Simon J.L. Smith has 2 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 1 narrator, with an average listener rating of 3★ across 1 ratings. The most-rated is Kanban: The Ultimate Essential Guide to Learn and Amplify Kanban Principles.
Kanban: The Ultimate Essential Guide to Learn and Amplify Kanban Principles
Summary
Kanban is a workflow management method designed to help you visualize your work, maximize efficiency, and be agile. From Japanese, kanban is literally translated as billboard or signboard. Originating from manufacturing, it later became a territory claimed by agile software development teams. Recently, it started getting recognized by business units across various areas. As more and more people hear about Kanban, there often are misinterpretations. So what is Kanban? Here are the most important things you need to know about it from its creation till today. The Kanban Method At the beginning of the 21st Century, key players within the software industry quickly realized how Kanban could be used to positively change the ways in which products and services were delivered. With an increased focus on efficiency, and by harnessing advances in computing technology, Kanban left the realm of the automotive industry and was successfully applied to other complex commercial sectors such as IT, software development, marketing, and so on. Indeed, what we now recognize as the Kanban Method with all core elements emerged at the beginning of 2007. The simplest Kanban Method may start with three columns - “Requested”, “In Progress” and “Done”. When constructed, managed, and functioning properly, it serves as a real-time information repository, highlighting bottlenecks within the system and anything else which might get in the way of smooth working practices. But how does the Kanban methodology work? Let’s discover more. The 4 Core Principles of Kanban Principle 1: Start With What You Do Now Principle 2: Agree to Pursue Incremental, Evolutionary Change Principle 3: Respect the Current Process, Roles, and Responsibilities Principle 4: Encourage Acts of Leadership at All Levels The 6 Practices of Kanban Visualize the Workflow Limit Work in Progress Manage Flow Make Process Policies Explicit Feedback Loops Improve Collaboratively (using models and the scientific method) The way to achieve continuous improvement and sustainable change within an organization is through shared vision of a better future and collective understanding of the issues that need to be overcome. Teams that have a shared understanding of theories about work, workflow, process, and risk are more likely to build a shared comprehension of a problem and suggest steps towards improvement, which can be agreed by consensus. The Positive Side of Kanban Nowadays, many organizations use the Kanban method in order to be more agile and bring order to their chaotic work processes. Simply said, it helps you get more work done. A Kanban system is more than sticky notes on the wall. The easiest way to understand Kanban is to embrace its philosophy and then apply it to your daily work. If you read, understand, and resonate with the four core principles, the practical transition would seem logical and even inevitable. Visualizing workflow, setting WIP limits, managing flow, ensuring explicit policies, and collaborative improvement will take your process far beyond you could think. Remember to organize regular feedback loops and all these pieces together will reveal the true power of Kanban.
©2019 Simon J.L. Smith (P)2019 Simon J.L. Smith
Lean Six Sigma
Summary
Learn all you need to know about lean six sigma! Lean six sigma is a combination of two popular continuous improvement methods - lean and six sigma that pave the way for operational excellence. These time-tested approaches provide organizations with a clear path for achieving their missions as quickly and efficiently as possible. Before defining lean six sigma in more detail, it’s important to clarify the concept of process improvement. Since lean six sigma is a system for analyzing and improving processes, we’ll break down those terms first. What is a process? A process is a series of steps involved in building a product or delivering a service. Almost everything we do is a process - tying our shoes, baking a cake, treating a cancer patient, or manufacturing a cell phone. What is process improvement? Process improvement requires employees to better understand the current state of how a process functions in order to remove the barriers to serving customers. Since each product or service is the result of a process, gaining the skills required to remove waste, rework or inefficiency is critical for the growth of an organization. Working on a process vs in a process Employees are hired based on their expertise in a given field. Bakers are good at baking, and surgeons are good at performing surgery. Professionals are experts at working in a process, but they are not necessarily experts at working on a process. Learning to work on and improve processes require experience and education in continuous improvement. That’s where lean six sigma comes in. Combining lean and six sigma Lean six sigma provides a systematic approach and a combined toolkit to help employees build their problem-solving muscles. Both lean and six sigma are based on a scientific method, and together, they support organizations looking to build a problem-solving culture. This means that “finding a better way” becomes a daily habit.
©2019 Simon J.L. Smith (P)2019 Simon J.L. Smith