Preface

Pulse meetings and continuous improvement are ways of working that enable frequent follow-ups and many small improvements, to which everyone in the organization can contribute. These methods are useful in all types of operations and, when applied correctly, are effective in improving performance. We, the authors, know this from having worked in various operations ourselves, and through our work as consultants who provide external support to operations. However, too frequently we see the focus of discussion around pulse meetings and continuous improvement being reduced to what size the board should be, or whether a physical or digital board would be better, or what is the “correct” number of people on an improvement team. The purpose of this book is to describe and illustrate what really lies behind successful pulse meetings and improvement work. We present a structure, including the development of values and operational goals, that creates the right conditions for meaningful and effective follow-up, as well as for improvement work that focuses on the right things. Successfully working with this structure and designing and applying the methods on which the board rely is considerably more important than the precise composition of the board itself. We hope this book will inspire and support you in improving the performance of the operation you work in. It should be equally helpful to you whether you are planning the initiation of pulse meetings and continuous improvement or have these methods already in place. There is always something that can be improved as you seek to pursue constantly improving results.

We hope that our readers’ application of the message contained in this book will lead to improved performance, achieved through committed and motivated employees, in both the private and public sectors. We all benefit from this, whether we are employees, owners, customers or patients, or just part of the wider society that is better served when organizations function more efficiently.

Stockholm, August 2022 Per Petersson Björn Olsson Ola Johansson Martin Broman Dan Blücher Henric Alsterman

Preface