Lean

Building Habits to Support Lean Initiatives: A Guide for Business Leaders

By Ron Pereira Updated on January 31st, 2023

In the world of lean and six sigma, there’s a lot of emphasis placed on the importance of habits and processes. After all, a company’s success depends on the collective actions and habits of its employees.

Here are some tips to help business leaders create effective habits to support lean initiatives in their organizations.

  1. Communicate the why: It’s important to clearly communicate the purpose and benefits of your continuous improvement initiatives to your employees. This helps them understand why the changes are being made, and makes it easier for them to buy into the process.
  2. Start small: Habits are formed over time, and it’s important to start small and gradually build up to more complex processes. This makes it easier for employees to adapt and helps them avoid feeling overwhelmed. Put another way, don’t even focus on low hanging fruit when starting out…instead pick up the fruit lying on the ground!
  3. Encourage participation: Encourage your employees to participate in lean initiatives, and provide them with the tools and training they need to be successful. This helps create a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone feels empowered to contribute.
  4. Celebrate successes: Celebrating successes is important for maintaining momentum and keeping everyone motivated. When employees see that their efforts are paying off, they’re more likely to stay committed to the process.
  5. Lead by example: As a leader, your own habits and behaviors have a huge impact on the rest of your team. If you’re passionate about lean and committed to continuous improvement, your employees are likely to follow your lead.
  6. Make it a part of the culture: Integrating lean and six sigma principles into the company culture is key to making the changes stick. This means that everyone, from top management to the front line, is committed to continuous improvement and working together to achieve the company’s goals.

Creating effective habits to support lean initiatives is essential for any business looking to achieve long-term success. By leading by example, communicating the why, starting small, encouraging participation, celebrating successes, and making it a part of the company culture, business leaders can help their employees embrace and support the change process.


  1. Robert L Rush

    March 2, 2023 - 2:50 pm
    Reply

    look for pockets of resistance and break them down asap

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