11 Process Design Goals For 2021

Happy New Year! I think we are all incredibly happy that 2020 is behind us. It has been a challenging year. Who would have thought that when we were writing our New Year’s Resolutions and writing down our goals that so many aspects would be thrown so far out of our control? But we have made it! We are at the end and we are more resilient. I know I have certainly learnt a lot about myself and those around me… I mean who ever thought we would spend so much time with our families….  

So we put 2020 behind us and begin to build our hopes and goals for 2021.  

2020 not only saw us adapt on a personal note, but also adapt dramatically in our professional lives. We have all become accustomed to remote working, the technology that was needed and the demands of back-to-back calls. We have adapted our business processes, projects and workshops to adjust accordingly. Some of us have made quick fixes to live in the online world and others had more substantial projects put on hold. No matter where you lie on that curve, when it comes into 2021, we want to start the year with a bang and take the learnings from the year behind us.  

We have taken the most common New Year’s resolutions to help you launch your process design for 2021!  

1. Live life to the fullest – Always start with the positives. Last year was tough, so let’s look at the things that worked well and figure out how we can make these into repeatable processes or actions. What did you love about the year, how did you simplify things, what really should stay around!? 

2. Lose weight – We know we all have a couple of those Covid kilos to lose… eek! But so do our processes – we carry so much waist in how we work. Think about your biggest struggles that you had last year? What slowed you down? Where was there lots of waiting time? When working remotely, what did you put a Band-Aid over? 

3. Exercise More – Often we fall out of good habits, like exercising and/or continuously improving ourselves and our processes. We need to exercise our CI muscles every day. Start your morning huddles off with what is one improvement that you found, or one thing that you can do today that is better than yesterday. How can you make today 1% better? Always strive for that improvement. 

4. Get organised – You will now have created a list of opportunities, but let’s be honest – you can’t do them all at once. You need to ruthlessly prioritise. Find a place to start and create a plan that is broken down into bite-sized pieces to start adding value from the 1st of Jan. 

5. Learn a new skill or hobby – When it comes to process design, there is always something new to learn. Having a growth mindset will help you look at things differently. Find better ways to solve your customer and team problems. This summer I am doing a course on Turning Points in life and learning the piano. What new skills will you pick up?  

6. Quit a bad habit – We all have them and so do our processes. Work out what is holding you back. What is stopping your processes from reaching their full potential? Then be kind to yourself and work out how you can break that dependency. 

7. Save more money / spend less money – Just like at home, make yourself a budget. Even if you don’t have all the details, approximate how much does that service really cost you. Then analyse those high costs and see how you can save a little more.  

8. Read more – Fill your brain with knowledge – read everything. The more we know, the better decisions we can make.  

9. Travel more – 2020 really cut back on where we could go. Hey, we were stuck in our homes for a large portion of it (especially those of us in Victoria…) but one of the oldest things we have learnt from Toyota was going and seeing, travelling to the source.  Yes, we can do a lot of things remotely, but sometimes nothing beats being able to watch what is really going on. So when it is safe to do so, go travel, go and see what is really happening with your service and processes.  

10. Spend more time with family and friends – That’s right – we want you to also take a break. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is how important our family and friends are and how important it is to keep those connections. So take time for yourself. Balance work and home in a way that works for you!  

 But most importantly 43% of people don’t continue their New Year’s resolutions past February.  So our most important one…… 

11. Have fun with it! Make your New Year work for you! 

How will you kick start 2021?