Building a culture of continuous improvement
Guest post by Steven Kassulke - acumin.io
Did you know the average team wastes 40% of their time on avoidable rework? Or that inefficient processes account for up to 30% of business costs?
For many businesses, these hidden inefficiencies go unnoticed—until they become major roadblocks to growth. The good news? You don’t need a major overhaul to see big improvements. By making small, consistent changes, you can build a culture of continuous improvement that saves time, boosts engagement, and drives better business outcomes.
Here’s how to get started:
1. Make Waste Visible
Most inefficiencies aren’t obvious until you start looking for them. The 8 Wastes of Lean framework helps businesses identify common productivity drains like:
Waiting – Delays in approvals, slow responses, or bottlenecks.
Non-utilised talent – Team members stuck doing low-value tasks.
Extra processing – Unnecessary work that doesn’t add real value.
📌 Action Tip: Hold a "waste-spotting" session where your team lists frustrating, time-consuming tasks. Even quick discussions can uncover opportunities for immediate efficiency gains.
2. Involve Your Team in Problem-Solving
A culture of continuous improvement isn’t about top-down mandates—it works best when employees are engaged in finding and implementing solutions. Your team knows where inefficiencies exist, but do they feel empowered to fix them?
📌 Action Tip: Introduce regular "quick wins" check-ins, where team members suggest small improvements. The key? Make it easy to experiment and implement changes quickly.
3. Focus on Small, Ongoing Changes (Kaizen Mindset)
The Kaizen approach is all about incremental, continuous improvements rather than massive overhauls. Instead of waiting for the "perfect" time to make changes, start small and often.
📌 Action Tip: Ask each department to commit to one small efficiency improvement per month. Tracking and celebrating these changes reinforces the habit of continuous improvement.
Wondering where to start? Reach out to Steve at acumin.io, one of our Good Connections, to chat about how you can embed a culture of continuous improvement into your business, or work towards that long overdue improvement project!