Interdepartmental teams can break down barriers and find solutions to shared problems. Team partners may include managers, supervisors, employees, union representatives, external customers, vendors and agencies. There must be a careful analysis of the processes by which the county does business. The focus of process improvement should be on the customer and on work outcomes, with respect to human values. Identification of non-essential steps that do not add value to service or products, and ways to streamline and expedite work are necessary for successful process improvement.
Continuous improvement requires incremental improvements over time.
It does not rely solely on a single major change in the way business is conducted, although quantum improvements will be necessary for some specific programs. Value of improvement and professional standards are considerations in undertaking continuous improvement.