A3 is a versatile problem-solving method and continuous improvement tool. It’s called A3 because it fits on a standard sheet of paper. Download our free A3 template and you’ll have everything you need to get started.  Why to Use A3 A3 is a step-by-step approach for applying plan-do-check…

Decision making, even with the best intentions, can be difficult, particularly when you have competing opinions and priorities.  For example. What is the best course of action when you get a bonus check from work based upon your performance or the organization’s quarterly performance?…

“This will kill small companies.”  “This” refers to the increasing complexity in sales and contracting processes. Dramatic sentiment? Yes, and this statement reflects the frustration I’m hearing from small service providers dealing with large, global buyers that have adopted a “one size…

Order-to-Cash (O2C) is a critical end-to-end process that, when optimized, creates a seamless value chain from customers to the business. But for many organizations, O2C has been a particularly gnarly set of processes to optimize. Its domain stretches across functions and organizational boundaries…

The world is rethinking where and how people work—and how technology can best support that work. This transformation affects both what knowledge management is capable of and what organizations need from a good KM program. Recognizing that things are changing quickly, APQC launched new KM Trends…

Over the last four years, the need for end-to-end processes has become pervasive. In fact, it’s been the number one priority in BPM challenges and priorities since 2018. To further emphasize the drive to end-to-end, our need to holistically view how work gets accomplished was reinforced by the…

Good check-in meeting questions are relevant and evocative. Tactical yes/no questions and status updates are best handled as they arise in the course of day-to-day work. In the check-in meeting, you should dive deeper into challenges, opportunities, and successes. For meeting structure and…

Every two years APQC conducts a survey that explores process frameworks. How do people use them? What are their benefits? And where do folks get hung up during implementation?  So, what did we find in this year’s survey? Overall, the applications and implementation of frameworks is…

Businesses today are facing urgent workforce challenges. The pressure is on HR to be at the top of its game. Yet, barriers threaten to hold HR back. In this blog, I share one action (spoiler alert: its closing HR skills gaps) that HR functions and HR professionals will want to take today to get on…

Let me start by saying that this blog is not going to be for the faint of heart or the hypersensitive types. I plan to hit readers square between the eye, but before I say much else, I want to go on record as saying that I love working in human resources.  I have loved it for almost 27 years…