Kaizen is a globally hailed approach applied for continuous improvement; it is powered with the concept that the small and ongoing positive changes deliver remarkable improvements. Kaizen uses a number of methodologies and tools like the value stream mapping that documents, analyzes and improves the information or processes for better quality and Total Quality Management (TQM that involves the workers at all the levels to keep the continuous quality improvement in mind.
With the passage of years, Kaizen found its applications in the education industry also. As of today, numbers of leading education businesses trust Kaizen for competing and successfully managing the challenges pertaining to ever-increasing expectations of students, teachers and other stakeholders.
Importance of Kaizen in the Education Industry:
The prevailing educational system and the literacy level of a society are the key indicators of its life quality. Economic mobility, wealth, crime, equality and politics are the five facets of society, which are highly affected by the education quality. Jobs requiring a higher level of quality education leads to the global job market.
The teaching and learning style affects the gained competency; here comes the role of technology and structured methodologies to make the education at each level just the best and better than before. Kaizen benefits the education industry in all the ten key domains like:
- Cost control for course conducting
- Process time reduction
- Improved service standards for the students
- Simpler administration
- More time available for teaching and admin staff to focus on other important tasks
- Cross-functional teamwork to reduce the waste of exercises
- More meaningful dialogue for improved workflow
- Results based inputs from different relevant sources in different verticals
- Insights to offer what is needed as per global education industry trend
- Monitored and managed growth with target profitability
Six Simple Ways to Introduce Kaizen in the Education Industry:
There are numbers of schools and universities that embraced Kaizen for overall improvement; the results were amazing in terms of quality delivered, students’ satisfaction, employees’ retention, hassle-free administration, and profitability, etc. Yes, Kaizen implementation takes time to deliver the expected results but it delivers if it is implemented strategically with the help of Kaizen specialist company like Ribcon Consulting. Here are six ways to implement Kaizen in your education business:
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Start with small:
If you are you adding Kaizen principles to education for the first time, it is good to identify an area to focus upon for the desired improvements. Encourage the teachers to focus upon five-S of Kaizen theory: sort, set-in-order, shine, standardize, and sustain. Allow some time to let the incorporated changes deliver; one you notice the expected benefits flowing in, expand the time for which you outsourced the Kaizen consulting services.
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Don’t invest your efforts to reinvent the wheel:
Use the available resources including skills of the experts in different verticals of your education business and plan to maximize the knowledge and skills of in-house employees through a continuous learning process.
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Think without limitations:
Eliminate all the traditional barriers of particular Jain boy roles. Kaizen implementation is the culture to welcome the new concepts and feedbacks from everyone irrespective of a position in your education business. Plan to improve institutional performance by increasing the efficiency of everyone through well-structured training. Leading Kaizen services providers do provide Kaizen implementation training at different levels for the groups and individuals.
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Align the training with goals:
Before designing the continuous learning program, define the goals. The training should be oriented to particular tasks and required skills; so that the knowledge and expertise gaps could be filled out. It will certainly improve the processes at all levels delivering the satisfaction to service providers and recipients both.
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Think with a long-term perspective:
Changes rarely deliver the expected results overnight; so, think for the long-term requirements keeping in mind the ever-changing conditions and challenges in the education industry. Consistency is critical for Kaizen implementation, whether you conduct orientation training for a new teacher or a group of faculty or admin professionals. Implement Kaizen with measurable goals and track the progress.
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Standardize the processes:
Standardization of teaching is a must to get all the Kaizen benefits. If you don’t get the expected results, evaluate the implemented ideas and make the changes according to data-driven analytical reports. The long-term perspective helps you watch the results of strategies for the change and to improve the way of implementation on the basis of feedback. Five minutes periodic meeting with different groups of faculty members, admin staff, support staff etc is highly beneficial to get insights into Kaizen culture development.
Challenges in Implementing Kaizen in an Educational Institute:
- Without intuitive 5S systems as defined in Kaizen methodology, the education business can’t survive to compete as a winner.
- Most of the employees take the explained improvements revolutionary and they become impatient with the introduced changes.
- Lack of commitment fails the Kaizen implementation.
- Management pays just the lip support for kaizen implementation; and transfer the whole responsibility of improving teaching quality over to teachers.
- Training on kaizen is not conducted on a regular basis for diverse groups of stakeholders that include students and parents also.
- Lack of readiness to embrace the changes introduced because of kaizen culture.
- Overemphasis for tying the kaizen implementation with KPIs measurements.
The solution to all the above mentioned and many others like the above is simple; just hire the best Kaizen consulting company for your education business. Share the identified problems, available resources, limitations particular business operational environment, and goals with the Kaizen consultant; let him design the best Kaizen implementation plan.
Review it for the desired changes and let the Kaizen consultancy company go ahead with agreed plans with the freedom to make changes anytime. The prominent Kaizen consulting companies like Ribcon Consulting offer comprehensive tailor-made services for the particular goals; customized comprehensive services include identifying the gaps for improvement, conducting classroom or online instructor-led Kaizen training or on-the-site training, data collection for reporting, results from analysis for further improvement, etc.
Concluding Note:
Meeting out the ever-growing and changing expectations of students according to the changing needs of the job market is the biggest challenge for the education sector business in addition to managing the rising operational costs. The introduction of new regulations makes the challenges more complex because education businesses are left to soak the increased cost.
Emerging new institutions providing similar education services also pose a challenge for the existing institutions. The only way to survive and grow in education businesses is to march ahead with confidence on the path of ‘continuous improvements for noticeable excellence’; and, there can’t be any approach better than the partnering with a reputed ‘Kaizen’ consulting agency.