What Is a Pipeline in an Improvement Context?
Think of your pipeline as a visual representation of all the improvement opportunities flowing through your team. From the initial inquiry or idea through to a project launch and delivery, your pipeline should capture each key stage of progression.
Typically, this could include:
- Initial request or idea
- Scoping and feasibility review
- Prioritisation and approval
- Planning and resource allocation
- Project kick-off
Defining each stage clearly allows for better communication, alignment, and control.
Criteria for Progression
What’s even more important than the stages themselves is having clear criteria for moving an opportunity forward — or deciding to pause or reject it.
Ask yourself:
- Does this opportunity align with our strategic priorities?
- Do we have the right skills and capacity to deliver it?
- What’s the expected impact or value?
These decision-making rules should be agreed upon and consistently applied across the team to avoid confusion or misallocation of resources.
Prioritising the Right Work
Internal improvement teams are often asked to support a wide range of activities — from training delivery to leading transformations, or even managing projects unrelated to improvement. It’s essential to define what should be in your pipeline, and what should not.
Not every request deserves your team’s time. A mature team is clear on its remit and has the discipline to say no or redirect work that doesn’t fit.
Forecasting Capacity
A well-managed pipeline doesn’t just help with prioritisation — it also supports capacity planning. By looking at what’s coming down the line, teams can prepare the right resources and capabilities in advance, reducing firefighting and last-minute scrambles.
This forward view is critical to keeping delivery smooth and avoiding bottlenecks or burnout.
A Final Thought
If your team doesn’t yet have a visual pipeline with clear stages and decision criteria, now’s the time to build one. It’s a key lever for improving focus, accountability, and overall performance.
Next up in this series is Organisational-Wide Engagement.
Ready to see how your improvement team stacks up?
Want to discuss a Team Maturity Assessment and start benchmarking your team against best-in-class practices? Get in touch today.
