Best Practice Duplication

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Just because a best practice is installed in one company location does not mean that it can also be installed successfully somewhere else. The problem is particularly pernicious when a company is attempting to roll out a best practice in numerous locations within a short period of time.

The basic underlying problem with duplicating a best practice is that employees in the roll out locations are given excessively brief descriptions of the nature of a best practice, so they really do not know what to do. The result is likely to be a change that varies from the original best practice - and probably in several key respects. An additional issue is that the employees implementing such an upgrade try to improve upon the original concept without even installing the original concept. The result is likely to be a reduced level of improvement from what was expected.

The elimination of all issues related to best practice duplication centers on two steps:

The proper documentation of an existing best practice, which means that all procedures, equipment layouts, forms, training, and so forth are captured. This information is then passed along to employees in the roll out locations as part of a complete training class.
The regimented rollout of this acquired knowledge exactly as it was originally assembled into a best practice. This requires that a certified expert in the best practice be on hand to roll it out in each new location.

In addition, employees at the new locations are not allowed to change any aspect of a best practice at all until they have achieved the results of the initial installation for several measurement periods in a row, thereby demonstrating that they understand the best practice thoroughly. At that point, it is more likely that any changes they make to the best practice will indeed improve upon it.