Lean Management

Lean management in practice

The characteristics of lean are:
• The culture is business oriented – guided by results rather than by policies.
• Customer needs drive the organization.
• Everyone is interested in their workplace and in developing it.
• Performance is monitored by results – and the bar is willingly raised.
• Everyone works together towards common goals.
• Belief in people as a valuable resource, and many viewpoints are heard.
• Employees have an opinion on good quality, and the organization learns from its errors.
• Employees describe what they do well and disseminate this best practice.
• Employees are not afraid to learn something new.

Employees in a lean culture have these characteristics:
• They are committed and loyal to joint decisions.
• They are aware of the department’s goals.
• They show respect for others’ work.
• They give on-the-spot feedback.
• They admit mistakes: it is okay to make mistakes.
• They work together across departments.

A manager who successfully uses lean to create the best results has the following characteristic qualities:
• Acts as a role model on the principle: your staff does what you do, not what you say.
• Is found where value is created – on the floor where the work is done.
• Has decision-making authority – because the goals are known.
• Creates a framework and helps people to perform better.
• Has confidence in staff members and supports their initiatives.
• Thinks in terms of preventing rather than correcting errors.
• Thinks in terms of solving rather than moving problems.
• Judges by results and praises good performance, and instantly raises the bar: strive for perfection.
• Is a good communicator – the lean environment is open.
• Follows up – does not control, but follows up again and again.

Management is responsible for creating the necessary lean culture, a responsibility that often requires managers themselves to make significant readjustments. In our experience, a manager often has to make the transition from being a specialist in task resolution to specializing in management.

There are two fundamental ways of increasing productivity:
• Fewer employees produce the same output – the means in this instance are a reduction of the number of staff equivalent to the effects of the lean process.
• The same number of employees produces a higher output – the means in this case are an expansion of service offers, new services and improved service.

Focus on the extraordinary needs (type 3) is very important when defining future services. The customer is not necessarily aware that the service is an option, and therefore does not ask for it.

To identify customer value:

UNDERSTAND WHO YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE

Understand what creates value for customers