Tweddle Continuous Improvement

One of their techniques is the "project blitz." They put a team of engineers together (literally - they move their desks right next to each other), protect them from interruptions (they stretch police riot tape across the engineers' area so that no one can enter), and work exclusively on a single project until it's completed. Work flows from one engineer to another with no waiting and no distractions. They've realized, as I've written about before, that task switching is toxic to productivity.

Creative visual management can be found in any environment - and it doesn't cost anything.

I love the persistence of Kelly's story!

The other day, if I had taken the time to take one stair at a time, I probably would have stepped in just as the meeting began and wouldn't have scattered my papers.  If I'd taken the time to consider WHY I was running late and avoid those conditions next time, perhaps I'd have found out more about the root cause of my problem. Do you ever find yourself wanting to "take the stairs 2 at a time" to do a little more in your current role?  What helps you avoid this temptation?  Please share your thoughts with us.

When you find yourself feeling most like you have to hurry, that is the time to take a breath and proceed with purpose and not rush. I find myself giving this advice quite often.

Good advice for all of us.

Good article about problem solving.

Go to the gemba. Go and see. Stand in a circle and observe what's happening with your own eyes.

Great list of factors that make change last.

A nice project with our supply cabinets in Content Development.

We often think about the principle of "go and see" applying to giant companies, where leadership and management is far removed from the front lines. But it applies to small companies, too - as small as a single coffeehouse.

More on Kelly's 5S journey. Love the persistence I'm seeing!

And the journey continues ...

One teammate helping another - great story!

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." - Maya Angelou This quote pretty much sums up the aim of Lean. The lean approach to managing operations is really about: Doing the simple things well Doing things better Involving employees in the continuous process of improvement …and as a result, avoiding waste, providing value

An interesting experiment

Try this five-step process that CCL suggests to clients and users of our self-assessment, WorkLife Indicator.

Once value added activities and necessary non-value activities are identified, improvement efforts are directed toward making the activities flow. Flow is the uninterrupted movement of product or service through the system to the customer.

When you're trafficking in information, you're dealing with electrons. It takes tremendous effort to see and measure the waste in an office process, because most of it resides in files stored on your computer and in your inbox.

Good video about how to conduct a morning meeting