Incremental Improvement: The Compounding Effect of Small Wins

What is Incremental Improvement?

Improvement does not always have to be big and all-inclusive to be effective. There will be instances where bigger issues have to be solved with bigger initiatives, however, most often these bigger issues could have been dislodged with simpler and minute changes at the onset. To eliminate such instances, incremental change is the best method. 

Incremental improvement is a standardized approach to improving and optimizing business processes. This approach emphasizes smaller changes, upgrades, or corrections that will offer positive outcomes in the future. It also ensures issues will not culminate in a huge challenge in the future. One of the primary advantages of incremental improvement is its highly manageable scope. The ideas and methods for incremental improvement are small and low in cost and risk. This makes it a viable option to implement at any time with much fewer resources and planning. 

Why does Incremental Change Matter More? 

What if you could achieve more by improving 1% every day? Most business leaders and decision-makers look forward to radical changes that will bring an immediate surge in processing and operational excellence. Yet, when you trace the most significant and successful endeavor initiated by the organization, it will be these minute, minimal changes made. This approach comes with minimal effort and delivers the most significant result, allowing teams to make consistent and small steps. Hence, incremental change is a crucial initiative to invest in. 

This can be seen in the case of Henry Ford, where his team focused on incremental improvement initiatives that led to a revolutionized mass production, making the brand a popular and preferred choice. His company continues to be one of the top producers in the automobile industry. 

Hence it can be inferred that incremental changes are relevant and important to organizations, delivering –

• Sustainable progress
• Amplified resistance against risks
• Continuous learning opportunities

The Psychology and Culture of Incrementalism 

Innovation is not only a strategic or a technical concept. It has a psychological dimension to it, influencing employees and how motivated they are. Teams that understand the significance of small yet consistent contributions, experience better success rates and often stay engaged and motivated in their work. This develops a culture of innovation, scalability, and commitment to customer requirements. 

This approach is inspired by the concept of Kaizen, a Japanese business philosophy that emphasizes continuous improvement. The idea urges small and meaningful steps for improvement instead of just waiting for a sudden, grand, and sweeping change. The 1% continuous improvement requires only minor adjustments by individuals in their respective roles. These start to accumulate over time, leading to a significant boost in efficiency. 

So, how does this approach work? The answer is simple, when employees embark on small changes, it is usually less intimidating and can be achieved easily. This reduces strain and mental resistance which is often the case in large-scope projects. Hence, there is no psychological pressure, overwhelming the employees and affecting their ability to use their complete potential. Minor-degree changes are much easier to incorporate into the existing routine, making it sustainable and consistent. 

These micro-changes evolve to become a habit that eventually builds momentum, leading to improved outcomes. This in turn builds motivation in employees and positively impacts the results in the long run.

Pitfalls of Overnight-Success Improvement Haul

Incremental improvement is a fundamentally different approach in comparison to “overnight success” in terms of growth and output delivery. Most often, the process improvement is initiated as an organization-wide drive which tampers with the stability of the work. On the other hand, the concept of incrementalism allows teams and even individuals to focus on steady and consistent actions that are easily manageable and volatile to immediate changes. 

What makes incremental changes a better approach than overnight success-oriented change initiatives? Some of the reasons are – 

• An overnight hit approach often comes with an inherent fragile mindset. The system finds it difficult to manage drastic change due to the lack of a proper foundation. 
• The attempt to go for quick gains over an initiative that is set on long-term strategy often ends up crumbling with pressure.
• Overnight haul requires immediate adaptation to the new setting, allowing no space for nurturing it as a habit. 
• There is no scope for employees to build confidence or gain momentum in the sudden improvement plan. 

Imagine trying to learn a new skill overnight and learning it every day for 15 minutes. The latter might seem slow, however, will offer a better understanding and success rate. 

Core Benefits of Incremental Improvement

With a one-step-at-a-time approach, the incremental improvement method becomes an advantage to teams in changing the core setup of processes with simple and small-scale changes. Here are some notable benefits of continuous incremental improvement habits to look into. 

Improvement Steps are Easier 

Incremental improvement initiatives are relatively small-scale and can be planned with much less time and resources. It has a low barrier to implementation and in case of any failure, which is less likely to happen, can be rectified immediately as only a 1% incremental amount of improvement was achieved. 

The Improvement Ideas Come with Limited Risks

Incremental ideas are generally less invasive into the process and can be tested in a limited work area and then implemented across processes. Hence, the risks that they come with are highly limited. 

Small Process Improvement is Met with Little Resistance

Organizations often face high resistance from the workforce when a significant change-causing initiative is introduced into the work dynamic. For this, business teams have to invest in change management methods and tools to reduce its impact. With incremental improvement methods, the need to have change management is eliminated due to the significant reduction in employee resistance.

Improvement is Cheaper

Incrementalism improvements are cost-efficient endeavors. These initiatives generally use already existing resources such as infrastructure, knowledge base, and human resources. Moreover, there are no additional expenses like research, equipment, or construction, removing the need for capital expenditure. Team members can initiate such incremental changes without any extra costs. 

Improved Staff Engagement

When it becomes an opportunity to bring in collective knowledge, it makes business projects better. The employees have a collective consciousness of responsibility and recognition drives employee engagement and improves voluntary participation. 

Compound Growth

Smaller and consistent steps result in compound growth which is often unforeseen and groundbreaking. With a 1% performance improvement, a compound growth, that is 37 times better, can be seen much later. This is the impact of smaller changes toward growth. 

Promotes Consistency

Minimal improvement needs require everyday efforts that reinforce consistency. Hence, incremental improvement is something that encourages growth. 

Builds Confidence

Improving one’s performance builds immense confidence. No matter how relevant the change made is, it encourages the employee to perform better. This paves the way for the confidence to take up bigger challenges. 

Encourages Mindful Reflection

The journey of performance improvement offers an opportunity to have a mindful reflection on the efforts that one puts in. It allows your employees to understand the actions, decisions, and outcomes, and make necessary changes. 

Businesses That Benefit From Incremental Improvement 

Any kind of business can benefit from incremental improvement methodologies. For instance, companies that deal with customer success and retention must revamp processes to meet end-user expectations. Instead of hopping in for a complete restructuring of processes, everyday efforts can bring exponential growth and value internally and externally. Here are some examples of businesses that can leverage incremental continuous improvement.  

Businesses Dependent on Customer Experience

Businesses that are dependent on customer satisfaction can leverage incremental change to their advantage. The employees are the entities that come in direct contact with the end-user, the customers. An employee, who is looking to improve their tasks by 1% every day, offers their best to the customers. This way, a structured process is set in place, allowing your workforce to deliver top-notch service. 

Businesses Investing in Employee Engagement 

Employee engagement is a key factor that ensures better processing and operational excellence. To drive employee engagement, it is important to keep them motivated and recognized. This is where incremental improvement initiatives deliver the intended upgrades. Employees are empowered to improve their tasks and find solutions that they think are beneficial to the servicing. 

Businesses with Limited Resources

Doing more with limited resources is the core of incremental improvement. Therefore, this approach becomes best for businesses that refrain from large-scale process improvement initiatives. This approach does not involve investing in any extra resources. All you have to do is make your performance better each day. 

Examples of Successful Incremental Improvements 

Toyota – Continuous Improvement (Kaizen)

Approach – Toyota is one of the many companies that invested in a continuous improvement approach. By leveraging the Kaizen philosophy, the company has been making significant developments with entry-level incremental change. Employees themselves are encouraged to detect inefficiencies and make necessary changes accordingly.

Result – The minor changes created a significant impact on the production system, establishing the Toyota Production System (TPS). This eventually became the model for lean manufacturing across the globe. It required a minimal budget, resources, and infrastructure. 

Amazon – Focus on Customer Experience

Approach – Amazon went on an operations improvement haul by incorporating small and data-driven steps to elevate customer experience. This included providing AI-assisted features and purchase options. 

Result – Incremental changes paved the way for Amazon to be one of the best e-commerce, logistics, as well as cloud computing solutions, simultaneously making a great impact on customer satisfaction. 

Apple – Increment improvement in Product Innovation

Approach – Apple is a brand that is popular for its incremental product updates. By staying true to the core model/structure, Apple has been gradually refining product specifications and innovation methods, and creating impactful improvements. 

Result – With the consistent upgradation of its products, Apple has nurtured a strong and loyal customer base. This makes Apple one of the most innovative companies. 

How to Go About Incremental Changes?

Incremental changes can be done at the personnel level, however, small-scale planning can make it much easier, error-free, and goal-oriented. Here are some important steps that can make incremental initiatives meaningful and impactful. 

Identify the Areas for Incremental Changes 

The first step forward is analyzing the current status of the processes and their drawbacks. This can be done through proper assessments to identify areas of improvement. For starters, it is ideal to focus on smaller and gradual changes that could significantly change the trajectory and efficiency of the processes, making them productive and sustainable.

Set Small Goals and Milestones 

The next step is to set small and clear goals to achieve. This will allow your team to come up with plans to achieve these milestones. These goals could be anything from working on improving productivity to enhancing employee well-being. Moreover, setting bigger goals and breaking them into smaller milestones can also help achieve them faster, aiding to contribute to the overall organizational objective.

Devise Strategies for Implementing Continuous Improvement 

Although the set goals and milestones are minor and easily achievable, strategizing is an important aspect of business. Devising strategies for improvement allows a more standardized approach and enables the team to address issues quickly and target areas of improvement. Hence, it provides a standard framework for improvement. 

Overcome Challenges and Setbacks

Even though the changes might not seem significant, they still can be fenced by different challenges like impatience, the dilemma between being consistent and perfect, the ability to deal with setbacks, and the temptation to go back to old habits. These must be overcome with consistency in improvement habits and fixed processing structure.

Tools and Techniques For Continuous Incremental Improvement

Here are some of the essential tools and techniques to ensure a successful continuous incremental improvement. 

Goal-setting Frameworks

Goal-setting frameworks like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) allow business teams and employees to navigate their improvement initiatives more efficiently. A different approach is habit stacking, where new habits are nurtured by anchoring to the existing ones. This can be exponentially increased with multiple add-ons. 

Tracking Progress

Keeping track of the progress will reinforce responsibility and accountability for the improvement steps. Tools like habit trackers are excellent solutions for leveraging that will keep track of multiple tasks. Apart from these, on a personal level, journaling is the best way to keep track of your progress, motivating you to do more. 

Reflection and Periodic Assessment 

Regular assessments and revamping of your everyday efforts are important for staying relevant in the work that you do. This can be done weekly or monthly to assess the effectiveness of the changes made. This will help you analyze what worked well and what did not. Doing so allows you to celebrate little milestones. 

Leveraging Technology

Technology has come a long way that offers robust solutions for literally everything. AI-powered productivity software like Cflow can enhance and simplify processes to the core, making it easy for businesses to improve them. The platform can be used to assign work with reminders and notifications, enabling the work to be completed in the stipulated time. Every step of the process is streamlined, improving transparency. Reports and analytics let you understand the process better. 

Cflow’s Excellence in Incremental Improvement

Cflow is an AI-based workflow automation platform that offers a no-code orientation in process automation. Cflow is best suitable for SMBs and enterprise businesses which can be leveraged to enhance productivity by automating repetitive tasks. This allows the team to focus on tasks that matter and require their attention. Notifications and reminders can be set, ensuring no tasks are missed or pending. The tool comes with solutions like intelligent document processing, integration, and approval management, allowing teams to be productive and seamless.

Conclusion

As the popular idiom goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, it is crucial to remember that success is built in a series of small steps. This emphasizes factors like consistency, patience, and focus. So, it is the everyday efforts that count to make your success remarkable. When in business, incremental improvements show better results than an overnight booming initiative. Invest in productivity-enhancing software like Cflow to start your incremental improvement journey. Sign up on Cflow and talk to our experts today!

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