Productivity Pulse Episode 9 - Case Studies and More

In this episode, Sue and Simon explore essential resources for enhancing productivity and validating business cases. If you're seeking insights to inform your next project, this conversation is packed with valuable information.

Case Studies: Learning from the Best

Sue highlights the importance of case studies for anyone looking to build a solid business case. These real-world examples provide a deep dive into specific projects, showcasing what clients aimed to achieve and the results they accomplished. This firsthand knowledge can guide you in tailoring your own strategies.

"If you're trying to think about what will be the business case for a particular project, it's a good one to drill into and find out what somebody else's experience was." — Sue

Whitepapers: Broadening Your Understanding

In addition to case studies, Sue discusses the wealth of knowledge available in white papers. These documents offer a broader introduction to topics like improving productivity and workload modeling, featuring multiple case studies to illustrate different approaches. Ideal for those still narrowing down their options, whitepapers can provide the general learning needed to kickstart your projects.

"If you're still thinking about what you should be doing and want to get some general learning about what other people have done, then the white paper is a great place to start." — Sue

Further Learning: Books and Courses

Simon and Sue also touch on the book Every Second Counts, which compiles frequently asked questions and offers practical insights along with various case studies. This resource is particularly beneficial for those looking for quick wins in their productivity efforts.

From foundational training courses at the ReThink Academy to specialised workshops on workload modeling and methods study, there are numerous opportunities for deeper learning. As Sue notes, these courses can equip you with crucial knowledge and skills whether you're new to productivity or seeking a fresh perspective.

Upcoming Events and Resources

Don't forget to sign up for the ReThink Forum 2026 happening on September 10th in Birmingham. With over 200 episodes of the Productivity Podcast available, there's a wealth of information at your fingertips. Additionally, Simon and Sue announce a pause on the Basket and Barometer series, making way for new conversations, including the intriguing Hedaux Hogg and the Machines, focusing on AI's role in retail and hospitality.

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Transcript

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Simon 0:05

Welcome to the Productivity Podcast. We are here in audio and visual today, and there's only two of us because James is on holiday, so it's just me and Sue. Hi Sue. So broadcasting live from Rethink Towers. We're going to today take you through some information that you might find useful if you're looking to validate business cases, find out a bit more about productivity, have a specific user case in mind. All that great information's on our website, rethinkproductivity.co.uk. But Sue's just going to take us through a few of the important sections and we'll provide links as ever in the show notes. So Sue, I think first of all, you wanted to start case studies?

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Yeah. Case studies are great if you want to almost deep dive into what other people have done. So generally, our case studies will about be about one project. So where a client has changed, done a study with us and looked at an aspect of their operation. It covers what we did, what they were trying to achieve, and then what was the results of the as a you know as a consequence of all that work. So it's really good if you're trying to um think about what will be the the case, business case for a particular project. So when you've already got a project in mind, it's a good one to drill into and find out what somebody else's experience was.

Simon 1:20

Okay, so that's case studies, and then we've got more generalists, we've got white papers, haven't we? And I know there's a there's a number of them on there.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Yes, so we've got a number of white papers that are broader, so they cover topics like um improving productivity, load modelling, that sort of thing. And they give you more of a broad introduction to the topic, and they do feature case studies, but they've got multiple case studies, so it gives you a a number of different views of how people have been tackling that area. So if you're at the stage where you're still thinking about what you should be doing and want to get some general learning about what other people have done, then the white paper is a great place to start because it it gives you a bit of background that hopefully will be useful, along with some multiple case studies. So if you're still narrowing down your options, it's a really good place to start.

Simon 2:13

And as well as also the book, isn't there? So every second counts, we've done a whole mini-series discussing each chapter a while ago, but that that's a good place for people to download and and maybe find the right chapter that's relevant for them.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah, so the premise of the book was what are the things that we're most frequently asked? What's the most frequently asked questions that that we face? So each chapter is based around those, which are essentially business problems that lots of people will be facing. And within that, it'll have some information, some theory around kind of what it is and and how it's uh how it affects the business. There are also multiple case studies in there. There's also ideas on things like quick wins. So if you're just starting to look at it, where you might get some quick wins on your own. So if you've got a topic that you're looking at, again, a really good place to look, some general information combined with case studies of what other people have done.

Simon 3:06

And all this is under the Learn section on the website. We've also got linked to sign up to the Productivity Forum 10th September in Birmingham this year, and then we'll announce next year's every single podcast episode's on there. So I think there's about 200 plus episodes now of the productivity podcast. We've touched on it before, Sue, but there's also information about the Rethink Academy.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yes, so the Academy is more if you want to get into doing things at a much deeper level. So you can train to be an industrial engineer. We're also offering an introduction to productivity course, which is more intended for people in perhaps something like retail operations or where your your job is to find opportunities, so it's to give you some background. It's really the all the things that I wish I'd known when I was first starting on my productivity career a long time ago now. So that's a really useful one. Two days for some general information to help you get set up. And whether you're new to it, so looking to learn some stuff, or actually you're just wanting some a bit of a fresh perspective, really useful way to do that. A similar one for workload models, so for people that are involved in modelling, which goes into kind of the theory behind modelling and you know where you get your times from and all those sorts of things, but importantly also covers thinking about the model as a strategic tool, how you manage change from it, how you use it internally and keep stakeholders on board and all that sort of thing. So it's it's not just kind of adding up numbers, it's much wider than that. About as I say, is used as a business tool. And then we also do a course in method study, which is more of a deep dive into if you've got a particular process that you want to look at and you want to learn a new technique to look at it, then the five-day method study course is a is a good one to do.

Simon 4:58

And we we shouldn't forget all the MTM courses as well that sit alongside so that that different methodology. And again, we've done a couple of mini-series on MTM and a recent one with Peter Kulin from the German MTM Association. So listen to those if you want to get into the detail.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

There's a new set of top line, those MTM courses are for I always think of them as a deep dive movement analysis. So when you've when you want to really drill down into the small movements and what difference that makes. So it's like it can either be something that's quick that's too fast to manually visually observe and record the times. So it's useful for those things. It's also really useful for things where you want to set up something like a workstation to make everything's as close as it can be so that you've got a workstation properly set up. But there's lots of different applications of that. But yes, useful to have some training in it too.

Simon 5:50

Absolutely. And there's a general news section which brings all this together so you can filter by white papers, podcasts, book, news, and obviously we publish monthly articles. You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter as well. So it's all there on the website. We'll pull it together with links in the show notes so you can easily access. Sign up for the newsletter, sign up for the forum if you've not registered because we're we're not far away now. Couple of updates on the podcast. So we're pausing the basket and barometer one for a while. So Dai's done a great job keeping us up to date. We're going to pause that for a while. We've got Head O'Hogg in the machines. So episode one of that's gone out. That'll be every kind of six weeks with Ed Hogg. We've got some guests coming on over the next month, a couple of months, and then we've also got a couple of other continuous series that we'll announce over the coming weeks. So lots happening in the world of productivity and rethink. Any final words to add to?

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Just for those that haven't listened to Head O'Hogg and the Machines and are wondering what on earth it is, it's actually you talking to Ed Hogg about AI, isn't it? And how it can where it's at. So it's it's really useful. There's obviously loads of stuff in the press and all over the place about AI, but to hear something that's really specific to how it's being used in retail and hospitality, I think was I don't think there's many places you can get that. And it was an interesting conversation. And it it's part of a series, I think. So I don't know where you're going next with it.

Simon 7:11

Well, it's a every six weeks, so much happens in the world of AI, six weeks will give us a a lifetime of conversation. My my job's to keep Ed simple. Ed's job is to keep it simple and give us all the relevant information of how your chat GPTs, your Gemini's, your claws, etc. uh are moving and what that means in real terms, you know, flash 3.6 to 3.7. So what what does that actually mean for people using it? And I think we're we'll start exploring more of the practical applications. There's been lots of headlines, and we talk about it in episode one, companies equipping frontline colleagues with co-pilots and that kind of stuff. But again, it comes to the so what, so what difference is it making? Or actually is it is it just marketing publicity and it doesn't really follow through into action. So it's interesting. It'll evolve as as we get used to it as well, but it's such a fast moving area that um six weeks is an eternity. Yeah. Perfect. Well, we'll pause there for Productivity Pulse episode nine and the three of us, because James will be back off holiday. I'll be back next month. Thanks.