Process Improvement Awareness Week

I don’t think I have the status or the persuasion to declare what we should observe this week, but hey, it’s a catchy title, isn’t it?

I don’t know if I’m unique in this, but I see situations all the time where traffic flow is horrible. I don’t mean on the streets, although that is an issue in and of itself. I’m talking about in many aspects of life.

For instance, at my office, we have a cafeteria. A very good cafeteria, by the way, however it has horrible traffic flow. The line starts at the cups, then you’ve got coffee, then sugar, cream, lids, straws etc. Then you have Iced Tea, regular and decaf, then you have pop (soda, for you northerners?) Then you get to the food.

Well, if someone wants just a drink, and there is a line, you generally have to wait in line. If all you want is a sandwich, you have to wait in line with the drinkers. When you do get a drink (pop or tea), if you don’t happen to grab your lid and straw before filling your cup, you are having to backtrack and that is easier if the people behind you are in a good mood, but that may not always be the case. Ideally, the drinks should have a dedicated line and the food should have a dedicated line, then if you are just going for one or the other, life is much easier for all parties involved.

Update: Non-Blog-Brad just stopped by and we had a brainstorming session on solving this issue. (It was close to quitting time) It’s not as complicated as we initially thought, the line is backwards, that’s all. The food should be first, then drinks, then pay. The food getters would be held up at the food and the drinkers could cut in between the breaks in the line to get their drinks and everyone is happy. Problem solved.

I wonder though, what things….what processes…..what traffic flows are in my sphere of influence that are messed up?

Oftentimes, a process started out with good intentions, however steps may have been added or the process may have grown and the complications grow.

So, this is a reminder to me to not become complacent to processes in my life, whether they are at church, at home or where ever.

This has been the case in our sound booth for kid’s worship lately. The process has grown and evolved over time and it has become evident lately that having the computer at one end and the sound board at the opposite end is a pain, especially when there is one person running things.

There’s a DVD/VCR cabinet in the middle and last Saturday, I went out and switched the sound board with the DVD/VCR. So that was a simple solution to a traffic flow problem and the process is improved. One person can now sit in pretty much one spot and do everything necessary.

In doing this big switch, the key is to make sure you have enough slack in your cables. I was able to pull the slack out from under the floor, then set the sound board on top of the DVD/VCR cabinet, slide the whole thing over, then set the board down in it’s new home. Then you are probably also going to have other issues arise out of the tangle of wires, such as I had a wireless mic receiver that I had to untangle the power cord before I could get it positioned in it’s new home.

So this is just a friendly reminder to not become complacent to your surroundings. Even if a great deal of thought went into a process initially, things change over time and change is good. If your church is growing, then you need to change and adapt processes and traffic flows.

This kind of thinking will help everyone, especially if just reversing the direction of the line makes more sense! (see above!)

Coming soon to a sound booth near you (actually, probably not near you): DVD / RAM upgrade!