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Continuous Innovation and Process Development Training
course
Management & Leadership
Course Overview
Innovation is more than a buzzword; it is a critical skill and a strategic asset for any organization. In today’s competitive business environment, leaders must constantly seek new approaches to operations, process improvement, product and service innovation, and organizational problem-solving. This Continuous Innovation & Process Improvement training course equips participants with the skills and mindset to drive deliberate, proactive innovation across all areas of their organizations. While product and service innovation is important, the course also emphasizes enhancing internal processes for sustainable performance improvement.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand and appreciate the principles of continuous improvement and innovation.
- Acquire skills to plan, organize, conduct, control, and evaluate deliberate change initiatives.
- Identify opportunities for innovation and performance improvement in internal and external business environments.
- Apply systematic continuous improvement and innovation processes effectively.
- Demonstrate leadership, adaptability, learning through trial and error, and adjustment to change.
Course Audience
This course is designed for:
Line and functional managers, and professionals responsible for strategy, marketing, business development, operations, HR, product development, or other key business functions.
Intermediate and advanced managers, team leaders, and supervisors across all sectors—private, public, profit, and not-for-profit.
Course Methodology
The course uses a combination of interactive and practical learning methods to maximize participant engagement and skill application:
- Interactive Presentations: Clear explanations of key concepts and frameworks.
- Case Studies: Real-life examples for practical application.
- Group Exercises & Workshops: Encourage collaboration and problem-solving.
- Practical Simulations: Hands-on activities to apply innovation and process improvement tools.
- Discussion & Reflection: Share insights and lessons learned to enhance understanding.
- Continuous Feedback: Immediate guidance and coaching to reinforce learning.
Course Outline
Day 1: Continuous Improvement
- Background to the Quality Movement.
- Process evolution (continuous) vs. revolution (step change) improvement.
- Strategic choices: meeting customer needs.
- Identifying sources of change in external and internal environments.
- Innovation through creative destruction.
- Understanding why organizations fail.
Day 2: Identify and Solve Problems
- Managing different types of change.
- Differentiating problem-solving, performance improvement, and innovation.
- The problem-solving cycle.
- Problem identification techniques: 5 Whys, Root Cause Analysis.
- Questioning techniques to ensure the right problem is solved.
- Problem-solving techniques: SSM, CATWOE, Mind Maps, Brainstorming.
Day 3: Delivering Change and Improvement
- Maintaining focus on objectives and outcomes.
- Aligning business processes to deliverables.
- Process mapping and business process management.
- Cost of poor quality: value chain analysis.
- Roles in change and improvement initiatives.
- Fail fast: conducting test/pilot projects.
Day 4: Creating a Culture Supporting Innovation
- Governance structures to support improvement.
- Performance metrics and measurement.
- Evaluating and comparing results.
- Creative methods: lateral thinking, Delphi technique.
- Coaching and improvement frameworks: Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen, TQM.
- Juran’s spiral of progress: monitor, review, report, adapt.
Day 5: Leadership Attributes for Innovation & Improvement
- Go/no-go and resource allocation decisions.
- Dealing with the unexpected and overcoming obstacles.
- Leading by example and championing change.
- Understanding how change and learning occur.
- Motivation and morale in a continuously changing environment.
- Overcoming resistance to change and understanding why innovation is challenging.