Top 10 Posts of 2017

The end of the year is traditionally a time to look back and reflect. One way to reflect is to evaluate popular blog posts. I have been taking time to reflect on the year that was and as part of that reflection I have flipped back through the 150 blog posts I have written so far this year and compiled a list of my Top 10.

10. Express Your WARMTH When Communicating

Effective communication is everyone's job. It builds trust, teamwork, and high-performing organizations. If culture drives an organization, effective communication is the fuel.

9. Four Essential Elements for Creating a Lean Culture or Management System

You should build your Lean culture on the following essential elements: make the customer everyone’s business, standardize work for managers, have daily accountability and require discipline.

8. Five Functions of a Team Leader

As a team leader, one of your primary roles is developing the resources, specifically, the human resources of your department, business unit, or team. The tasks of a team leader are classically defined as those of planning, organizing, staffing, motivating, achieving, and evaluating results.

7. 7 Wastes Demonstration From Students

Students participating in an education program at IDEXX Laboratories made a video to illustrate the 7 wastes.

6. The Wasteful Effects of Micromanagement

The effects of micromanagement can be disastrous for a company’s culture. In the best situations, micromanagement is an impediment to progress and in extreme cases it can cause the organization to stagnate.

5. Kaizen Mindset: Key Principles of Continuous Improvement

Kaizen is a philosophy of continuous improvement in which every aspect of the business can and must be improved. It is a process that engages the “human element,” while eliminating all forms of non-value added activity and waste.

4. Use a SIPOC to Scope Your Improvement Event

The SIPOC is a key tool to help the team understand and communicate the current state and the bounds of a given process as well as who might be critical to engage as the project develops.

3. 8 Wastes in the Lean Office

In the office environment, the 8 classic waste types of the Lean methodology manifest in different ways than we see on the factory floor.

2. Busy Does Not Equal Productive

Just because you are busy does NOT mean you are productive. In this post you’ll learn 6 differences between busy people and productive people.

1. 4 Tiers for Daily Accountability

Daily tiered meetings (a series of four brief meetings to review what happened yesterday and assign actions for improvement) are an integral element of daily management system.

What were some of your favorite Lean posts from 2017? Any recommendations for next year?

Thanks for your continued readership in 2017. I hope you enjoy the holiday season and go on to achieve Lean success in 2018.