Improving Your Team’s Lean Project Management

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StrategyDriven Project Management Article | Improving Your Team's Lean Project Management“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
Vincent Van Gogh

At its core, lean project management is about delivering greater value while minimizing waste. In that sense, this approach will help you improve quality while decreasing the cost of production — but where do you begin?

If your goal is to improve your team’s lean project management, resulting in greater efficiency and productivity, you need to take a number of key steps. Here’s how to get started.

Make Your Projects Run More Efficiently and Deliver Better Results Through Lean Project Management

Lean is a business philosophy that first began within the manufacturing industry. The goal was to decrease costs and lead time while yielding greater quality. Derived from the Toyota Production System, this philosophy is applied to all business processes.

Once Toyota successfully maximized outputs while reducing waste, Lean principles were applied to many business disciplines; and in terms of project management, Lean principles help managers improve key variables. For example, just some of the benefits associated with Lean principles include:

  • Greater quality assurance and customer satisfaction
  • Improved team collaboration
  • Lower costs, as well as reduced waste

How to Apply Lean Project Management Methodology

Once you understand the core principles and benefits associated with lean project management, it will be time to apply what you’ve learned. To do so, take the following steps.

Step One: Identify customer value

When developing any project, the first step is to consider the perspective and needs of the customer. In that sense, you should focus on what the customer needs and when. Quality and price expectations are important to consider here, particularly in terms of value and waste reduction. You should strive to eliminate bottlenecks in the project process, focusing on speed while minimizing waste. You’ll want to remain particularly mindful of wasted effort, inconsistency, and overcommitment issues.

Step Two: Create a value plan

Whenever you’re about to tackle a new project, it’s important to consider the initial idea, visualizing your end goal. In doing so, you will become more mindful of the steps in between. That way, you can better understand which steps add value and which do not. For example, when designers create prototypes, this step typically adds value.

The same is true when building your design system, allowing you to eliminate inconsistencies while standardizing all ongoing processes. Design systems bring order to chaos, boosting efficiency and consistency. As a result, companies are able to create at scale. In contrast, meeting with the entire design team daily to share updates may not add a significant amount of value. Remember to think of the customer. While analyzing each step, ask yourself, does this step add value to the customer?

Read more: Lean UX: Expert Tips to Maximize Efficiency in UX

Step Three: Eliminate activities that don’t add value

This step is all about reducing waste. The ultimate goal here is for your team to end up working on activities that add value, eliminating all those that are non-value adding. Depending on the scope of your project, this may be easier said than done. However, even small improvements can make a significant difference when aiming to become Lean.

Step Four: Continue to improve

It’s important to note that the step above is not a one-time job. To be an efficient, successful Lean project team, you need to continuously review ongoing activities to eliminate and reduce as much waste as possible. It’s also important to empower your team so that everyone feels comfortable challenging inefficient activities.

How to Identify Waste Activities

While you may want to improve your team’s lean project management for a number of reasons, eliminating waste is at the core of this philosophy and is addressed by three Japanese concepts, known as:

  • Muda — This includes any activity that consumes resources without creating value. In relation to project management, this is often seen when resources are utilized without any sense of meaningful output. That is why you need to create a well-defined end-to-end project plan. Work closely with your team so that each individual understands what they’re responsible for.
  • Mura — This focuses on reducing unevenness without your team. The goal here is to maintain balanced progress while identifying risks in your work schedule. Within project management, Mura often evolves due to changing priorities, dependencies, poor risk management, and a lack of clarity — all of which can be avoided.
  • Muri — This involves the concept of being overburdened, relating to both humans and machines. When required to work at a higher pace, for longer, this can lead to low-quality output. To avoid this, establish clear boundaries regarding work-life balance and encourage breaks when needed.

Implement Lean Six Sigma (DMEDI)

DMEDI is a structured, measurable, and highly proactive method. The purpose of this approach is to identify issues upfront so that you can prevent waste in terms of your time and resources. The five phases of this method include:

  • DEFINE
  • MEASURE
  • EXPLORE
  • DEVELOP
  • IMPLEMENT

These phases essentially act as a blueprint when setting up a project.

So, whether your goal is to reduce the number of useless activities or would like to address overburdened team members, lean project management will help you reduce wasted efforts and become more productive. It’s a win-win!

Want to learn more? Check out the following resources:

Creating The Perfect File Organization System For Your Business

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Managing file storage correctly is important in business for a number of reasons. Firstly, if your business computers are clogged up with unnecessary files, they will run slowly and it will be harder for employees to find the files that they need, which means that productivity will take a hit. It’s also important to make sure that all of your files are stored securely to reduce the risk of accidental data loss. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses don’t put enough thought into their file storage system, which causes them some big problems. However, if you follow these simple steps, you can create an effective file storage strategy for your business.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Creating The Perfect File Organization System For Your Business

Clean Out Unnecessary Files

The first step is to clear out any unnecessary files that you have stored on your computers. This will speed your computers up and make it a lot easier to organize things moving forward. There are some great applications that can quickly find and remove duplicates on Mac or Windows, which will make a big difference immediately. Once you have cleared all of the duplicated files, go through the rest and delete anything that you don’t need anymore. This may take a while but as long as you keep on top of things in the future, you should only need to do it once.

Use Folders

Using folders is the easiest way to keep things organized, but it only works if you file things away in their folders right away. A lot of employees like to keep things on the desktop while they are working on them, with the intention of putting them in organized folders afterward. However, that doesn’t always happen and they end up with a big mess of files on the desktop with no semblance of organization whatsoever. If you ask them to pull up an old file a few months down the line, it’s going to take a long time to find. It’s a good idea to plan out your folders and categories on paper before you get started so you can make sure that everything has its place.

Back Up On The Cloud

Backing up all of your files is essential if you want to protect yourself in the event of a cyberattack or a hardware issue. If files are only stored in one location and you lose them, there’s nothing that you can do. But if you upgrade to a cloud storage system, you can easily recover anything that is lost.

Use Note Taking Apps

When you are making notes about things that you need to remember, you might decide that post-its or notebooks are the best option. But then you end up with a disorganized mess of paper and when you need to refer back to a specific note, it’s nowhere to be found. That’s why you should treat notes like you do the rest of your files and get organized. There are some great note taking apps that you can use to get everything in order and make life easier for yourself in the future.

If you can create the perfect file organization system for your business, it makes things a lot easier for you and your employees and you will notice an increase in productivity as a result.

5 Safety Tips that Impact Business

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Safety Tips|5 Safety Tips that Impact BusinessImplementing subpar safety regulations in a workplace does not mean saving a lot of money in the business. Rather, it reflects a future problem that may affect the entire people involved in it. Failure to regularly enforce safety standards could lead to some consequences such as reduced productivity, fines, and worker compensation claims.

As a business owner, you do not have to worry about making major changes in the safety measures within the company. There are a few simple safety tips that can make an impact to you, your employees, and even your business partners.

1.Safety Protocols

The first thing to do at work is to implement workplace safety protocols. This means that you should introduce safety regulations from day one. Hire professionals who have expertise in this matter. Seek advice from experienced business owners. Some employers even communicate with a physical therapist to understand all the physical demands of job roles within the company.

2. Cleanliness and Orderliness

An untidy working environment can cause unnecessary accidents. Make sure that everything is placed where they are supposed to be. Check if all boxes are well-stacked, watch out for spills and clean them immediately.

From office supplies to cleaning tools, they should be in proper places and kept in an organized manner. Regular inspections are a must since they help spot potential dangers like messy floors, disorganized tools, and tangled cords.

3. Communication Regarding Safety

This is one of the most important safety tips that many startup business owners miss in the process of implementing safety regulations at work. You should encourage your employees to communicate about safety without hesitation.

There are many ways to do so – a suggestion box, pre-shift huddles, or end-of-the-week summary. Think over what works effectively for the team. You can reinforce safety cultures by conducting awareness and proper training for equipment handling, near-injury misses, identified hazards, and other specific incidences.

4. Providing The Right Tools

As an employer, you should know what tools and equipment your team needs. Providing proper tools and equipment helps achieve a safer working space and better production. However, it does not end there. Make sure that these things are serviced, inspected and clean regularly. You would not want to deal with machine malfunctions and workplace hazards.

5. Regular Meetings

Conduct regular meetings that tackle safety in your workplace. When it comes to safety, you should not worry about awareness and readiness. During your meetings, perform a brief review of safety rules. Do not forget to discuss how to keep the entire work environment safe and work-friendly.

For David Rowland, Head of Marketing at Engage EHS, any business person worth their salt will have an in-depth knowledge of health and safety policy and practice. This is because health and safety is not only an end in itself, it is a means to an end towards a more efficient business that has an improved bottom line and greater brand loyalty amongst consumers.

These are only a five of safety tips you can consider to help your business grow. At the same time, you also guarantee that every person who is working for your company will be safe and sound. If you maintain this important aspect of business, it is likely to prosper and last long in the industry you are in.

For more business tips, you can visit Hivelife.com. This site is perfect for both startups and experienced employers in various industries.

Team Building Tips for Entrepreneurs

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Team Building Tips|Team Building Tips for EntrepreneursBoost your brand’s bottom line, boost your productivity and bring your business to another level.

Championship teams cite playing together as the key to success. The same is true in business. Successful brands have high-performing teams working cohesively together to achieve their company’s goal.

The big question is, ‘how can I bring a winning team together?’ Winning teams don’t just happen when you bring in qualified employees. Instead, they are built together through team building activities.

The activities involved are designed to bring out individual skills and characters and make them work in a cohesive manner. As a result, the team will be able to work efficiently and harmoniously with each other.

Are you ready to bring your business to another level of success? Here are some essential team building tips for every entrepreneur.

1. Value each team member

Success in business or any other industry doesn’t come because of your strength as a leader. In fact, each and every team member played an important part in generating success. Without their individual ability, you cannot grow as an organization.

This is why recognizing each team member’s contribution is essential for sustained success. Praising them both in public and in private will do wonders for your organization. You have to let your team know that you appreciate their hard work.

It will also help if you put team members in leadership roles. This will empower them to find or create solutions autonomously. It will also free you from being the one to give guidance whenever a problem occurs.

In addition, virtual team building activities are a good way to know your team members. Since most of us work at home because of the pandemic, these activities will help you understand your team’s individual cares, concerns, even their dreams and aspirations.

2. Maximize their skills

There’s no team member that’s exactly alike in terms of skills. Each member possesses different skill sets and personalities. As the leader, it’s your responsibility to determine how to pair each member that their skills would eventually compliment each other.

One person’s strength can abate the other person’s weakness. This is the best way to reduce the deficiencies of the team’s overall performance. Effective leaders understand each member’s strength and place them in a position where they can succeed. With that being said, you as the leader need to develop emotional intelligence. This is the best way to effectively communicate with a wide variety of personalities within your team.

The key is to develop a good relationship with every team member. This will help them open up with you which will help you identify how you can help them succeed and do their tasks in the highest quality possible.

3. Support and protect your team

Effective leaders are protective of their team. That’s because they understand that each member of the team is helping their business succeed. Great leaders treat their employees like family.

They make sure they know their hard work and the sacrifices they make. From there, they see to it that every member is well taken care of. With this combination, every team member understands that they’re standing on a good ground where they can succeed and be their best.

As the leader, you are the authority figure. That doesn’t mean you have to be egotistic. Instead, you must give them the guidance and lead them to succeed. Always provide a path to the right direction. Your team would eventually realize this and replicate your effort through increased productivity.

4. Avoid micromanaging

Micromanaging suffocates your team’s performance. This managing style will scare your team to make mistakes. Eventually, your team will become complacent and will never step up to their fullest potential.

Remember, the only way for your team to succeed is to let them handle the work in autonomy. However, this should also be coupled with responsibility and accountability. This often requires you as their leader to back off and let them handle the task according to their abilities.

While this can be a tough decision to make because you will put your business on the line. However, when you put constant pressure to your team it will have negative effects which will eventually affect your business.

As the leader, you should learn to relieve control and allow your team to do their work to their utmost potential. This is often surprising when you realize that your employees can manage the tasks without the need for you to be constantly looking over them.

5. Develop clear communication

Don’t expect your team to read your mind. Clear and open communication is the key to prevent resentment and frustration. As the leader, you need to be clear and blunt with your team that they know exactly what you expect them to do.

Clear communication will lead your team to produce the kind of results that you need. This will ensure the success of your team instead of letting them operate in the dark.

6. Appreciate them

Your team drives your business’ success. That means, you never take them for granted. Always give them the appreciation they deserve. Also, learn to acknowledge their contribution and their results.

Studies show that people tend to work harder and boost their productivity when they’re appreciated. This often leads to higher motivation which will push them to aim for a higher level of success under your leadership.

High-Tech or High-Touch?

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |High-touch|High-Tech or High-Touch?Over the past decade technology has impacted the way we communicate, learn, and work. Over 5.5 billion Google searches are conducted every day and it is difficult to remember how we obtained information pre-Google. Big Data analytics are an important resource for business functions in all industries and conversational technology like chatbots and personal assistants can offer 24/7 customer support.

However, the question I want you to ask yourself is “Have we become too high-tech?” The title of this article is “High-Tech or High-Touch.” The more effective approach would be to implement a combination of both. Technology, when used properly, can improve efficiency and accuracy, but a high-touch approach is the key to building long-lasting relationships.

Salespeople often complain that no one answers their phone and will only respond to email or text. I will agree that texting is often the fastest way to obtain a response. However, technology should never replace human interaction. Often, it is the salesperson who would rather communicate by text or email, not the prospect or client. When you are screened out or voice mail messages are ignored, the person you contacted does not see any benefit in talking to you. Refrain from making WWD (what we do) presentations and instead focus your messages and conversations on how what you offer, benefits others.

People want three questions answered in any type of relationship: First – do you care about me? Second – can I trust you? Third – will you deliver what you promise? Prospects will initially view you as a vendor, but your goal should be to elevate your relationship to trusted advisor, consultant or even friend. Let your clients and prospects talk about themselves and they will like you better. Learn as much as you can about their personal lives and challenges so you can position yourself as the logical solution. It is impossible to obtain this information if you only communicate utilizing technology.

It is also amazing how effective snail mail has become. If you have an important message you want read, do not email it. Send the message in a white envelope (not a company envelope) with the return address only listing your street address – no company name. Too often, when people receive something from a company in the mail, they assume it is a sales pitch and discard it before they read or open it. Handwrite their name and address and write the words “personal and confidential” in the lower left-hand corner of the envelope. That is the only mail that is not opened by an assistant and will be read by the person you have addressed.

When you combine a High-Tech with High-Touch approach, rapport improves which then leads to trust; you will establish strong relationships and you will not be deleted with one simple click.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor |Barbara BrunoBarbara Bruno, author of HIGH-TECH HIGH-TOUCH RECRUITING: How To Attract And Retain The Best Talent By Improving The Candidate Experience, is an internationally recognized recruiting expert who has a proven track record of helping recruiters and talent acquisition professionals become more successful and less stressed. She has created several popular LinkedIn Learning courses and is president of Good As Gold Training, HR Search, Inc., and Happy Candidates. For more information, please visit:
https://www.koganpage.com/product/high-tech-high-touch-recruiting-9781789665154