ByMatthew Arnold
As many of you may know, I’ve worked in quite a few Local Authority Housing Benefit departments – these teams provide benefits to vulnerable adults to assist with rent and council tax payments if they are on low incomes. Not only is there usually ample scope for improvement, it also means those that need the…
ByMatthew Arnold
I read a fascinating book recently all about Ross Brawn’s achievement in F1, how he sees the whole team as a system, and the similarities with running any large organisation. Ross Brawn has played a major part in many leading F1 teams, including the winning streaks at Ferrari, Brawn GP and Mercedes. Having semi-retired a…
ByMatthew Arnold
My last two posts have been about queues – I promise, this will be last one about queues for a while….! This one goes back a few years, but I see it time and again, in offices, contact centres, post offices, coffee shops… I was helping a council with their Housing Benefits claims, and spending…
ByMatthew Arnold
In my last blog, I discussed the queuing issue at low-cost supermarkets, and mentioned the difference between the way Starbucks and Caffe Nero make your coffee order. Did you spot the difference the last time you were in? As I mentioned before, if you wonder in without looking, you’ll come out a few minutes later…
ByMatthew Arnold
There was a interesting item in the news a few weeks ago regarding a plateauing of sales at the discount food stores, relating to the shopping experience, particularly the often poor queuing process. Call me sad (!) but I regularly look at the different queuing systems businesses use. The post office. The benefits office. Petrol…
ByMatthew Arnold
I came across this little gem – a fantastic reminder of how people learn. I’ve seen many people (and experienced consultants) tell people how and what to change – and they always seem surprised when things don’t quite ‘stick’ in the weeks to come. Combining a “whole system” approach, together with an active “working-together” ethos during the change…
ByMatthew Arnold
This remains one of my favourite stories about how systems work together. We all know about the “5 Whys“. But how do you know how many times to ask “Why?” if you don’t fully appreciate the system in which you are working? (Clue: it’s not always 5 times…) The Lincoln Memorial story explains it beautifully. Initially, the authorities had a problem…
ByMatthew Arnold
If you always think as you’ve always thought, you’ll always do what you’ve always done. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. If you always get what you’ve always got, you’ll always think as you’ve always thought.
ByMatthew Arnold
For years (centuries?) there have been boundary issues, discussions and disputes between parishes, districts, boroughs and counties. Where are the lines to be drawn, and who takes responsibility? Each political area then has its own structure of management – and in most cases consists of: unpaid political leaders and members to give the strategic direction…
ByMatthew Arnold
Do you ever think that some of the management books and technical jargon are far more complicated than they really need to be? A recent podcast by the Freakonomics team reminded me of some simple service “production line” stuff that seems to get forgotten. Over the years, I have worked in many claims processing systems,…