The feedback and success stories from How to Assemble, Develop, and Lead a High Performing Team seminar continue to stream in. I got an e-mail from a client who participated in the seminar alerting me to the story on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal because it built on an example I had used during the seminar. In the article, Gautam Naik writes about how the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London has spent the past two years integrating techniques from the Italian Ferrari Formula One racing team.

A particularly surprising statistic jumped out: in 2005, nearly 70% of preventable hospital mishaps occurred because of communication problems.

When errors occur in your business, it puts many assets at risk: money, time, reputation, and client satisfaction. Awareness and commitment are critical to overcoming these inefficiencies.

You can make gains in three easy steps.

1. Troubleshoot
First, identify an area that is underperforming in your business. It might be the time it takes to write a proposal. It might be faulty inventory controls that prevent you from running out of key supplies. It might be collecting outstanding receivables. Whatever area you select, review a one to six month period to find existing trends and to establish norms.

2. Raise the bar
Ask yourself what it would take to make a significant improvement such as time saving measures like collaborating with colleagues on reports and proposals.

3. Improve
Commit to improving the process and tracking it for at least three months. When you establish clear guidelines, such as "we'll get all proposals turned around in less than two business days and proposals for common projects will take up less than two hours" you have clear benchmarks to measure your progress against.

Your garage may take all day to check the oil and rotate your tires, but in a Formula One pit stop, they have their processes down to a science so they get it done in less than two minutes. You can do the same thing in your business. Identify an area and commit to a higher standard with your team. When you do, you'll build a stronger business.

Entrepreneurs can find more resources to build their business at: www.mybusinessgym.com
Bill Ringle works with business leaders from high tech and professional service entrepreneurs in the Greater Philadelphia region and shares the strategies and tools for accelerating growth through my Business Gym with business leaders from across the United States and in 15 different countries.