Operational Excellence Insights

Identifying where and what to improve with AI-powered recommendations

Written by Mike Lomman | Aug 21, 2024 9:02:47 AM

In our last post, we discussed the importance of regular capability assessments across your business. These assessments provide valuable insights into what’s working well and where improvement is needed. But collecting this data is just the first step. The real challenge lies in translating these insights into actionable improvements that accelerate growth and reduce internal misalignment.

By aligning your improvement efforts with both your business strategy and the assessment information from across the business, you ensure that you’re focusing on what truly matters. But how do you determine where to improve first, and what to prioritise? And perhaps more importantly, how do you make sure that these decisions are well-informed, data-driven, and reflective of your entire business, not just a part of it?

Taking a holistic approach: Focusing on what’s most important

When looking to improve, many businesses tend to focus on the most visible pain points or react to immediate challenges, such as:

  • hiring more people in response to customer complaints on slow delivery times,
  • increasing salaries to counteract an increase in employee turnover
  • Increasing marketing spend due to missing sales targets.

While this may provide short-term relief, it often fails to address the deeper, more strategic issues that could have a greater impact on long-term success.

A holistic approach to identifying areas for improvement takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture. By combining assessment data with your overall business strategy, you can pinpoint where in the business will have the biggest impact on achieving your goals. This approach ensures that improvements are not just reactionary but are aligned with where you want your business to go. It’s about focusing on what’s most important, not just what’s most urgent.

 

Using assessment data to inform what to improve

The insights gathered from regular capability assessments are the voice of your business. They reflect the reality of your operations and give you a clear view of where things stand. When used effectively, this information can also inform what to improve, ensuring that your efforts are targeted in the right direction.

Involving employees in this process is also a key cultural benefit. When employees see that their feedback and performance are being used to guide meaningful changes, it fosters a sense of ownership and inclusion. This can lead to a more engaged workforce, with employees who feel heard and valued. By using assessment data to inform what to improve, you’re not only making better decisions—you’re also building a stronger, more cohesive team.

 

The AI advantage: Making better recommendations

Identifying where to improve is no small task, especially in complex businesses. Very few individuals have a holistic view of the entire organisation, and expecting one person—whether that’s the CEO or another leader—to make all the decisions will eventually lead to blind spots and inefficiencies.

This is where AI can make a significant difference. Unlike a single human perspective, AI has the ability to process large amounts of data from across your business, providing a comprehensive view of your operations. It can analyse patterns, identify areas of improvement, and make recommendations that are data-driven and unbiased.

AI doesn’t rely on instinct or personal experience. It processes information objectively, which is particularly helpful in complex scenarios where the right path isn’t always clear. This removes the pressure from individuals to make every decision, ensuring that improvement recommendations are based on data rather than opinion.

With AI, you can also ensure consistency in decision-making. It evaluates your business holistically, so no part of the business is overlooked, and decisions are made with a full understanding of how different elements are interconnected. This leads to more balanced, effective improvements that drive overall growth.

 

OpsAdvisor: Integrating AI-powered recommendations into your business

At Precision Ops, we’ve made AI-powered recommendations an integral part of OpsAdvisor. By combining regular capability assessments with AI-driven insights, OpsAdvisor provides a clear roadmap for improvement, tailored to your business’s specific needs.

OpsAdvisor uses our propriery models which, when coupled with your business strategy and assessments, enables our AI to pinpoint where to improve—it also helps you understand what improvements will have the greatest impact in that area. With AI in support, you can trust that your decisions are backed by data and designed to support your long-term business strategy. This approach takes the guesswork out of continuous improvement, giving you the confidence to lead your business towards sustained growth.

When it comes to making improvements, the right insights are only half the equation. The other half is turning those insights into action. With OpsAdvisor, you can move beyond the data and start making the right changes at the right time, all with the guidance of AI-driven recommendations. 

Are you ready to take the next step? Learn how OpsAdvisor can help you transform insights into impactful improvements that drive your business forward.

 

Next....

Our next post inthis series will focus on using AI to support you and your team with how to make the changes.