From Problem to Solution: How Kaizen Ideas Are Born by Tamara Bilous
Bilous Tamara, project manager of the First Business Partner project, became one of the best authors of Kaizen ideas in the fourth quarter. For her, this was pleasant, but at the same time unexpected news. She admits: there was no special goal to submit the most ideas. It’s just that in daily work there are constantly moments when you want to improve, change, or make something more convenient.
In her work, Tamara is in constant dialogue with various divisions of the company — managers, clients, the IT team, and executives. It is in these conversations that ideas are often born. Sometimes it’s a remark from a manager, sometimes it’s a client’s feedback, and sometimes it’s just an observation of how a certain process works. Tamara jokes that she often becomes a kind of “vest” where people come with work difficulties: someone shares a problem, someone complains about the inconvenience in the process, and she collects these stories, analyzes them and tries to find a solution.
Interestingly, the team had implemented many changes before, without even formalizing them as kaizen ideas. They simply worked and improved processes in the usual way. Only later did her manager suggest recording these initiatives in the system. Then it turned out that there were actually a lot of such ideas - some of them were even already in the works at the time of submission.
At the same time, Tamara does not like to talk about “her” ideas. She is convinced that almost all of them are born in joint work. Someone is the first to notice the problem, someone adds their experience, someone helps to find a solution. As a result, a joint result is obtained, which improves the work of the entire team.
However, the path of ideas to implementation is not always easy. She frankly says that the formulation of kaizen ideas takes time. You need to describe the problem in detail, its causes and propose a solution. Because of this, many people sometimes choose the faster way - just to solve the issue in working order.
Tamara also does not hide that when a proposal is rejected or postponed, she reacts emotionally. Especially when after some time the same idea is still returned to. At such moments it is difficult not to think: “I told you about it”. But experience has taught her to take it more calmly - sometimes changes really need the right moment.
Tamara joined the company literally on the eve of a full-scale war. Her first working days fell on a very difficult period, when many processes had to be rebuilt literally from scratch. Some colleagues were out of touch, it was necessary to quickly find new solutions, get to know the teams, understand the processes and at the same time support the work. It was then that she delved deeper into the company's internal processes and met many people with whom she still cooperates today.
Iryna Arsenenko, the head of the "Responsible Storage" project, played a big role in her professional development. At first, their cooperation was quite demanding, but over time it grew into a real mentorship. Tamara recalls this period with warmth and says that it was then that she gained a lot of knowledge that helped her feel more confident in her role.
Tamara is a very straightforward and emotional person by nature. She is not afraid to express her opinion and always tries to defend ideas that she considers important. At the same time, work has taught her restraint: sometimes an idea needs to be not just expressed, but prepared, clearly formulated, explained its advantages and shown why it is really needed.
Outside of work, Tamara has an incredible number of hobbies. She is engaged in photography, cooking and confectionery, writes poetry, loves to run, is interested in needlework and even knows how to sew. She says that she has always loved trying new things, because different hobbies help develop thinking, discover new ideas and simply enjoy life. Perhaps it is this curiosity and openness to new things that help her notice opportunities for change where others see the usual work routine.