Apr 12, 2023 www.leanteamsusa.com 1

Robert BairdLean Teams USA

+1 215 353 0696

Lean Office

04/12/2023 2

Reasons to improve office efficiency

• Increase productivity and quality of processes it supports

• Knowledge sharing, especially customer information

• Upstream processes are 50% of overall Lead Time• 15% of quality issues come from upstream input

processes • Vision alignment• Improved morale and better communications – Remove Silo’s

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Productivity Gains

1. Removing the 7 office wastes2. Management Steering Team

1. Removing roadblocks and knowledge sharing during Gemba Walks

3. Improving office flows4. Lean email5. Effective meetings6. Office 5S

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7 Office Wastes

1. Over Production – Too many signature levels, Too many emails, Ineffective meetings, More information than the customer needs, more information than the next process needs, creating reports no one reads, or making extra copies ,

2. Transportation – Retrieving or storing files, carrying documents to and from shared equipment, taking files to another person, or going to get signatures

3. Motion – Searching for files, extra clicks or keystrokes, clearing away files on the desk, gathering information, looking through manuals and catalogs, or handling paperwork

4. Waiting – Waiting for meeting participants, Waiting for faxes or a copy machine, for the system to come back up, for a customer response, or a handed-off file to come back.

5. Unnecessary Processing – Meeting participants that are not required, Creating reports, repeated manual entry of data, use of outdated standard forms, or use of inappropriate software

6. Inventory – Files waiting to be worked on, open projects, too many office supplies, e-mails waiting to be read, unused records in the database

7. Defects – Data entry errors, pricing errors, missing information, missed specifications, or lost records

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Management Steering Team Member Gemba Walk

• Lean Office provides required time for shop floor Gemba Walk– Project review

• Daily updates• Daily support• Daily momentum

– Coaching• Share knowledge• Provide advice • Re-enforce previous trainings

– Communication• Instill the vision and direction

– 5S• Sustain

– Teach• Support empowerment programs• Problem solving

Support, Teach, Promote

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Daily time gained

0.5 Hour

Steering Team

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Office Flow

• Office layout– Layout reflects direction of information– Open concept

• Facilitates communication• Facilitates information transfer• Cross training becomes obvious• Prevents building of information in WIP out trays• Email reduction• Meeting reduction

– Office cells• Customer Service > Planning > Logistics > Production• Reduction of errors• Improved cycle time

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Constraints

Any system can produce only as much as its critically constrained resource

60 unitsPer day

70 unitsPer day

40 unitsPer day

60 unitsPer day

Constraint

Maximum Throughput = 40 units per day

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Office Flow – Improve Lead Time

Customer

Customer Service

Logistics

Planning

Constraint

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Office Flow – Improve Lead Time

Customer

Customer Service

Logistics

Planning

Constraint

Office Cell

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Benefits of Cell

• Customer Lead Time improvement• The design of the lean office layout allows for processes to

flow faster and reduce complications and sources of error• All the people in the team have the knowledge and skill to

take care of all kinds of issues in a very effective and efficient way

• Prevent WIP in out trays• Customers receive up to date order information faster

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Daily time gained

0.5 Hour

Office Flow

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Email is an increasing waste

• In 2009, the average corporate email user received 128 messages a day, a 55% increase from 2003. Translating that number into your most valuable commodity -- time -- workers in 2009 were spending 41% of their day managing email, a number expected to increase not decrease. (All figures from the Radicati Group.)

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Email is an increasing waste• “Colleague spam" -- that is, too many people are indiscriminately hitting the "reply to all"

button or copying too many people on trivial messages, like inviting 100 colleagues to partake of brownies in the kitchen

• A good chunk of today's emails are also coming from brand new sources, like social- and business-networking sites like Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn Corp., or text messages forwarded from cell phones.

• The real reason why workers are wasting away their days in their inbox is that most of the mail is worthless.

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Lean Email – Effective Communication

• No internal emails within building or floor Rule (I did and so did this company Treehouse)– Go visit the person or call them on the phone

• Communication improves• Errors are reduced through misinterpretation

• When you send an email to a group of people, put the recipients in the BCC field. That prevents them from hitting reply all. (If you want to show who was on the list, put their names in the body of the email.)

• Pick up the phone.• Email length Rule:

– If you have to write more than two sentences , call them or if a group, organize a conference call

• If you will be out of the office for an entire day or longer, turn on your Out of Office assistant with a message indicating when you will return and who can be contacted on your behalf.

• Attached files should be limited in number and in total size. Consider placing a file on a common drive location and then provide a “Shortcut link”

• If you originate an email message or memo you are expected to keep the original on file for future reference

• If you need to determine the best way to do something then hold a meeting

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Daily time gained

1.0 Hour

Lean email

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Statistics- ineffective meetings

Measure Meeting stat

# of meetings per day - USA 11 million

# of meetings per person/mth 61.8

Time wasted per meeting 50%

Hours lost per month/person 31 (4 work days)

Daydreaming during a meeting 91% of knowledge workers

Missing a meeting 96% of knowledge workers

Missing part of a meeting 95% of knowledge workers

Bringing other work to meeting 73% of knowledge workers

Slept during meeting 39% of knowledge workers

Required preparation time 50 minutes

Most individuals have never experienced or witnessed the power of a truly effective meeting and, therefore, don't recognize the importance of having better meetings - http://effectivemeetings.com/

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Effective Meetings• Start on time

– Distribute meeting agenda 2 – 3 days before meeting– Your agenda is the time management document for the meeting– Assign a task for each participant

• If you cannot think of a task for someone they probably do not need to attend

– Each task is a line item on the agenda – The meeting leader must prepare the room or call

• Overhead projector is checked and running• Conference call line is open• Coffee and water is ready

– If meeting is consistently late measure time wasted and why• Invite the right people

– Consensus are difficult when 7 or more people– Minutes of meeting can be provided to people who would like to know the results

• Brainstorming to facilitate ideas when your ‘re stuck– Rules must be stated and followed

• Kill the PowerPoint– Limit it to training

• End on time– Agenda includes time for meeting summaries and repeat of key points– Each agenda line item is managed for time– Put unfinished items on next meeting agenda– Conclude with a summary of decisions and action items

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Effective Meetings• There is a personal responsibility to be on time and prepared

– Do not arrange or accept back to back meetings– Use the meeting reminder time to prepare for the meeting

• Meeting objectives are stated and clear for everyone– “By the end of the meeting I want the group to…”– Objectives are on the meeting agenda

• Confirm and confirm again– Follow up on actions and information requested prior to meeting– Remind people the day before

• Assign actions– Don't finish any discussion in the meeting without deciding how to act on

it. – Follow up after the meeting

• Learn and develop your skills for effective meetings!

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Daily time gained

1.47 Hours

Effective Meeting

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Lean Office 5S• Sort

– Gemba walk with steering team– Review common areas

• Copier, fax, conference rooms, visitor offices, coffee area

– IT review of common folders• Sort

– Clear desk policy• Straighten

– Label all common areas– Operating instructions– Phone lists– Provide name and phone number of who is responsible

for repairs of office equipment– KanBan’s for office supplies

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Lean Office 5S• Sweeping

– Daily cleaning– At the end of work, clear desks– At the end of a meeting put everything back in their locations

• Standardize– Everyone should know exactly what his or her responsibilities are for

adhering to the first 3 S's– Common areas

• Organized and labeled the same

– International signage for rest rooms, exits, lifts, caution, etc.• Sustain

– Determine a 5S checklist and complete weekly– Make the checklist visual– As part of the checklist include new ideas

• Include the 6th S – Security– Identifies and addresses risks within the office environment

• PC cabling, lock unattended PC screens, confidential document control, clear desk policy, etc.

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Daily time gained

0.5 Hours

Office 5S

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Total Productivity Gain

3.97 Hours

Steering Team

Office Flow

Effective meetings Office 5S

Lean Email

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Where to use 3.97 Hours of Productivity

Go To Gemba

Guaranteed ROI From Lean Teams USAContact Us

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