Lean Office Archives | Page 17 of 28

The e-mail gemba

By Jon Miller - September 10th, 2009

There is a lot to like about e-mail. Without its widespread adoption starting about 15 years ago I would not have kept in touch with many old friends. I can still remember writing letters, by hand, and waiting… E-mail has allowed

Energy Treasure Hunt at the Grocery Store

By Jon Miller - August 30th, 2009

The energy treasure hunt at the grocery store is almost too easy. The bright lights, cooling or refrigeration of a large stock of items year-round, heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, the places we go to buy our f

Agnosia: Losing the Ability to See the Obvious

By Jon Miller - August 24th, 2009

In order to succeed at leading anything that involves people, one needs to know a lot about people. This is especially true when it comes to lean manufacturing, lean retail, lean distribution, lean healthcare or whatever you prefer to

Why Should I Mark My Cupboards!?

By Jon Miller - August 17th, 2009

Ronak has been successful with 5S in the factory but is facing challenges with 5S in the office. He said in a follow-up to the post on 5S guidelines for the office: “Only problem is in personalized cabins, where there are lots of

5S Guidelines for the Office

By Jon Miller - August 12th, 2009

Jonathan asked: “Hi Jon, Recently, I was tasked to head a 5S project here in our department (Purchasing) but I have limited knowledge on what is applicable and what should be implemented. I was thinking that some guidelines could

The Lean Buzz at Starbucks

By Jon Miller - August 4th, 2009

In the past when the training venue was not close to gemba, I have used a trip to the Starbucks as a teaching tool for value stream mapping, waste observation, even drawing spaghetti diagrams. Based on the news in the Wall Street Journ

Agile Kanban Journal Day 30: Show the Flow!

By Jon Miller - July 22nd, 2009

When agile kanban meets kaizen, only good things can happen. Yesterday was day 30 of my agile kanban board usage. Having been on the road much of the last month I haven’t had a lot of time to think about appropriate metrics, targ

The 1950s Movie Guide to Lean Service

By Jon Miller - July 15th, 2009

Ah, those irony-free halcyon days of naming films for what they were… The challenges facing the service business attempting to practice lean principles bear an uncanny similarity to those confronting the hero of a bad 1950s scien

Agile Kanban Journal Day 8: Do We Need a “Done” Column?

By Jon Miller - June 29th, 2009

I continue to benefit from the use of my Agile kanban board, if nothing else to keep my supposedly most important tasks in front of me (or behind me as it were, per layout of the office). I have faith and confidence that using this met

Agile Kanban Journal: Kaizens on Day 1

By Jon Miller - June 22nd, 2009

Kaizen emphasizes making small changes every day and retaining the ones that bring positive outcomes. With the help of friends, my agile kanban board evolved on its first day of use. After organizing my projects and tasks on an erasabl

Lean Office

Start your Lean & Six Sigma training today.