The Benefits of Kaizen Events
Most of the Kaizen events have a very clear goal with a specific process targeted for immediate improvement. It’s fantastic and advocates for careful planning and a well-defined charter for any rapid improvement event. But it is also important to be aware of the ancillary benefits of Kaizen events because there are good reasons to do them from time-to-time beyond the obvious improvements that are implemented. Here are the six major ones.
Problem Solving
The ideal state for most organizations is one in which the leadership sets the strategy and the staff creatively defines the tactics and works to solve problems in order to reach the strategic objectives. Kaizen events are an ideal way to practice this approach. Teams can apply their most innovative thinking to challenges that are impeding strategy execution. This requires leaders to get very good at communicating strategy and trusting the people who do the day-to-day work to understand how it applies to the processes that they oversee. This makes everyone better at their primary role and improves engagement across the board.
Hands-on Training
If you’ve ever taken a college level chemistry course, you’ve probably had experience with the lecture approach to learning. It’s one thing to talk about how certain elements interact with each other, but quite another to see it happen. Organizations that adopt the Kaizen philosophy spend a great deal of effort on training, but nothing can replace the hands-on experience. During a Kaizen event, experienced team members will have the chance to talk about how the techniques, values, and tools used during the event can be leveraged by the team on a day-to-day basis.
Active Collaboration
Effective team work is essential to a successful Kaizen event. The fact that the effort is concentrated in a short period of time and targeted at an important, often high-visibility opportunity for improvement raises the stakes for cross-functional collaboration. This gives participants the chance to overcome challenges that are common to many organizations such as functional silos and zero-sum thinking. Team members must develop the essential skills of active listening and clear communication.
Demonstration of Leadership
Each Kaizen event needs to have a team leader who is responsible for bringing the team together, coordinating the event, and making sure that each role is filled successfully. They will also be the point person for the executive sponsor and request help if additional resources become necessary or if a roadblock is encountered. The person who leads the team does not have to be in a management role. In fact, Kaizen events present the opportunity to let more folks try on the role of leader. Managers are often surprised by who is able and willing to step up when given the chance.
Clarity about Priorities
Executive leaders may not be delighted by us pointing this out, but suggesting a Kaizen event to target a particular problem is a good way of determining if solving that problem is a high priority for leaders. Of course, Kaizen events are not the right solution for every issue. Some problems are simply too complex to address in a short time frame. But if a Kaizen event makes sense for a defined problem, leaders’ willingness to invest the required resources to focus on it for a few days, is useful information about the urgency and importance of the process or problem to be addressed.
Enhanced Ownership of the Process
When employees are involved in documenting and improving a process, they tend to become more engaged and willing to take ownership of it. People who spend time thinking about and implementing positive change are less likely to slip back into old habits and more likely to stick to the new plan and find ways to make it even better still.
Conclusion
A well-executed Kaizen event can have a much bigger impact than just the improvements to the target process. It can lead to employees who are more engaged, excited, and capable. The skills required to participate in rapid improvement are valuable every single day
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