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Combining clarification, separation, simplification, measurement and communication can eliminate backlogs of work quickly and cost effectively.
Key Points
* Common backlog-reduction practices of overtime, temporary labor and temporary work redistribution to other departments can create additional problems.
* In the five-part portfolio, communication is a strategy and a common thread running through the other strategies.
* The five strategies provide what is in all likelihood an even more consistent, higher quality, transaction-by-transaction end product despite the backlog.
Service is the competitive differentiator in today's market of low-margin, commoditized products; it's paramount to meet customer expectations to obtain and retain customers. As a result, the impact of backlogs and turnaround time degradations can be far more damaging than in prior days when products had advantageous and unique features. Whether from unexpected turnover, systems problems, weather shutdowns, or the double-edged benefit of a sales contest gone wildly successful, a sudden bottle-neck in service can have companywide implications. Consequently, leadership skills to quickly identify, address and remedy the situation are a necessity in today's operational executive's portfolio of tools.
Despite the critical need for well-honed service turnaround skills, many find the challenge exhausting and difficult to overcome-a fact exacerbated by the rapidly spiraling deterioration that typically results as status calls increase along with second and third requests, piling problems on the heap of service demands.
Sound familiar? In working with top executives across the industry, we have found this situation to be more common than may be expected, as the fine line between expense containment and service depth continues to be tightened, leaving less and less room for the unexpected. Unfortunately, more times than not, the solution applied is a boilerplate combination of overtime, temporary labor and temporary work redistribution to other departments. While eventually effective, this common strategy brings with it a litany of problems, including reduced quality, inconsistent service, increased errors, staff burnout and, often enough, new backlogs in the departments where work has been redistributed-a high cost to pay in the name of reduced expenses and staff efficiency.
What choice does a proactive executive have, knowing the inevitability of having to face this challenge? Overstaffing, while effective, brings with it higher operations costs and lower profit margins, as well as the overall deterioration of...