Gallery Walks are a formal showcase for successful Lean Six Sigma Projects. Improvement teams create storyboards, posters, charts and graphs to demonstrate process gains to a larger audience. These events educate leadership and the broader organization while building momentum and reinforcing the problem-solving culture. For a better understanding of Solution…
Solution Parking Lots are lists of improvement ideas collected throughout the life of a project. They provide a good way to honor and encourage the good ideas of team members and stakeholders before the root causes have been established. Although many will become obsolete, the list provides valuable input for…
Improvement Kata is a four-step routine that builds on discovery as teams strive to reach their goals. Kata is Japanese for "model" and the four steps of the model are: Understand Your Direction and Set a Challenge Grasp the Current Condition Set the Next Target Condition Conduct the Experiments to…
Coaching Kata is a set of structured teaching routines that help coaches develop their skills. The focus is for coaches to foster scientific thinking and acting when teaching Improvement Kata (aka Improvement Practice) to problem solvers. This type of coaching helps drive problem solving as a daily practice.
Hoshin Kanri (aka Policy Deployment) where “hoshin” means “compass needle” and “kanri” means “management,” is the process of ensuring that organizational strategy results in relevant priorities supported throughout the organization. The technique of "Catchball" ensures involvement and input for goal setting at every level of the organization from leadership to…
The Coaching Routine or "Kata" involves developing a habit of coaching others to follow Improvement Routines or "Katas." The goal is to support others as they become comfortable with the uncertainty of problem solving.
Improvement Routine or "Kata" involves developing a habit of moving from an "as is" process state to a "to be" process state. The idea is to make it a common practice to embrace and move through uncertainty in all situations.
A Visual Workplace is a workspace that has made use of layout, signage, graphics, shapes and colors and other visual techniques to make a work environment self-explanatory. Visual Workplaces result in faster, safer, easier work flow.
An inspection is a process step that has been created to determine if a product or service has any errors. If the inspector detects a mistake this leads to a rework step. Inspection adds time to a process and rework adds cost. The key is to mistake-proof the process such…
An approval indicates a process step that requires time and attention from someone in an organization to sign or provide an “okay” before the process can continue. This adds to the waste of “Waiting,” generally does not add value and frequently becomes a “rubber stamp” type activity when the approver…