Eliminate Waste with Lean Management

Adapting to traditional project management with computer programmers while working at a fast pace; this is one simple definition of lean management. Budget cuts as well as drops in business and other factors play a part in lean management as well. By using fewer resources and less time businesses have been able to reap the benefits of lean management over time. Knowing what your company’s weaknesses and strong points are will help you when you begin implementing a Lean MFG environment.

Making Lean Management Work

Some business owners find themselves thinking that lean management means getting rid of their current cycle of working. Actually, lean management wants to take that cycle of working and make it better. By looking at their teams and processes, lean management will help to improve what your company has worked so hard to achieve up to this point. As a business owner, you must make sure that every employee knows their role within your company and the value that they have to offer to you. Without your employees understanding this, as well as how lean management works, your benefits could be cut short and your lean management process would be for nothing.

Using Your Data with Lean Management

With the lean management way of thinking, managers are able to review data to help them make decisions. This data can be in the form of the number of project hours that were used to complete a task, or even the kind of tasks that were completed. Making sure that your employees know this data is only used for the good is a good idea. If employees think that the data is being used to “check up on them” then your team morale may drop which would result in a negative effect on your business. Allowing your employees to see the data retrieved as well as taking time to explain the aspects of it will make them feel like more of a team player. This will make your employees want to be more productive so that they can contribute to their potential.

Working Independently

One important thing to remember when using lean management is the employee. Always assume that your employee can complete their assigned task alone so that they will be accountable for their work. This will not only make your employees more self-sufficient but it will also show them that the element of trust is there. Lean management will be your back-up tool to find the errors in the work and help the employee learn how to make those areas better.

Build Your Team

Lean management can help you, as a business owner to find the weak spots in your business practices. By eliminating wasteful practices you will eliminate wasted cost. Also, by finding the weakest spots in a working team you can figure out how to improve on that area or person. Fixing these problems early will allow you or your project managers to build stronger teams so that goals can be reached more readily.