How to Use Kaizen to Ensure Teams are Invested in Process Improvements

In 2005, I was helping a team improve the safety and productivity of their operating line. During a 4-day span, each of the team members was able to try and implement many different ideas that arose from their creativity. At first, they didn’t believe that they would be allowed to make changes to the operating line, but after each successive attempt, they grew more and more confident, and the energy, enthusiasm and momentum grew. At the end of the 4 days, each of the team members reflected on their experience. One of the team members was a gruff mechanic who had been skeptical at the beginning of the session. He stood up with tears in his eyes and stated that this had been the most meaningful and impactful experience of his working life. I knew right then that I wanted to bring this joy to as many people as possible.

Kaizen brings people together to solve problems in their area of concern. They have the most understanding, experience, and vested interest in the effort. They also reap the benefits of the improvements moving forward. Kaizen asks us to make things better, not perfect, and go rapidly, without investing anything but the time and energy of the people making the changes.  There may be some minimal cost, but because things are going so fast, a significant financial investment isn’t likely. Using the speed of Kaizen and the creativity of the team, I developed 3 approaches to drive the deep and emotional connection to improvement that I was seeking.

1. Idea Gathering and Sharing with Sticky Notes
Each team member takes a pad of sticky notes with them as they tour the area of concern.  With guided questioning, the team members write down their personal observations or ideas that come to mind while touring. It is quick, personal, and drives ownership and accountability to come up with ideas for the benefit of the team and the people in the area. I ask each team member to write down one idea per sticky note, so that nothing gets missed and it’s easier to organize ideas as a team once we have reconvened. In the meeting room, I have the team members share all of their ideas, one person at a time, one idea at a time. Each idea is placed on a flip chart or on a wall for everyone to see. If there are 15 team members, I have each person share one idea until the team has heard 15 separate ideas. Then I give them a chance to share their second idea, third idea, and so on, until the team has run out of ideas. This creates an atmosphere where everyone has equal voice, regardless of position, experience, or pay grade.

2. Prioritization with Criteria
Once the ideas have all been shared and posted, the team may choose to group similar ideas together. This gives them the chance to see all of the ideas and remove any redundancy. Following this, each team member is asked to pick his or her top ideas using these criteria:

a. Provides the biggest benefit to our team and our customers

b. I personally want to do this

c. We can do this during the allotted time of the event

Everyone is given an equal number of votes (usually between 3 and 5), so no team member can dominate the conversation or the voting. These criteria are interpreted differently by each team member, but in the end, this approach creates a list of the team’s top priorities.  This approach generally takes no more than 10 – 15 minutes.

3. Pick Your Project
We now have a list of things to work on, prioritized by the amount of votes the team has placed on them. I then list the top 3 or 4 projects on a flip chart, depending on the size of the team.  Now it becomes personal, as I tell the team, “First come, first served. Place your name on the project you want to work on.”  More than a few times, team members rush to the flip chart to put their names on a project. They want to ensure they get the project that matters to them the most. This may sound risky, as a project may not get claimed. I have never seen this happen. Team members have different interests and you can’t always guess what they are, so I have stopped doing that. Also, if there aren’t enough team members on a project, I ask if there’s anyone willing to swap projects. Often, there are a few team members who don’t have a real preference, so they are happy to change projects. 

Now that we have personally observed and shared issues, picked our projects, and assigned the work to the people who want to do it the most, we have the foundation for the deep personal connection to the improvements that we seek. Sometimes a team member will find it moving enough to convince others to get involved in future efforts and find the same joy that they did.