What is the concept of Best Practices?
The idea is to do whatever we are doing, do the best possible way. In this world the possibilities are wide open and it is for us to discover or invent the way that can fetch us the best result. There is this constant endeavor to finding ways and means to do the thing that we are doing in a better way, and there is always that opportunity to grab the best position. The concept of best practice is a process, method or technique that has consistently been proven effective compared to other approaches or alternatives.
Why Organization need Best Practices?
The idea of organization is about organizing resources to perform a wide range of activities in achieving a common goal. The entire thing of planning to organize to executing depends on the way framework of working. The framework of working is nothing but a form of management practice. Hence, the organization to be at its best form needs practices to perform at its best term.
How to develop Best Practices?
In order to develop best practices, we need to first identify and define those practices. Easier said then done, these are difficult tasks and needs to be honed and harnessed. Once done we need the firepower. We need to allocate adequate resources for spending on its development. It needs support of both the money and the mind power. It is application of our creative mind to think through the systematic process of designing to developing. Hence, the role of mind minding to thinking maps to design thinking comes into play.
How Best Practices work in Organization?
Best practices are not arbitrary and random in nature rather they are product of objective and systematic working. They are made to work and there is a working framework that organization needs to structurally follow. Every organization can define their structure of working that is best suited to their form and flow of business working. It differs from organization to organization depending on their size or age or the stage they are in. Hence the best practices working needs to get customized to the exact nature of working of an organization.
Where to look for Best Practices?
There are many places to search the best practices but there are two broad ways of doing it. First, is the internal searching and second is the external searching. Internally it could be across different units and divisions of the organization. Externally it could be across companies in the same industry or could be across companies in different industries. Also, one can peep into vast body of published research papers and seek advice from professors from universities to professionals with domain expertise. There is no dearth of seeing best practices but the seeing to it that it is put to proper practice always remains a question mark.
What are the benefits of Best Practices?
The benefits of becoming a best practice organization are immense and multifold. The question is how we seamlessly unfold different blocks of benefits locked in the everyday practices that we keep doing. With best practices, the organization becomes more competitive. With best practices, the organization becomes more efficient. With best practices, the organization becomes more agile and responsive. With best practices, the organization nurtures a culture of innovation. Today, organizations are living in a business environment where innovation has become the de facto standard. Gone are the days where organizations had the luxury to or not to choose practice innovation.
When Organization share Best Practices?
When organization shares best practices, they augment their ability to solve problem to a higher level. The mistakes don’t get repeated. The resources get prudently deployed. Today, problem solving ability is not just about how efficiently we are solving problem but more importantly how that approach of problem solving is fostering a culture learning in the organization. Sharing best practices is an excellent way to craft a path for journeying towards being an innovating organization.
When a practice is termed Best Practice?
The yardstick to measure practice and declare it as best practice has to be result oriented. Just not producing a result but a superior result than the peer companies and doing so on a consistent manner, demonstrating its ability to sustain the high performance for a longer period. It simply cannot be a flash in the pan and the practice gets the tag of best practice. It needs to go through the grind and prove its mantle before it could qualify itself as being the best practice. There is a course it has to complete and there is a path it has to travel before it could reach desired destination. Hence, to term a practice as ‘best practice’, the practice must produce superior results than other alternative approaches or be considered the best standard way of doing things.
