2.2 Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is a goal that even the best performing teams should constantly pursue. A high-performing team may be strong enough that small problems go unnoticed until they become big problems. The pursuit of improvement provides an opportunity to identify and address these issues before they impose a significant cost.

2.2.1 Lessons-Learned Processes

Level: Basic

Your team has a lessons-learned process to facilitate learning from wastes, bottlenecks, and failures. This process incorporates post-mortems or other methods of team-based learning.

A defined lessons-learned process is necessary for continuous team improvement and to prevent failures from recurring. Retrospectives, post-mortems, and other post-incident debriefs are forms of active knowledge sharing that provide valuable opportunities for individual team members to re-evaluate their learning by drawing upon the insights of others.

2.2.2 Actionable Learning Practices

Level: Basic

Your team follows a defined approach to implementing the results of any lessons learned. This approach is effective and includes the use of refreshers to ensure that learning is retained long-term.

Using a defined approach to implement the results of any learning activities helps to ensure the learning process provides actionable results. Teams can make use of refresher training and check-up assessments to ensure the insights gained from these learning experiences continue to remain operative for as long as they are useful.

2.2.3 Challenge Identification Practices

Level: Basic

Your team has a clear understanding of the major challenges it faces, and has identified the barriers it will need to remove in order to overcome those challenges successfully.

The challenge management process begins with an assessment of the major immediate and upcoming challenges facing your team, followed by a determination of the actions that should be taken to overcome those challenges. Both parts of this process should involve input from all team members, as well as consultations with other teams who may possess insights into the issue or be otherwise impacted by it.

2.2.4 Team Development Practices

Level: Intermediate

Your team’s collaborative processes improve teamwork and provide opportunities for the team to identify any skills that should be prioritized for professional development.

When all team members take part in core project activities, such as bringing in new work, it becomes easier to identify which skills should be prioritized for future development. To ensure that all vital skills are accounted for, team members should work together to decide who will pursue which necessary skills.

2.2.5 Progress and Improvement Tracking

Level: Intermediate

Your team is performing better now than six months ago. You are able to support this assertion through the use of OKRs, KPIs, or other objective performance standards.

Continuous improvement is necessary for the long-term viability of any business. To evaluate improvement in a critical, objective manner, it is necessary to use metrics linked to specific aspects of team performance.

2.2.6 Vision of Success

Level: Advanced

Your team has a vision of success that includes defined short (3-6 months) and mid-term (6-18 months) improvement goals that all team members are both aware of and committed to achieving.

Your overall vision of success acts as a guide to inform the development of smaller-scale improvement goals. It is important to advertise your vision to teams in order to ensure that the purpose of each improvement goal is fully understood and believed-in by team members.