Business Problems Solved Podcast

“Do you believe that everything you do is a process?” From brushing your teeth to doing your work assignments to doing your groceries, everything’s a process and, what’s essential to note is, they are all PDCA cycles. In this episode of the Business Problem Solver Podcast, Lee Houghton emphasises why PDCA is not just a planning tool, but a way of life. It does not matter if it’s big or small – or for more apt terms, micro or macro – anything you do in life can be a PDCA cycle. Listen in to know more. KEY TAKEAWAYS The PDCA (plan-do-check-act) was first popularised W. Edwards Deming in the mid-20th It can be a planning tool or an improvement cycle. PDCA cycle is way of life. If you try to see everything’s a process where it needs inputs, goes through steps, and produces outputs, you know what you should be expecting to do to get what you want to achieve. The two PDCA cycles: Micro – a weekly to monthly Macro – usually three to five years BEST MOMENTS “If everything we do is a process, then everything we do can be improved.” “PDCA is much more than a planning tool. PDCA is much more an improvement cycle. It’s a way of life. It’s a way of looking at things to continuously improve anything and everything you do.” ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on: 07813342194 Website: Lee@leehoughton.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/THEBusinessProblemSolver/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BusiProbsSolved Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_business_problem_solver/?hl=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsf0YC2_ZBuhtC_s-AbHaDw

MAKING POSITIVE CHANGES IN YOUR BUSINESS MUST BE ALL ABOUT YOU This inciteful episode brings together strands from the podcast series and explains how leadership, creating positive habits, influencing people and developing an environment of high trust are all dependent on understanding that it begins with you. Lee ‘The Business Problem Solver’ explores how making positive changes and enabling others to be problem solvers can be achieved to move your business forward. If you want to make positive changes that make a difference then listen in now   KEY TAKEAWAYS When you are working in a ‘change role’ you need to understand the difference between a manager and a leader, create positive habits and influence people whilst developing an environment of high trust. To achieve these things, you must understand that it all begins with you. You can have an influence on the area you work in and the people you work with. You are the one who decides how you feel and how subsequently you act and behave. If you’ve been in a role for a year or longer then you have had the opportunity to influence that environment, the way people engage with each other and with you, how people behave in meetings, the roles they have and the way they treat each other. If you do the same thing over and over you cannot expect to get a different result If you have a problem and you want to solve it you have to do something different. The 5 ‘Ds’ Desire Discover Dedication Deliberate action Delivery   DESIRE is something on the inside, an emotion it’s your personal goals and aspirations to reach something. You need to DISCOVER the things that are stopping you from getting there. How DEDICATED are you to take the DELIBERATE actions that are going to move you on so that you can DELIVER?   The desire and dedication are the 2 things that show your commitment to achieving that goal and environment that you want to get to.   it's important to realise it starts with you. Role modelling behaviours are vital when you are trying to change environments and cultures.   The more people you can get to think and understand that it is all about them, the more you will be able to change the environment and the way you work.   Ultimately it’s all about people if you can enable inspire and develop people and their environment you can solve most problems that you face.   But, before you ask anyone else to change you must recognise and realise that it starts with you.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Everything you have done and the decisions you have taken have led you to this point’ ‘The environment you work in is a direct reflection of the way you manage’ ‘Why would you get a different result?’ ‘If you have a problem and you want to solve it you have to do something different’ ‘Would you recommend the place you work to your friends and family’ ‘If it is raining outside you can decide whether to go out and jump in muddy puddles or stay inside’ ‘If you want people to do something different how often are you the role model ?’ ‘If you want people to solve problems how often do you solve problems with them’ ‘Lots of decisions are made in meetings but how much understanding do you have of those environments you are trying to change when you are making those decisions?’ ‘You decide how you react to any situation, you decide if you want to act today or tomorrow, next week’   VALUABLE RESOURCES   https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2   ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.   CONTACT METHOD   You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Today Lee is asking ‘do you have a high trust environment?’ he looks in detail at the indicators for both a low and high trust environment and discusses ways that you can change your environment and empower everybody within it. Listen in to find out about how to make your business a high trust environment. KEY TAKEAWAYS To increase the speed of your process and reduce costs most people look to reduce waste. If you increase the trust you have in people and create an environment that supports this then you could achieve the same result. A lack of trust is the biggest hidden problem in business today. The activity you are planning to do will affect the level of trust you have in the person Would you let the person look after your child? Would you let that person make an important business or career decision for you? This is a reflection of how you view a person’s character and competence Somebody can be a trusted character but have low competency for a particular task What’s it like to work in a low trust environment? Do you recognise the level of trust are you allowed to make decisions? Are you micromanaged? Do people outwardly share their ideas and thoughts with others or are they fearful of the response? What is a high trust environment? If you work in a high trust environment you will recognise meetings where everybody contributes without fear about the answers they give. You are autonomous you are allowed to make decisions without seeking approval What do you need to do to create an environment of trust? It starts with habits and behaviours. It starts top down bottom up everybody has their part to play in developing an environment of trust. Allow people an environment of trust, allow people to develop and to make mistakes Create an open atmosphere where you can talk and listen to the people. Be honest and transparent and allow people to understand exactly where you are coming from BEST MOMENTS ‘Develop the environment so you have a high trust environment for everyone’ ‘A lack of trust is the biggest hidden problem in business today’ ‘Does the level of trust vary according to the seniority of the staff’ ‘If you were creating an environment of high trust that would arguably increase the speed and reduce the waste in the process’ ‘In a heightened time, security increases because we don’t trust the other people’ ‘Are there things you can do to transform your environment to one of high trust? ‘Wastes are tangible’ ‘Build relationships in a meaningful way’ ‘Until you start to see it, you can't solve it’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

This episode focuses on the 4 vital lessons that Lee has learnt as a change agent. He uses his extensive experience to provide us with focused examples of how these lessons work in the business environment and why they are so important. This podcast will help anyone to understand the core elements that affect change in any business, listen in now. KEY TAKEAWAYS The solution is not yours The success of change really comes from the person or team you are working with. People protect what they build and if they have been engaged in it and understand and believe in it then it will be a successful solution. It’s all about behaviour and enabling people to do the right thing Everything we do is about getting people to do the right thing and creating an environment that supports doing the right thing. We need to understand the things that drive behaviours. What actions have we undertaken to enable these behaviours? Habit stacking – a means to create a new habit or behaviour by stacking it on top of an existing habit or behaviour. This can be an effective way to enable individuals to develop new behaviours. Make it visual To engage people quickly visual management is key. It is a powerful way to share with others. It becomes real for anybody. Visuals clearly expose the challenges and potential difficulties for everyone to see. Understanding what the problem is you are trying to solve Everything we do is about continual improvement. It is about critically understanding what the problem is that you are trying to solve. If you clearly understand what the problem to be solved is, then you will be able to create a compelling need to introduce the solution. BEST MOMENTS ‘There is a lot of linkage between these 4 areas’ ‘If you're not trying to solve a problem what the hell are you doing?’ ‘I'm a big advocate of making it visual’ ‘We want today to be better than yesterday and tomorrow to be better than today’ ‘If you leave me long enough with a pack of post-its and a pen I will redecorate your walls’ ‘This created a road map with common goals and the behaviours we wanted to create’ ‘The solution is not the change agents,  it’s the people who work that process’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

In this episode, Lee uses the weekend dance floor as an insightful analogy for your business and customer needs. ‘If you want to keep your dancefloor full you need to focus on the needs of your customers and understand who you are as a business’ Listen in to find out how to keep everyone on the dancefloor and happy. KEY TAKEAWAYS Continuous improvement You should always try and start with the needs of the customer and ensure this is aligned with your purpose. 3 levels of customer experience The basic needs of the customer are being met. How easy or effortless is the experience for the customer? The competitive edge – creating an enjoyable experience. The basic needs There are potentially different trends in customer need over time. You have to be flexible enough to change what you’re doing to satisfy your customer before it’s too late and they leave. You have to constantly be reviewing your location to ensure you are offering the right service and product for your customer. Listen to your customers and meet their requests. If the request is random you have a decision to make. The decision will depend on several factors and you will have to manage the expectations of customers. Make sure you provide feedback so that customers know what will happen next and develop your products based on customer feedback and comments. It's important to recognise the multitude of similarities between the real world and the work world, your personal life and your professional life. BEST MOMENTS ‘Vaguely remember the days’ ‘Each weekend you may venture out for a drink, what might you observe that could help you win at work’ ‘This was my life as a town centre DJ every weekend for 13 years’ ‘All organisations should strive for these’ ‘Actual needs based on the time of the night, different trends of customer need’ ‘To match the music to the majority of the customers so they enjoy themselves and want to come back’ ‘To keep the customers in the pub as long as possible, because they are enjoying themselves’ ‘It needs to satisfy your purpose’ ‘If you are a specialist then what you do is different to everyone else’ ‘You have to be flexible’ ‘What has this got to do with continuous improvement and business?’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Do you set targets for yourself and for your business? Do you set targets for your staff? And do you agree in having targets in order to grow? When management sets targets and makes people's jobs dependent on meeting them, they’ll likely meet the targets even if they have to destroy the enterprise to do it. Targets drive a specific behaviour in people, a narrow focus, cheating and influence. Tune in today to find out more. KEY TAKEAWAYS What behaviour do targets drive? Number one, a narrow focus. People concentrating only on doing things that make them achieve their target. This is not necessarily the same thing as doing the right thing for the customer. An example, if you play football and you’re an attacker, if a player from the opposition is running towards you with the ball, would you try to tackle them or would you assume it's somebody else's job? The second one, cheat. This is the act of being untruthful. When the management has set the targets in a particular organisation which has to be met regardless, this forces the employees to go to the extent of cheating in the business to even using false information. The third one, influence. People who challenge their performance provide reasons for the non-achieving factors that are in their control, thus creating or exaggerating a blame culture. Giving all of the reasons of why they've not been able to do it because of other things and other people. Some questions that we must ask ourselves in business: How much influence does the person who has the target actually have on achieving that target? Are there things that get in the way outside of the control of the individual being set that target and what do we actually want to achieve by having a target? What behaviours will setting a target create, and ultimately, how can we use the target to drive actions, actions that drive improvement, not actions that whip the horse harder? Why do people continue to think it's a good idea to set targets? BEST MOMENTS “When management sets targets and makes people's jobs dependent on meeting them, they will likely meet the targets even if they have to destroy the enterprise to do it.” “If you set targets each year and then stretch them each year, it's like being in the Grand National horse race and just whipping the horse sooner and harder each year without really considering that you have a whole host of other things that you can focus on that can impact performance, such as the training of the horse and the jockey, the diet of the horse and the jockey, the stables where the horse stays and lives.” “Ultimately, you should encourage an environment of trust, which allows problems to be shared and solved repeatedly.” “A bad system will be a good person every time.” “Targets turn good people into liars and cheats.” VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

What is the problem you are actually trying to solve? Problems can come in different shapes and sizes and you have a host of different options. This week Lee looks in detail at whether you should deliver quick wins. He explains why and how this can work and explores when to use this strategy for maximum impact in your business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Some people may encourage you to deliver quick wins through small changes others may say advise against the delivery of quick wins as they may not affect the ultimate outcome. Marginal Direct Gains Marginal gains are all about small changes that each make a small difference. Dave Brailsford, British cycling coach specialised in searching for tiny changes that could make a margin of improvement in everything you do. The principle came from the idea that if you break down everything that goes into riding a bike and improving it by one per cent you will get a significant increase when you put them all together. He had clarity on the problem – the focus is on everything that goes into riding a bike. Marginal Indirect Gains A small change can be the right thing to do if you are new in a role as it can help to build credibility, people will then listen to you and adopt the right approach going forward. You are trying to influence behaviours and habits. You may not fix something that moves the dial on the transformation that you want to achieve but you may enable an individual to fix a problem and become familiar with the problem-solving structure that you want to deploy. Whether it is a macro or micro problem that you are trying to solve, clarity and focus on the problem and what you want is achieve is key. You should deliver quick wins if they help you move towards your goal either directly or indirectly and you have clarity of the problem. BEST MOMENTS ‘It doesn’t in all instances move the dial you want to move’ ‘Focusing on the things that actually move the dial’ ‘You have a vision and you want people to take on that vision’ ‘Depends what the problem is that you are trying to solve’ ‘Has to be by improving the capability of somebody or improving the credibility of you as individual VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

What is the difference between a Leader and a Manager? In this episode, Lee’ THE Business Problem Solver’ answers this frequently asked question and explains how the differences impact on staff and the working environment. Using the 5 D’s  - Desire, Discover, Dedication, Deliberate action and Delivery model Lee shares with us the characteristics of a leader. Are you a Leader or a Manager? Listen in now to find out  KEY TAKEAWAYS This is not about a job title – having the job title does not make the person it’s the person who makes the job. Just because you have the title of a leader doesn’t mean you have the characteristics of a leader. Leaders Create a Vision, Managers Create Goals Leaders look outwards and they aim to get others to see what they can see and where they are going. Managers typically either look side-ways or downwards and look after where they are currently. Leaders Coach and Managers Direct Leaders know that people who work for them have the answers or know where to find them, they see their people as competent and are optimistic about their potential. They resist telling people what to do and how to do it. Managers assign the tasks and explain how to accomplish them.  Leaders Identify Opportunities, Managers Drive Performance Managers use measures as sticks to drive performance whilst Leaders use measures to identify opportunities. Leaders create fans and inspire, managers have employees. The 5 D’s Desire A leader has the desire to improve themselves and others Discover A leader discovers opportunities by listening to others and visiting the workplace Dedication A leader has a commitment and dedication to keep going Deliberate action A leader can identify and inspire people to focus on the deliberate actions required Delivery A leader has the greatest chance of delivering the desired outcome BEST MOMENTS ‘Managers have staff who follow directions and seek to please the boss’ ‘Delivered to them what they needed’ ‘Leaders go beyond’ ‘What is it you use to drive the performance of your team? Is it you or measures, data and statistics? ‘You as an individual drive the direction’  VALUABLE RESOURCES  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com  www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Customer experience is seen as the battlefield where businesses compete but do businesses really understand the impact of not focusing on their employees? In this episode, Lee discusses the correlation between the customer and employee experience. He explains how to achieve successful alignment between them and the positive impact it will have on your business.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The way people in your business are treated can impact directly on the experience of your customers. It is vital to enable your employees so that they will be able to deliver for you. Companies invest heavily in trying to understand and improve ‘the customer experience’. Every opportunity to survey the customer is utilised and the data collected is swiftly acted upon in the drive for improved engagement. But many organisations only have an annual survey for their employees. An annual survey doesn’t capture how employees are feeling throughout the year. It is important to capture data across different times so that you gain a detailed understanding of your employees. Analysing employee feedback and acting upon it will enable you to deliver positive employee engagement and also an improved customer experience. There is a direct correlation between customer experience and employee experience. To succeed you need a desire and a shared vision of where you want to get to. There must be an alignment between your business purpose, your customer strategy and employee engagement vision.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Dealing with people is arguably the biggest cause of variation in a business’ ‘Try to understand how your employees feel in the work environment’ ‘You need to have alignment with both customer and employee experiences to be successful’ ‘It could be argued that employees are your customers’ ‘Ultimately they are all people, this is a people engagement strategy’ ‘Understand they are all different, but ask them as often as possible about how they feel about their experience’   VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-problems-solved-podcast/id1444154403?mt=2   ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.   CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

CAN YOU CHANGE HABITS AND INFLUENCE BEHAVIOUR?   Listen to this episode and find out how you can change people’s behaviour to create an environment where problems can be successfully be solved. Lee explains how and why this is crucial for any business moving forward.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The majority of problems can be solved by changing people’s behaviour so that they do something today that is different from what they were doing yesterday.   Influencing someone’s behaviour to change what they do in the workplace is an achievable and sustainable way to success. Problems can be solved as a result of people changing their behaviours.   To change a behaviour the brain needs to be trained so the action becomes habitual – you don’t have to think about it.   Visualise the environment you want to have and what people are doing in that environment, then consider what steps you need to create to get people into that position.   You need to influence people’s behaviour to get there through creating daily rituals that become habitual.   To create a situation where people can develop positive habits you will need to ensure that   -Individuals have the knowledge they need and the ability and skills to use that knowledge.   -You provide examples of the particular things you want people to do so they can see it is not a new-behaviour.   -The work environment allows them to exhibit that behaviour. Can they do what you’re asking them to do in that environment?     BEST MOMENTS   ‘The more times you do something, the more it will become habitual’   ‘You need to influence people’s behaviour to get there’   ‘Start small’   ‘Any change is not easy for people, and people deal with change differently’   ‘Every time you ask someone to do something different it will be a challenge’   ‘If you start today by this time next year it will be the norm’   VALUABLE RESOURCES   Business Problems Solved Series   ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams, and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist, and Keynote Speaker.     CONTACT METHOD   You can contact Lee Houghton on tel: 07813342194 Email LinkedIn