How to start small with any maintenance project 🔧

How to start small with any maintenance project 🔧
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It can be tempting to go all-in on a project and get big results as fast as possible. Unfortunately, that rarely happens. In fact, 70% of all projects fail. So what can you do to avoid a similar fate? Start small! 

Starting small means implementing an idea or project in small steps instead of all at once. In this post, learn the benefits of starting small, how you can start small in your next maintenance project, and when to take them from small to big.

 

 

Three benefits of starting small? ➕

Starting small eliminates a lot of the problems that plague larger projects, which helps you:

  1. Catch problems while they’re small and reduce risk: If something goes wrong or isn’t working, the consequences are contained. You can also identify and plan for risks when expanding the project.
  2. Get adoption and buy-in faster: Change is always hard, but is easier to navigate when it’s smaller. This gets people on board quicker, which gets you results faster.
  3. Implement projects with fewer delays: Starting small allows you to bypass a lot of red tape, make decisions faster, and get more done.

 

Eight ways to start small with your next maintenance project 🔩

One of the biggest choices you’ll make when starting small is where to begin.

Here are a few areas of your operation to test out a new idea:

 

How to know when you’re ready to go from small to big 🔹 ➡️ 🔷

There are three questions to answer if you’ve been running your project for a while:

Is it working?
  • Create clear benchmarks and ways to track progress
  • Talk to as many people as possible who are related to the project 
  • Learn what’s going right, what’s going wrong, and if those things can be replicated or solved
Is it ready to grow?
  • Make sure you’ve tested your idea for long enough (at least three to six months) to get accurate results
  • You should feel confident that any major problems and risks have been identified and addressed
  • Will a larger group of people will embrace the change
If it is, how?
  • There are two options: expand slowly or implement it broadly 
  • If widespread buy-in is unlikely, expand the project one shift, line, or facility at a time
  • If you decide to grow quickly, recruit major stakeholders from your pilot project to identify risks, train others, and be project champions

 

 

How do you kick off your maintenance projects? Have you tried one of these tips before? Let us know in the thread below. 👇

- Emma

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