To organize for Lean means we need to shape our organization to
To organize for Lean means we need to shape our organization to
deliver value for customers.
Lean IT organizations ensure there is a strong customer orientation inthe way they are structured with their value streams. In this way, they:
Lean IT organizations ensure there is a strong customer orientation inthe way they are structured with their value streams. In this way, they:
- empower the people in the frontline of the organization to operate effectively and resolve problems quickly.
Performance dialogues help teams to:
Performance dialogues help teams to:
- discuss progress or problems and
- the cascading mechanism helps them to get support from a higher lever for rapid resolution.
Visual Management is about:
Visual Management is about:
- effective team communication, and
- real-time updates on the team’s work.
Team performance and workload is shared on the Day Board for visibility and effective team communication.
Rapid and effective communication is established when information can easily cascade through all levels of the organization.
Therefore, we need to:
Rapid and effective communication is established when information can easily cascade through all levels of the organization.
Therefore, we need to:
- Build an infrastructure of meetings so that ideas, suggestions and requests for help can flow readily through the channels of the organization. When an issue exceeds the mandate of a given hierarchical level, there must be an efficient information cascade to ensure that the request for support gets to the correct hierarchical level as quickly as possible, so the “support” is delivered as soon as possible
- Replace the old for the ‘new’ meeting structure: Making it more effective and efficient, including the participants who can decide on the relevant issues. Meetings in the new structure are time- boxed and tied together to ensure rapid decision making, and avoiding interruption or lack of focus
Common activities to align all agendas for optimal sharing of information are:
Common activities to align all agendas for optimal sharing of information are:
- Capture the agendas of all involved and identify recurring meetings, time-frames, involved roles, required decisions
- Start with the shop floor; focus on the work, on operations. Then align coordination and managerial effort with whatever needs to be facilitated on the shop floor
If we aim to improve the value stream we should regularly go through the:
If we aim to improve the value stream we should regularly go through the:
Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle.
The following three topics are discussed in a performance dialogue meeting:
The following three topics are discussed in a performance dialogue meeting:
1. New and ongoing objectives should be discussed between the manager and employee.
2. The manager offers support to the employee for the achievement of their objectives.
3. Constructive feedback and suggestions
for improvement are given. As the chairman of Toyota once said: “Build people first, then cars.”
The biggest change when transforming to Lean IT is:
The biggest change when transforming to Lean IT is:
- the introduction of Visual management
Visual Management fulfills a crucial role in
Lean. It ensures we can achieve Jidoka, the
aim of which is to:
Visual Management fulfills a crucial role in
Lean. It ensures we can achieve Jidoka, the
aim of which is to:
- create a visible and clear view to ensure that any disturbances to flow can be identified.
Visual management covers a number of topics:
Visual management covers a number of topics:
- Steering the work,
- planning and reviewing progress, and
- managing improvements.
Visual management has a set of objectives:
Visual management has a set of objectives:
• To connect management to the day-to-day operation of the team.
• To share information on the progress, priorities and problems of the team.
• It also facilitates dialogues that are more fact-based.
• Visual management enables the team to see which task is not progressing.
• Visual management also helps to create consistent and effective communication. It removes the need for a series of one-on- one communication that inherently has
the risk of an inconsistent message. The communication is effective because the entire team hears the same message at the same time
• Frequent feedback loops are established within the team. This is based on common knowledge of what is going on in the team. The knowledge is common because it is continually visible and up to date
Managers need to embrace the adage ‘go see, ask why, show respect’ and to really observe the flow of value and what is preventing it from flowing, they need to spend substantial time on the:
Managers need to embrace the adage ‘go see, ask why, show respect’ and to really observe the flow of value and what is preventing it from flowing, they need to spend substantial time on the:
Gemba, the place where the work is done.
A Lean team uses three types of boards as a technique to create a visually managed workplace:
A Lean team uses three types of boards as a technique to create a visually managed workplace:
- The Day or Kanban Board,
- Week Board
- Improvement or Kaizen Board.
What is a Day Board or Kanban Board?
It is the visual tool used to support the start of the day’s activities.
What is a Day Board or Kanban Board?
It is the visual tool used to support the start of the day’s activities.
This 15-minute time-boxed daily meeting offers the team a window to discuss operational performance and allows for synchronization of workload among team members. Impediments that block the work flow can be identified and avoided. As a result, impediments may also find their way to the right level of management or on to the improvement board.
Typical questions to be asked by the Team Leader are:
Typical questions to be asked by the Team Leader are:
- Were the goals of the previous work day achieved?
- What went well and what can be improved?
- What did we learn?
- What is the objective for this day and when are we successful?
- Who needs help on what and who will offer help?
Kanban is the embodiment of the:
Kanban is the embodiment of the:
- pull/ replenishment system, as opposed to a push/ scheduling system.
It uses signals to ensure that production is levelled. The ultimate form of production is single-piece flow, which enables mass-customization.
Kanban is not an inventory control system; it
is a scheduling system that helps determine:
Kanban is not an inventory control system; it
is a scheduling system that helps determine:
- what to produce,
- when to produce it, and
- how much to produce.
In the week start:
In the week start:
- the team gathers around the week board and discusses team performance.
- Identified problems find their way to the improvement board.
- The week board supports the week start, a team meeting that generally last one hour.
Topics to be covered in the week start meeting are:
- The work objectives for the week to come and whether the objectives from the previous week were achieved
- Improvements that can be made, also given the status of the key performance indicators the team has selected
- Performance on the team’s performance indicators, specifically including the way the team works and what the customer thinks of the team’s performance
Topics to be covered in the week start meeting are:
- The work objectives for the week to come and whether the objectives from the previous week were achieved
- Improvements that can be made, also given the status of the key performance indicators the team has selected
- Performance on the team’s performance indicators, specifically including the way the team works and what the customer thinks of the team’s performance
Typical questions the team answers include:
Typical questions the team answers include:
• Did we meet our KPIs and team goals last week?
• What went well and what can be improved?
• What are our goals for next week?
• Do you need help?
On the improvement board, all problems are listed. For each listed problem, the team determines:
On the improvement board, all problems are listed. For each listed problem, the team determines:
- whether they should solve them right away,
- solve them later or
- not solve them at all,
once they have defined the impact of the problem and the feasibility of driving a solution.
For more complex problems, a Kaizen Event will be planned, using one of the reserved time- slots in the aligned agenda.
The weekly improvement meeting allows the team to drive continuous improvement. In regular time-boxed windows throughout the week, the team can work on Kaizen events and drive impediments towards resolution. Typical questions the team answers include:
The weekly meeting allows the team to drive continuous improvement. In regular time-boxed windows throughout the week, the team can work on Kaizen events and drive impediments towards resolution. Typical questions the team answers include:
• What problems have been identified on the day and week boards?
• What is the status of kaizen events?
• What are the results of implemented
improvements?
