With advertising revenues still in decline, and increased investment required in digital, many publishers are having to review their editorial, advertising and marketing costs.  The temptation is to simply cut back on pages and editorial content, but this runs the risk of reducing value to readers and advertisers.  The situation is further complicated by the need for editorial, advertising and marketing teams to work across print and digital platforms. I believe publishers can learn from manufacturing and service industries, who have been practising lean operations techniques for several years, and using them to prioritise what really matters to customers, identify the wasteful activities and create new more effective processes. Here’s a simple introduction to lean operations thinking for publishers: (more…)