The Manager - 136 - In praise of cycle time
Monday 26th April 2021 - In praise of cycle time
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Hi,
Hope all is good and well. Still busy here at Lambert Towers. Things are starting to open a little with the boys back to doing various activities such as football and drums. So, taxi service is back on.
Today, I’m going to make the case for the measure of cycle time as being one of the most powerful measures to study in your workplace.
Cycle time is simply the measure of time (usually days) between two events.
I tend to focus on the first event and the last event, such as starting work on something and then that work being done.
Within this master cycle time though, there could be many other cycle times to measure.
For example, let’s say your company starts work on a new product feature. The work involved could cross (and likely will), many teams. You could measure the cycle time of the work between distinct departments, as well as the whole.
It’s a measure I always use. I see cycle time as the health of the process. A good cycle time means work is moving through the process well. It is flowing.
A long cycle time, or a sporadically different cycle time for similar work, could indicate something needs to be done to make work flow smoother.
Cycle time can be used anywhere and for anything.
I applied the concept of cycle time when recruiting and spotted plenty of areas to remove delays, waste, and gaps. I wrote about it in my book Join Our Company.
And that’s a key point - it gives you a clue where to look. Cycle time alone will not solve your problems, but it can highlight where your delays, gaps and slowdowns are.
Cycle time is not something to compare to other teams or other work. Everyone’s work is different, so it pays to use it simply as a form of study.
It doesn’t matter what the cycle time is when you first measure. You may apply subjective thinking about wanting it to be a better number other than it is - but it is what it is. Leaning into the reality of how long work takes to move through a process is the best way to improve it.
The goal is to improve the cycle time. What can you do to make it shorter, or flow smoother?
There comes a point of diminishing returns.
For example, as I write about in Join Our Company, we measured the cycle time from first contact with a potential candidate (application, or direct contact), to when we accepted or rejected that candidate. The outcome was months.
Through lots of hard work, we got that down to an average of two weeks. No matter what we did it was hard to get the average down to less than this. There is nothing we can do when the ball is in the candidate’s court. They make take longer to find time for an interview or send in relevant details. There are only so far certain processes can be pushed and improved.
Cycle time is one of my 5 key measures of business agility:
1. Business Results - the ultimate measure of business agility
2. Cycle Time - how long things take to move through the processes
3. Throughput - how much work is done
4. Failure Demand - how much work are we doing because we didn’t get it right, or do it at all
5. Work in Process - how much work are we taking on right now
Cycle time can be applied to anything with the goal of shortening the duration from beginning to end.
Sadly, I even apply this in my own life. I measure how long it takes to make a video from starting the shoot to uploading to YouTube. I measure how long it takes to create these newsletters. I measure how long it takes to write a book.
All with the aim of looking for opportunities to optimise the process.
So, if you’re looking for ways to make your business better - staple yourself to work (metaphorically not physically) and measure the journey that work goes on. Map it out, add your timings, make it visible, then gather talented people to make it better.
It’s a powerful measure for sure but be careful that you don’t try to rush good work. It can be tempting to optimise too far - but work sometimes takes as long as it takes.
Until next time
Rob
Interesting articles
1. The intentional use of silence at work. Just be sure not to ignore your co-workers and managers though.
2. Hand written notes aid in memory. I've been banging on about this for years. Write it down and use digital tools for what they are good at - long term storage and searching.
3. This is remarkable. A manager thought they knew what was best for a worker, so they denied them the ability to work from home.....it went to court. Be careful as a manager. We never know what other people think. Sadly, conferences are full of people pretending to know what people think. Focus on behaviours and listen to people - only they know what they think.
4. How to have a digital spring clean. Great advice, just don't follow step 1 for this newsletter.
5. How to transform your decision making process. Decide with clarity.
6. How to end it gracefully from Seth Godin.
7. What your calendar says about your values. I wrote about this in my latest book - let your calendar guide what's important to you - including leisure, health and family time. We don't manage time - we manage energy and attention.
8. Don't fall for this excuses trap - take ownership.
9. Is your diversity and inclusion training failing the standards? I'll be honest, most corporate training is what I would call "awareness". The real training comes from how people implement this awareness into the very fabric of the business and their own behaviours within it.
10. Reiki shouldn't work - but it does. I'm currently training in Reiki and have seen remarkable results in my own life - here's some evidence showing it works.....but it really shouldn't..right?
11. I have many quotes written down in the front of my journal which help me to trigger the right thoughts and actions. Here's Doug Toft on his quote system and some of his favourites.
Video
This week I published a new video on how I use a simple kids puzzle to teach leaders and managers how to release business agility.
Grab your childish puzzles as I break down what's involved and the lessons that come from it.
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Thanks
Rob..