Opportunities and Actions

Using the Opportunity Board

We have all been there. Dealing with a pop-up issue that rears its ugly head way too often. Then there is the bad news. We generally deal with the issue in the moment and then forget about it. At least until it comes around to bite us once again.

This is where the opportunity board comes in. As these issues pop up, you and your team can immediately document the “opportunity” on a post-it and add the post-it to the opportunity section of the board. This makes the issue visible to all in your department and allows anyone to make action recommendations to address the issue in real-time. There is no need to remember to bring it up in your huddle as it is already right there in front of you at all times. Here is how it works:

1. The employee writes the barrier or issue they experienced on a yellow post-it and adds it to the opportunity side of the board. This provides visibility to the entire department of the issue.
2. If any employee has an idea to address one of the barriers, they move the post-it over to the action side of the board and adds a blue post-it underneath it with their proposed solution to the problem.
3. During the next team huddle, the group can collectively brainstorm additional solutions to any of the posted issues/barriers.
4. The parking lot section is there to collect issues that need to be addressed but can’t be looked at immediately.

You can take this problem-solving technique a step further by implementing the opportunity board’s big brother, the engagement board. The engagement board is similar to the opportunity board but adds a task management piece to the process. Both the engagement board and the opportunity board are further detailed in LLD’s new Strategic Planning and Ideation course. For more information on how to sign your team up for this workshop, please contact Scot Bolz.

-Scot

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