What does consistency truly mean in the workplace? Why does it hold so much importance in today’s world? The world of entrepreneurship is changing, and any good organisation, striving to be the leader in their market actually strives for consistent performance over perfection.
Consistency is a process repeated over a long period of time. How does Dominos deliver exactly the same pizza across the country at any given time? Brushing your teeth for one day does not reward you with clean white teeth. But do it for 10 years, and it gets you an escape from the dreadful visit to the dentist and protects you from all sorts of dental problems.
Now, it is easy for me to simply talk about why being consistent is important. The question is, how do you develop it? And that is exactly what we are going to talk about today. Follow these steps to develop consistency in your life and business.
The TATA Framework
Air India was widely regarded as one of the least punctual airlines in India over the years, a reputation no big organisation wants to withhold. The Tatas took over the airline in January 2022 for a winning bid of ₹18,000 crores.
Today, Air India is one of the top three airlines in timekeeping in India since August 2022.
However, no one can turn around the performance of such a big organisation in one day.
This is where Tata focused on the one thing that mattered most. The customers’ needs.
What matters the most to a passenger onboarding a flight? Not the small seats, the food quality, or the air hostess. All they care about is the time they reach their destination. And this is what the TATA Group put their attention to.
They focused on the single most important task to improve Air India’s performance and developed it immensely over the one year. This is the first step to being consistent, shifting your attention to a goal that matters the most, and creating a framework that helps you reach it.
Setting a Clear Standard
In the startup world, a new product is first introduced as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
An MVP is a product in the early stages of development with enough features to attract a group of customers. Eventually, the product reaches its final design. An MVP is where you begin. The final product is where you reach. But you reach the destination if you have a consistent process.
What are the things that you need to do every day that will help you gain the attention of the customers? Identify them. Establish your standard and the parameters that you need to focus on, and transform it into a tool that helps you maintain your consistent performance.
Culture For Consistency
How do you put clear standards? By building the right culture. Which of the following is the most important part of a company’s culture? Free food? Perks and incentives? Better pay? My answer, is none of them.
The culture of a company can be described by two parameters – How your team interacts with each other, and how well they work together makes for the culture of a company.
The people are responsible for the company’s culture. As soon as they begin working well with each other, the workplace becomes more predictable. And predictability is a way to develop ease in the workplace.
Why is a person more comfortable at home? Because they know their family members inside out. They know how they react, and how they communicate, and some even recognize the sound of their footsteps on the stairs.
Once this culture is established in a company, it becomes much easier to set the parameters to reach a goal, and one does not feel disconnected from why they are doing what they are doing.
[Small Business Expansion and Growth Strategies for 2023]
Conclusion
Setting a goal and the parameters to reach it leaves you only with following up on it and doing it every day. Being consistent is only an exercise when you do it consciously. Over a period of time, your mind and body get used to the routine, and you and your team will be performing the tasks unconsciously. Remember, it only takes 21 days to develop a habit, but it takes 66 Days to maintain it over time.
