DURING the course of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, we have been dazzled by impressive feats of speed, skill, and endurance from the athletes. Beyond the awe-inspiring displays of talent and physique, it has been a pleasure to watch the athletes competing with each other. Several events were made more exciting by the tiny gaps that separated the victors from the vanquished. With split-second timing determining who wins a medal, it easier to understand the passion and energy put into the sport by the contenders.
Can you fathom the effort put into the improvements which are displayed only when the athletes race, swim, or jump during a few seconds or minutes? The bulk of their effort goes unnoticed until the competition itself. For the medalists, the future holds fame and fortune beyond the thrill of victory. Winners find a way to continually improve and extract performance gains with every ounce of effort applied. This thinking also applies to computing systems where optimisation techniques are used to improve the performance of existing systems. (See earlier article “Trading Space and Time” of 27-July-2016.)
Businesses benefit from this thinking too. Why require printed paper forms to be submitted instead of enabling online applications or accepting email submissions? Why join a queue inside, instead of using the ATM outside? As we have seen, Olympic athletes make significant sacrifices to train and achieve performance gains. They spend years preparing themselves for the next grand event, and we witness the outcome during a very short competition.
What about your business? Are you hearing your customers’ complaints or acting on them to deliver improved service?
Consider these questions to help identify where change may be needed:
* Do standard activities take too long to be completed?
* Do you even measure the time taken to deliver your service?
* Are you achieving the expected capacity?
* Do you listen to what the customers are saying?
Generally speaking, listening to the customer is a good start. Being prepared to deliver a better service is another step. Computerising your workflow and reducing your use of paper is another way to help improve your service. Like an Olympic athlete, you should aim for your internal changes to be noticed by improved output.
To share your views, contact the author at: www.datashore.net or via The VOICE.
About the Author
Dr.Lyndell St. Ville is an ICT Consultant based in Saint Lucia. His expertise includes systems analysis, design, and capacity building.