One of the best ways to boost productivity of your organization is by following the ‘lean’ path. The very soul of a lean principle is to maximize production and at the same time bring down the wastage of resources. In short, lean transformation is geared towards building more values for your customers, but with fewer resources.
So How Do You Take the Lean Journey?
Though managers across various business verticals are mostly skeptic about venturing into the lean path, lean transformation does not demand much from organizations.
Here is how you can easily take your organization on the lean path:
Impartial Valuation of your Organization
This is the first step which any manager should start with. An honest impartial valuation of your organization will give you a clear picture of work practices which can be improved upon. There are good chances that the present work culture of your company needs to be rejigged in order to improve production with optimum use of resources. A very small but effective example is that you can easily cut down on cost of production by trying to get the raw materials from a local provider rather than from a provider in a distant place. This way you can easily save on shipping charges and also get your raw materials in a shorter period of time.
Allocate the Right Job to the Right Person
It is usually seen that many workers find themselves doing job which is not their niche. Lean principles believe not only in intelligent cutting down of workforce, but also makes it a point that as a manager you see to it that the right job is allocated to the right person. This though sounds a very simple step, goes a long way in boosting the productive your company.
Most lean workshops dedicate a fair amount of time to drive in this basic managerial requirement.
Measure Progress and Acknowledge Good Work
Lean journey is all about progressing in the right direction, using the right means. Therefore it is very crucial that you measure the progress of your organization in terms of production, customer satisfaction as well as resource management at regular intervals. This way as a manager not only will you keep the organization on track but also can take the necessary corrective steps as and when required.
Another very important factor which managers often ignore to do is acknowledging and appreciating a work well done. Apart from monetary gains, employees do need moral boost. Thus make it a point to give credit to the workers in your organization. This will also motivate them to come up with fresh ideas which will benefit your organization.
Revise, Improvise and Execute
In order to continually grow and excel in your area of business, lean principle recommend that you keep revising and improvising on your production plans. And most of all execute these plans in earnest to get the desired results.
These are the simple steps which you need to take in order to take your organization on the lean journey. You can also keep yourself updated with all the latest lean techniques by regularly attending lean workshops.
Veena Shetty is the marketing manager in a well-established organization, Lean Management Institute of India, based at Bangalore. The company has been delivering high quality lean trainings for individual clients and corporates. She is a graduate from Mangalore university, and has worked with companies like Sify, TQM International Pvt. Ltd., a sister concern of Lean Management Institute of India. She has been part of core team of the first Indian lean summit held at Bangalore
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