Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast
In today’s collision repair world, the one thing we do not have enough of is time. We are plagued by insurance-imposed cycle times, customer demands, and a variety of different issues that all add up to the same thing, the vehicle must be delivered as fast as possible.
What ends up happening in most shops is this; there is more pressure on the front office from the insurance companies and customers, which means more pressure on the shop to get the job done quickly. More pressure on the shop turns into rushing through the jobs, processes, and SOPs to get the job done faster. This leads to quality issues, re-do’s, mistakes, and a whole lot of other things that end up slowing you down or hurting your facility.
When we are working with new technicians, or even experienced ones, we always remind them that speed, efficiency, and quality comes with practice. I recently came across a mantra that the Navy Seals use, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast” which summarizes what we teach very well. Take your time, get it right, follow the steps, don’t cut corners, and don’t rush. When you rush, you make mistakes.
One thing that is implied but not outright mentioned in this mantra, is consistency. You can be consistently bad or consistently good, it just depends on what you’ve been practicing. If you continually cut corners, rush, and don’t follow the proper steps, you are more than likely going to have issues. Sure, you may deliver jobs faster, but it is usually at the expense of the quality of work which opens a huge can of worms down the line. What we like to teach is that if you consistently and methodically follow the proper steps, become mindful of what you are doing, and complete every job to a certain set of standards, you will be a better technician, employee or even manager, in the long run.
“Slow is smooth” does not actually mean move slow physically, it just means, be mindful and properly execute the task by following the proper steps. “Smooth is fast” means that through your consistent mindfulness and proper execution, you become faster through that proper repetition and practice.
We know that there will always be exceptions and circumstances that arise however, most of the work in your facility should be able to flow through the shop without any issues. When you practice the mantra “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”, You create an environment where employees and technicians are aware and cognizant of what they are doing which leads to cooperation and communication between departments. And when you have good cooperation and communication between departments, you have a smooth-running facility. And when you have a smooth-running facility, you have a fast-running facility.
