The Effectiveness of Small Batches

A very simple habit you have experienced but may not have recognized can dramatically improve your effectiveness.

As we go through our day spending time in work meetings, reading/writing emails, taking care of logistical matters, making plans we feel very productive. We’d done a lot of work but have we gotten anywhere? We sometime loose sight of why we are doing all this and if what we are doing is the most effective. Its hard to figure this out sometime because life is a long journey.

The key to overcoming this challenge is to organize in small batches. We’ve actually been doing this all our lives but just did not notice or label this as small batches.

School

School is spread out over many years. We usually organize school on a yearly basis, then split into semesters or thirds. Classes are often split into units of learning as well. At the start of a class there is a course plan. Students do projects to learn and get evaluated during and at the end of the class. These are small batches.

Imagine if people started school at age 6 and told them it just keeps going and end around 18-22 years of age. Each day you learn something and every once in a while we’ll see how you are doing. They would have a hard time with this because 12-16 years is a very long time. Its very hard for anyone to handle this in one chunk for any reason.

Projects

We often take on projects to accomplish some goal. I recently wanted to construct a little free library. I made a plan, purchased materials and worked with my son to build it. Every week we spent a few hours building it. First we built the frame, then the roof, then the door. Finally we painted and installed the library in our yard. It was a 6 week long project. Another example of a batch.

Toyota & Tesla

Toyota is famous for the concept of small batches. They create a car design, manufacture it without changes for a month or two. Tweak the design based on what they learned and do it again. Tesla also does this. Their Model 3 changes every 6-8 months to fix issues they found on the last version, bring down costs, and make improvements.

Agile

This concept of small batches has been formalized as “Agile” and used in software development for 20+ years with great success. The Agile methodology is based on a batch called a Sprint which is a periods of time where the goal and work stay the same. At the begging of a sprint, the team decides on the goal(s) to focus on and the work to be done. Then during the sprint those items do not change. This allows the team to actually complete the work. At the end of the sprint the team reviews what has been done and any new information (called a retrospective) and repeats this process.

4DX – Four Disciplines of Execution

Small batches has also been formalized in the business world. One of those methodologies is called 4DX and was created by Franklin Covey. 4DX focuses on picking 1 or 2goals that matter, measurable goals to judge how those goals are being met, and doing small weekly batches to move towards the goals. Then the team reviews how things are going with a score board and adjusts as needed.

Why do Small Batches Work so Well?

Manageable – Planning and doing work for a small time like 1 or 2 weeks is very manageable. It can easily be planned, and completed. (Choosing 1 or 2 goals to focus on per week is also very manageable and effective since good progress can actually be made)

Fixed Target – During the batch, the goal and work stays the same (its not a moving target). This allows the team to actually make progress and hit the batch goal.

Flexible – Between each batch, a review is done, the direction of the next batch is determined, and course correction is done as needed. Things often change over time due to learning, market, and other factors. Course correcting in a methodical way is very helpful

Pipelined – While part of the team is making progress on a batch, a different part of the team can analyze and prepare for the next batch. The whole team does not need to wait to see the whole plan to get started.

Applying Small Batches for You

You can use small batches to help you be more effective.

At the start of each week

Choose 1 or 2 goals that you are going to focus on for the coming week.

Add tasks for those goals to make progress and make sure you have enough time to actually complete the tasks.

During the week

Do the tasks

At the end of the week

Look at what was completed, what you learned, and things you want to do better or differently next time.

Repeat the above each week

Small Batches Work

Using small batches allows you to make steady progress on the goals you choose to focus on. At the same time you can reflect on what you have done or what has changed and adjust course as needed. This approach has been used for many years by software developers and business folks with great success.