Gather together a small team of your key people in a conference room for ninety minutes to take a fresh look at the way you produce your core medical services. Put your two flowcharts up on the wall. Start with the customer-view flowchart, and ask the following questions:
Now take a second pass at these questions, and this time, focus specifically on the “internal” flow diagram of how your team has to work to currently produce your product or service. After thirty to forty-five minutes of brainstorming ideas with your key team members, move on to step three.
Step Three: Pick Your “Sweet Spot(s)” to Implement improvements
Based on my experience coaching companies through this process, at this point you’ve got an overwhelming mass of ideas that you know you “should” do to improve your core flow. But let’s get real; there is simply no way you and your team can implement all these ideas at one time. In fact, doing so would be so disruptive to your current activities that your business would actually suffer.
Instead, go back over your list of possible process enhancements and flow fixes, and apply the “Low-Hanging Fruit” and “Home Run” filters. Go through the full list and ask yourself, “Is this a Low-Hanging Fruit?” In other words, is this idea easy to put into practice, and are you fairly certain it will work? If it is, mark that idea with an “LH” for Low-Hanging Fruit.
Then, do a second, separate pass and ask of each item on your list, “Is this a Home Run?” In other words, if it works, will it have a BIG impact on the efficiency, consistency, or quality of the way you produce your medical services? If the answer is yes, mark that item with an “HR.”
Now go back to your list and pull out all the items you’ve listed that are both Low-Hanging Fruit and Home Runs. These are your company’s core Sweet Spots. If you have a manageable number, which is rare, then you can jump to creating your execution mini plan.