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?
1. Just like Atlanssian, i would give employees personal time off official work hours to work on products that are company related but without company biases. This gives employee the opportunity to be creative and explore options which might not be on the table which in turn gives the product team a large scope of iterations, problems and solutions to choose from.
2. Basically, Atlanssian is on its part to great success as a company. I wouldn’t do anything differently but rather will seek for ways to make sure these new strategies that have been discovered are implemented during product building.
To implement effective continuous improvement approaches, I would create an environment that promotes creativity and constant learning. One way is to give employees a set amount of work time, such as Atlassian’s 20%, to work on personal projects that can lead to new ideas and improvements within the firm. To make this time useful, these initiatives should be aligned with the company’s goals and allow employees to experiment and explore new solutions to current problems.
In addition to time allocation, I would develop organized programs akin to Atlassian’s Team Playbook, which document and share best practices across teams via workshops and collaborative sessions. These initiatives would allow teams to learn from each other’s triumphs and tackle obstacles together.
However, unlike Atlassian, I plan to develop a feedback loop structure in which employees routinely report their own project outcomes to peers and leadership, assuring visibility and accountability. This may include monthly innovation sessions in which employees discuss their efforts and thoughts. Additionally, incorporating continuous improvement targets into performance appraisals may encourage staff to actively participate in these efforts.
To implementing effective continuous improvement practices, frst and foremost ,there is need for a proper job description for each of the employees to know who handles what. After which
responsibilities will be delegated, ensuring effective collaboration within the different teams. Continuous feedback is very key in ensuring success of the project. Also there should be room for periodic in-house trainings in form of seminars and workshops. Then there is need for a good product knowledge effectively disseminated to the different teams.
To implement effective continuous improvement in organisation, like Atlassian approach and strategy,I will make sure my employee are responsible for engaging in research and survey that will solve the major challenges the organisation is going to by prioritizing the challenges as their job description and career growth.Section them into groups to come up with different solution and ideas,Communicate and discuss the best idea with the entire teams and conduct a training workshop on the new approach developed with the entire member of the organisation, by so doing there will be general knowledge by every member of the organisation on the new development.
Firstly, making the job description very clear and grouping them into departments or groups. Delegate responsibilities, encourage team spirit, effective communication and feedback.
Secondly, make room for on-the-job trainings in form of seminars and workshops.
Encourage employees to attend professional conferences where they meet, connect, network and learn from other professionals.
Organise job orientation for new employees to get them acquainted with their job areas, specifications and expectations.
Implementing effective continuous improvement practices involves fostering a culture of innovation and learning within the organization. This can be achieved by encouraging open communication and feedback channels where employees are empowered to share ideas and suggestions for improvement. Regularly scheduled brainstorming sessions or dedicated time for innovation can help generate new ideas. Additionally, creating a system for capturing and prioritizing improvement opportunities ensures that valuable insights are not overlooked. To differentiate from Atlassian, one might focus on tailoring the continuous improvement process to suit the specific needs and challenges of the organization, ensuring that it aligns with the company’s culture, values, and objectives. This could involve customizing the approach to fit the size, structure, and industry of the organization, as well as leveraging technology and data analytics to identify improvement areas more efficiently.
To implement an effective continuous practice, i will divide my teams into small groups to work on the issue at hand and see how each group will solve the problem, Then we will come together to review each approach and implement the best results.
Implementing effective continuous improvement practices involves several key steps. Firstly, establish a culture of continuous improvement within the organization by fostering open communication, encouraging employee participation, and emphasizing the importance of innovation and learning. Secondly, identify areas for improvement through regular assessment of processes, performance metrics, and feedback from employees and customers. Prioritize improvement opportunities based on their potential impact on business objectives and customer satisfaction. Thirdly, implement changes incrementally, starting with small, manageable improvements that can be easily tested and adjusted as needed. Provide training and support to employees to ensure they understand and can contribute to the improvement efforts. Finally, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the changes over time, using data and feedback to guide further iterations and refinements. By following these steps and maintaining a commitment to continuous improvement, organizations can enhance efficiency, quality, and competitiveness in the long term.
Just like Atlassian, I’ll prioritize team work and creat sub-groups to reduce work burden on players. By doing this, it’ll help to easily trace any arising challenge and sort it easily.
Just like Atlassian, I’ll split my team into small groups and encourage them to own their career path by embracing and identifying challenges and strengths, and also, I’ll try to understand what their challenges were and implement ways to make the processes more seamless to the participants/team members