Are you struggling with bottlenecks that are wasting valuable time? Are your processes too cumbersome and causing you to lose efficiency? Has the quest for excellence added steps to your ways of doing things, to the detriment of organizational agility?
Lean Management may be the solution for you. Directly inspired by Lean Manufacturing methods, Lean Management comes to your office, sparing your administrative processes which deserve to be optimized.
The DMAIC approach applies very well in every company, regardless of its size or sector of activity. This approach consists of:
- D: Define the problem
- M: Measuring the performance gap
- A: Analyze performance gaps, errors, defects
- I: Implement the chosen solutions
- C: Control key variables to maintain the gains obtained
To help you, map out your process, which involves identifying each step one by one. On small pieces of paper stuck to the wall or in suitable software, you must create a detailed visual of your process. Don’t think you’re going into too much detail. Instead, be specific and segmented for each step. For example, an approval email represents a step, as does revising a document before sending it. Each task is a step in itself. Please note that it is only once all the steps are clearly identified that you will be able to eliminate them.
Once the non-value-added steps are identified and ready to be removed (Muda), focus on a faulty step that could be the source of the errors. Is it a task that is too difficult or excessive (Muri), or is it an environment with too many irregularities and fluctuations to guarantee convincing results (Mura)?
To facilitate the search for waste that may be the source of your lack of efficiency, Taïchi Ohno, founding father of the Toyota Production System, has identified the most widespread waste: overproduction, overstocking or unnecessary stocks, unnecessary transport and travel. ,overprocessingor unnecessary processing, unnecessary movements, errors, defects and rejects, waiting times and delays, underutilization of skills.
Do you recognize yourself? This is completely normal. Continuous improvement is an infinite process. And now that you are aware of the possible solutions, we bet that you will have to take action!
Need a helping hand? We can support you in your process.
Author
Sales Director, Co-founder & Partner
Approved speaker and trainer
Human resources consultant
