In Cannabis, Consistency Counts

One vital prerequisite to enhancing operational performance can be summarized in one word: consistency.

Operational inconsistencies are pervasive in every cannabis business:

> The many workarounds in production and fulfillment;

> The myriad of IT systems, data formats and reports in use;

> The inability to maintain product profiles and be 'on brand'

The result: under-performing assets, poor strategic execution, weak employee engagement and brand confusion.

Management guru Stephen Covey described consistency “as doing the right things, right, all the time”.

Precisely.

Accentuating consistency across key facets of your business – systems, policies, procurement & activities – will deliver many benefits including:

+ Increased efficiency through best practice standardization

+ Greater business focus, alignment & resilience

+ Reduced cost, errors & duplication

+ Higher brand loyalty

Becoming a consistency-driven firm requires managers to consider what they do, buy and produce through 3 lens:

1. Granularity – The tasks, values & products (TVP) that would benefit from consistency;

2. Elevation – The acceptance of the current practice or the creation of a new standard that elevates target TVP;

3. Repeatability – The ability to repeat that standard over time and across the enterprise.

It’s not advisable in the beginning to try ‘boiling the ocean’. I recommend businesses focus on consistency mandates in 3 mission-critical areas:

(1) Product - hitting target product attributes like THC, bud size, and terpenes plus service levels;

(2) Brand - communicating your brand strategy, message and personality;

(3) Management Practices - how we make high-risk decisions, evaluate staff, undertake post-harvest processing, and procure equipment & IT

Before kicking off your consistency journey, consider these lessons from my previous consulting projects:

--> Becoming 'consistent' necessitates understanding the importance and costs behind target policies, systems and practices (implicit and explicit).

--> Consistency plans follow a rough 80/20 rule with regards to ease of implementation and payback. For example, improving consistency in areas like curing and trimming will significantly improve product quality and reduce cost.

--> As you can surmise, operational consistency is much more than having good SOPs (though they do help) and motherhood corporate values.

--> Don’t be dogmatic. Some tasks like cultivation and brand building require as much art (i.e. creativity) as science (i.e. consistency)

--> Making consistency 'live' in your organization will require change management efforts.

--> Identifying the ‘low hanging’ TVP candidates will naturally fall out of complexity reduction initiatives.

Let’s talk about how I can help you create and sustain world class operations and capabilities.

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