I was discussing Lean with one of our members who had recently started to train their customer service team. The customer had just finished our series on visual managementent and was curious, why not just eliminate managers all together?

The Role of a Manager

It all depends on what the role the manager fills in your organization. The traditional image of a middle manager, exemplified in the movie “Office Space”, is an older employee who wanders around and tells other people what to do. It is all top down communication, the manager directs each employee when and how to carry out their tasks.

In a Lean system, employees use visual management to communicate their tasks to each other and self-manage. There is no need for someone to go around and tell people what to do, with the transparency of Lean, they already know what needs to be done.

So what happens to managers in a Lean system? Simple, their role changes.

The Mentor and Team Player

Instead of directing people, a Lean manager becomes more of a coach, stepping in to assist with a difficult task or providing additional training to round out your team’s skill matrix. By being on the shopfloor or front lines, the manager can nurture struggling employees and help facilitate the Kaizen process when problems are encountered.

Instead of being “above” the workers, the manager moves into a support position; filling in for sick employees, providing additional assistance to meet a deadline and keeping an eye out for the big picture.

In other words, a Lean manager is the ultimate team player.

Changing Culture of Management

By changing the role of a manager, you can drastically improve the workplace culture. By shifting their duties to supporting others, you can reduce the “us versus them” conflict that can plague workers and management. Instead, employees can see management as truly committed to helping them do their jobs, instead of telling them how to do their jobs.

So are managers a waste? Not necessarily. If you accept the new roles and responsibilities as a Lean manager, you will never become a waste.

Ever since Toyota put Lean on the map for businesses, the idea of efficiency has been tied to the bells and whistles of a shopfloor. Crack open one of the hundreds of Lean books out there and you will find examples involving presses, polishers, smelters and packagers; a laundry list of manufacturing applications.

However, in the past couple of years, other industries have begun to apply the principles of Lean to their operations – taking the learning out of the factory, and into our hospitals, schools and offices.

Almost every organization has administrative functions. Whether it is a street vendor selling tacos out of a trailer or a multinational corporation, there are forms to be sorted, taxes to be filed and bills to be paid.  We recently launched a brand new series titled “Lean Office”. Click here to learn more.

 

Here are some of the ways you can apply that Lean learning to your office, making it as efficient as a Toyota plant.

• Build a Skills Matrix for your Office.
  Tired of trying to track down the one person in the office who knows how to update the website? Build and update a Skills Matrix that shows the proficiencies of each team member. The visualization of skill sets allows everyone to know who is capable of filling in when others are falling behind, and who can provide training.

• Establish and Display Standard Work.
  Consider the process of changing the toner in the office printer. This can be a tricky process, even when you know how to do it. Illustrate the steps with drawings or pictures and write out, in clear language, how to replace the toner cartridge. Then display these steps right next to the printer so anyone can carry out this process without having to search for the instructions.

• Create an information flow map.
  By visualizing the flow of information in an office, you can identify ways in which that flow is hindered in its path toward the customers. Every organization has a customer, whether it is the public who use their service or products, other businesses or simply an owner or board of trustees. You can learn how to properly create an information flow map in our course “Lean Tools for the Office”, and in doing so, eliminate waste in your processes.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. You can implement visual schedules, andon signals for managers, 5S at workstations and so much more. Once you start thinking with a Lean mindset, you will find hundreds of ways to improve your office functions.

Click here to send us your latest office Kaizen ideas and we will feature you on the üttana blog!

Kanban is frequently associated with suppliers and manufacturers but it is an essential part of any Lean office. While Kanban systems come in all shapes and sizes, the basic premise is the same. A Kanban is a visual signal, typically a card or container, used by a downstream process to signal that it needs to be replenished. Learn more about Kanban in our video series “Kanban”.

This Lean tool can be applied to any work environment, but here are three reasons why it needs to be a part of your office environment.

 1. No more stockpiling office supplies!

Say goodbye to the supply closet and hello to just what you need. With an office supply Kanban, you will always be on top of this. Instead of cabinets and cabinets of printer paper, simply place a Kanban midway into a single stack.. This will signal the person who uses it to arrange for a reorder and you will have a fresh stack only when you need it. Replace the Kanban and the system sustains itself.

2. You can stop searching for that lost file.

How many times have you had to dig through your email box looking for a specific file? Using a digital content system, you can assign due dates, subtasks and, yes, the relevant files. Whether you use an internal software or a free program like Asana, project management can become a breeze with digital Kanban systems.

3. Never buy the wrong printer ink again!

Kanban cards contain all the essential information for reordering supplies. When you are refilling your (now small) stash of supplies, include the product number on the Kanban to make ordering as error-proof as possible. That way no more costly reorders and returns.

Establishing a Kanban system can be intimidating but with our Kanban video series, you will be reaping the benefits in no time. Check out our video series by clicking this link.

When I enter an office environment, one of the first things I do is look for visual management boards. Visual Management boards come in all sizes and shapes but they all serve a key function. They allow employees to quickly and easily access up-to-date information about their work environment. They can be as simple as a “Who is in right now?” board with employees names showing who is working that day. However, they can be as complex as you need.

Here at uttana, we use several of these daily. We have a board that shows what tasks each employee is working on throughout the day. We use a simple green, yellow or red magnet to show if we are on time or falling behind. This let’s everyone know if someone is falling behind so they can jump in and lend a hand.

For our video production, we use another board that shows where each video is in the process. Has it been researched, scripted, storyboarded, filmed or edited? These sort of visual management boards provide a clear image of where each project is and whether it is on schedule.

There is not a universal code for visual management boards. The picture on the right is from a company that needed to keep better track of its engineering projects so they built a visual management board that fit their needs.

Here are some important questions to consider when building a Visual Management Board for your office:

• What work is being done and by whom?
• How will you show if a project is ahead of schedule, on time, or falling behind?
• What information needs to be shared with those doing the work?
• How can you best illustrate that information in a way that everyone understands?

 

If the information on the Visual Management Board is not immediately understandable, consider redesigning or adding a legend or key to explain it. A Visual Management Board is only useful if everyone can access and understand the information.

Finally, Visual Management only works if everyone participates. These sorts of systems need to be maintained or they will lose their effectiveness. If you have a board showing who is in and out, make sure that it is updated with the most current information. Without regular use, employees will not be able to trust the information displayed on the board.

You can learn more about Visual Management with our Visual Management Video Series, available here.

Last year the new üttana team headed down to Tacoma, Washington for the 2nd Annual Washington State Government Lean Transformation Conference. Over 2,000 attendees from hundreds of different departments and agencies gathered to hear experts, share success stories and learn the common language of Lean. Governor Inslee opened the conference with a clear mandate, “We will use Lean efforts to deliver service and results to the State of Washington.”

üttana, and our parent company, Enna sponsored a booth where we spoke to hundreds of State workers about their Lean journey. If you didn’t get a chance to see us, drop us an email by clicking here. Most of the people we spoke to were excited about improving their work processes but needed either the tools or the support to get started. 

Our company president, Collin McLoughlin, presented during the conference in a breakout session titled, “Applying Lean Principles to a Modern Office”. The event was packed, as McLoughlin illustrated how Lean is not limited to manufacturers. “In an office environment, cycle time and takt time don’t really make sense, just focus on reducing the time,” said McLoughlin.