promoting organisation-wide learning. By creating a centralised repository of knowledge and information, teams can access critical information and learn from past experiences.
We cannot understand how important it is to shape your systems and processes with a people-first mindset. Allowing them to learn where / when it is most effective, and enabling the organisation to deliver training as required for compliance.
The video above is just one example of what platforms like TeamAssurance bring to an organisation.
The Importance of PDCA Cycles and Daily Management
By nature, learning is incremental and doesn’t necessarily tread a linear trajectory. So alongside formal training, following and reflecting on our daily process is just as important. You must strive for an embedded culture of iterative experimentation, with a scientific approach, anda commitment to routine.
With this in place, there is no doubt that key metrics in any area will improve over time.
To achieve the most consistent improvement, we need all stakeholders on board and contributing. This requires high levels of trust and your people need to be given the permission and resources to experiment.
This can be achieved by following a PDCA approach and check in on the process every day. In combination with qualitative and quantitative data capture, and general observation, all tiers have visibility over actions.
This allows us to course correct, create best practice, and highlight good behaviour / results. All providing clarity of purpose and specific goals and outcomes against a backdrop of values and standards.
Not only does this create the right competitive tension. It breaks inertia and moves people toward individual and team goals.
An Interconnected Framework for C.I. Without Siloes
Do want to explore how to break down siloes through digital-aids to Lean tools? If you’re an improvement leader in need, or a Consultant with clients in need, contact us for a demonstration of the TeamAssurance platform today.
