Lean
Tip #1916 - A little Humility Goes a Long Way.
There’s
a difference between a leader and a boss. While both are in charge, a leader
shares the spotlight and is comfortable crediting others. While it might seem
counterintuitive, being humble takes more confidence than basking in glory.
Your employees will appreciate it, and your clients will, too.
Lean
Tip #1917 - Communicate Effectively.
Effective
communication is imperative, both in the office and in life. Great leaders make
sure they are heard and understood, but they also know the importance of listening.
Communication is a two-way street, and making the most of it will have your
company zooming forward instead of pumping the breaks.
Lean
Tip #1918 - Never Stop Improving.
Great
leaders -- indeed, great people -- are constantly learning and always trying to
improve themselves. There’s always something that you can work on or a new
skill to master. Be sure to keep your mind open to new ideas and possibilities.
Lean
Tip #1919 - Leverage Your Own Experiences.
A
great way to approach management is to think about your own experiences. Which
previous bosses, teachers, or leaders have you respected, learned from, and
enjoyed working with? What did they do to make you feel this way? It’s also
helpful to think back to your not-so-great experiences with former managers.
What did they do that drove you nuts (or made you quit)? Make sure to avoid the
things you hated and do the things you appreciated.
Lean
Tip #1920 - Remove Roadblocks.
It’s
important to set your staff up to succeed — and that includes removing
roadblocks whenever possible. Regularly ask people what they need to do their
jobs better or more efficiently. Maybe it’s adjusting priorities or allocating
more resources. Removing roadblocks tells your employees that you care about
making their work experience the best it can be.
Lean
Tip #1921 - VSM: Use a Team to Create
the Maps and a Plan
Having
one person create the map means you used only one brain and two hands. The
information gathered may be biased or, even worse, incorrect. Decisions need to
be made for what is best for the entire value stream, and that’s hard to do
with only one person. Make sure you use a good cross-functional team to walk
the shop floor, analyze part flow, gather the information, and then draw the
map.
Ideally,
someone with experience in VSM should lead the initial meetings. A person who
has drawn several maps can help determine the process families with the team,
teach the team the correct way to collect data and information, show how to
draw the maps, coach toward a better future state, and facilitate a successful
event.
Lean
Tip #1922 – VSM: Start With Basic Building Blocks
If
you’re trying to create a manufacturing cell when basic concepts such as 5S,
standard work, or teamwork are not even present in an organization, good luck.
I’m not saying that you can’t jump to a more complex technique or practice
right away, but you will have a higher probability for success if you have a
start on the basic concepts. This also goes for lean concepts like pull systems
and kanban as well as total productive maintenance. Start with some of the
basic principles and tools first before you try to implement something more
complex.
Lean
Tip #1923 – VSM: Draw It by Hand First
Some
VSM software programs help you draw maps and perform many data manipulations.
In my opinion, you should learn to draw it by hand first, because it will help
you better understand the methodology. By putting pencil to paper, you emerge
yourself in the mapping process, and that’s how it becomes real. Yes, it may
seem like a struggle at first, but with practice it becomes easier. The day you
can grab a piece of paper, start discussing a problem with a colleague, and
draw a map is the day you really start to understand the power of VSM.
Also,
maps should be temporary. Once you reach your future state, that becomes the
current state and you repeat the process of continuous improvement. Paper and
pencil allow you to update maps easily, with no overprocessing waste.
Lean
Tip #1924 - Limit the Number of Process Boxes
When
you create your process family matrix, try to keep it at the appropriate level
or scope. Limit the VSM to between 10 and 15 steps. Detailing more than 15
steps may make it too complicated.
VSM
is scalable, so one process of your door-to-door map (showing everything from
the initial order through shipping and receiving payment for that order) still
should have only 10 to 15 steps. One of those steps may be “fabricating.” This
can be broken up into another departmental-level map that also may have10 to 15
steps: laser cutting, bending, hardware, welding, and so forth. If a map has
more than 15 steps, you might want to consider combining steps and renaming the
process.
Lean
Tip #1925 - Don’t Expect Everything to Show up on the Map
Even
though the maps will give you great information and insights for improvement,
they typically do not have other enterprise wide initiatives that an
organization should undertake during its lean journey, such as 5S workplace
organization and standardization. A company needs to have 5S everywhere, and
VSMs may show only an area or process that needs 5S, not the entire facility.
Also, other important functions like communication and training do not usually
show up as an action item on a VSM, but these functions are extremely important
while implementing lean concepts.
Lean
Tip #1926 – VSM: Eliminate Waste, Don’t Create It
When
it comes to VSM, people often become so enamored with their own bureaucracy or analysis
that they are just wasting valuable resources, especially time. I’m talking
about the people who spend too much time making fancy graphs from the data that
was collected, or the ones that want to get the data down to the one-hundredth
decimal point. Remember what you are trying to do here: eliminate waste, not
create more.
Lean
Tip #1927 – VSM: Post Maps Where People Will See Them
Don’t
hide your maps. A key benefit of displaying your value stream maps is to
communicate what is going to happen at your organization over the next few
months or during the next year. Many people resist change because they fear the
unknown. Posting the maps with the plan removes or eliminates this fear. It’s
also a way to start discussions and obtain buy-in and ideas for improvement.
Don’t hide your maps; be proud of them!
Lean
Tip #1928 - Be Clear About Scope--And Don’t Creep!
We
all want to end world hunger and achieve world peace—but without focus, we
won’t achieve anything. Most high-level value streams are really more like
value rivers. Sorting out which are the major contributing streams and
identifying those that need to be improved to impact organizational performance
increases the value of your mapping and improvement efforts. And determining up
front where the value stream starts and stops and what is in scope and out of
scope for people doing the improvement work prevents a lot of wandering in the
wilderness. Address these and other issues before you start a mapping exercise
if possible, in the form of a Value Proposition or Team Charter.
Lean
Tip #1929 – VSM: Walk the Process.
Conduct
a formal “Waste” or Process Walk prior to building the “as is” map. Engaging in
short, structured interviews with process participants becomes a rich source of
data, flow and process issues. It also increases external interest in process
improvement since people appreciate being asked for their input.
Lean
Tip #1930 – VSM: Map What the Process Really Is.
People
often relate what they “think” the process is – so when mapping the “as is”
process you have to push past the SOPs, or Standard Operating Procedures, to
find out all the shortcuts, rework loops, cheat sheets and workarounds – nobody
thinks of those on the first pass. And keep the steps at the same “elevation
level”, meaning don’t combine general tasks such as “generate the invoice” with
details like “turn the page.”
