Let’s take a look at an example of continuous improvement practices at the company Atlassian.
Atlassian, a software company that offers products to product managers and development teams, has successfully created and sustained a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Atlassian achieves this in a few different ways.
Firstly, to drive innovation, employees are given 20% of their allocated work time to spend on personal projects. [1] This is modelled on Google’s innovation strategy, where personal projects often can be transformed into creative new features or products for the organisation. This strategy requires Atlassian to allow their employees the time to work on these personal projects, which is an expensive risk for the company since 20% of employees’ time is given away to experimentation. However, to ensure that this time is used productively, employees focus their personal projects on the team, how it operates, and what they do.
Secondly, Atlassian cultivated a culture of continuous improvement to support innovation. Specifically, Atlassian split their employees into small teams and encouraged them to own their career path by embracing and identifying challenges and strengths. What they found was that successful teams handled challenges differently to other teams, so to help those who struggled, Atlassian implemented a workshopping resource called the Team Playbook. They gathered the practices that successful teams used and created short, purposeful workshops and exercises that enabled teams to learn and adopt these practices. [2]
For example, Atlassion’s Health Monitor [3] helps teams to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Once some weaknesses have been identified, teams and employees can use other plays to strengthen these areas.
Instructions: How do you implement continuous improvement practices?
Taking dedicated work time to innovate and find continuous improvement opportunities can be an expensive cost for an organisation. Considering what you have just learned, complete the following:
- Explain in a brief paragraph:
- How might you go about implementing effective continuous improvement practices?
- What might you do differently to Atlassian?
To continously improve the product
I will make a survey that will enhance new ideas and views that will make the organization unique.
I will implore the team to work on their own and come back together as a team to share their views.
To implement continously improvements
I will make a survey that will enhance new ideas and views that will make the organization unique.
I will implore the team to work on their own and come back together as a team to share their views.
To implement continuous improvement, I’ll create a culture of improvement to support innovation specifically .
I will also get the team to work on
feedback data
To improve continuously, encourage a culture that values new ideas and learning. Let employees work on projects that help the company grow. Provide support like workshops and tools. Regularly check progress and adjust plans based on feedback. Customize your approach to suit your company’s style. For instance, instead of setting aside specific time for projects, integrate improvement into everyday work.
To implement continuous improvement I’m going to make sure we use all accessible information for our growth and all employees ideas would be considered valuable because it helps the improvement process.
To implement a continuous improvement practices, I would listen to posts on various channels that will help me gather information of what the customers need and want and also ensure that customer’s feedback is gathered efficiently and implemented.
To implement a continuous improvement practices I would get the team to work on the feedback data and allocate time for research and practical to them.
Work as a team to device ideal and innovation to respond to product data.
To implement effective continuous improvement practices firstly I will get my team to understand the target at hand , work together to find solutions to the task through support, innovation.
Secondly, is I will be open for feedbacks on how tasks can be done effectively while creating an atmosphere for learning and growth.
Firstly,all the company’s the staff would be carried along so as to have same target and do a massive follow up,and they should all come together,think together and have a better massive result
For me to implement a continuous improvement process, my teams and I would have done everything necessary and need in other to launch the product at first, then we wait for the feedback from customer because it’s very important you get feedback from customers in other to know how to improve on your product. Proper research will be made and communication will also be a key factor.
Implementing effective continuous improvement practices involves creating a culture that values experimentation, learning, and adaptation. Firstly, leadership must communicate the importance of continuous improvement and provide resources, such as dedicated time or tools, to support employees in this endeavor. Secondly, fostering an environment where employees feel empowered to identify areas for improvement and experiment with new ideas is crucial. This could involve encouraging cross-functional collaboration, providing training in problem-solving methodologies, and establishing feedback mechanisms for sharing insights and successes. Additionally, recognizing and celebrating achievements related to continuous improvement can reinforce the desired behaviors and motivate further innovation. To differentiate from Atlassian, one might tailor continuous improvement practices to the specific needs and context of their organization, considering factors such as industry dynamics, company culture, and organizational structure. it may also be beneficial to incorporate a mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches to drive continuous improvement, leveraging insights from both frontline employees and senior leadership to drive meaningful change.
Question: How might you go about implementing effective continuous improvement practices?
For me the first approach will be to establish and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement among staff and in the organization. This will be achieved through investing in training and development among the staff aimed at fostering a culture of CI within the team, and encouraging a mindset of always seeking to improve processes and services. Secondly, I will establish a reliable means of gathering feedback from users, analyzing data and market trends, and implementing improvements based on this information. Thirdly, I will set clear goals and metrics for improvement initiatives, and conduct regular assessments and reviews. Fourthly, I will consider and implement relevant Lean and Agile methodologies to streamline processes, reduce waste, and increase efficiency. In conclusion, CI is the ongoing process of making small, incremental changes to a product or service to enhance its value, quality, and customer satisfaction. Hence, my approach will be to find ways to continuously carry out these exercises without loosing staff morale, denting customer satisfaction and trust, or loosing resources thereby resulting in losses.
Question: What might you do differently to Atlassian?
I find Atlassian’s approach very resourceful. What I might add to their approach is to mandate the staff to come up with a critique or complain of our processes and product/service at least once in a week. This can be sourced from either their own use and experience of the product/service (dogfooding), or from customer feedback. Their critique or complain will form the basis and input in future iterations.