The New Year's Weight Loss Goal With Visual Management

  ​As the new year comes to an end, new strategies, resolutions and goals kick into gear.  We share with friends how much weight we want to lose.  We talk with superiors about how we are going to improve and we set goals we've set before with the hopes of reaching them this year. Day one begins with the new goals.  Day two, we are executing and day three one of them falls to the wayside.  Why is this?
  While there are many different reasons resolutions, goals and objectives might get misplaced one common way to avoid this is through the use of visual controls.  

What is a visual Control?
  A visual control refers to methods, devices, activities and or systems which are designed to assist in the management or control of activities.  These means of control often employ other sensory characteristics along with a visual to better manage.  A visual control is one method of communication that we can use to show at a glance:
1.     How we are performing or progressing with our activity or work effort.
2.     If anything is deviating from a standard.
3.     What we need to do.

1. Progress/Performance - The visual control should show anyone who looks at it how the work effort or activity is performing in comparison to the standard or objective.  One example of visual management that could be used for a new year’s weight loss goal might be a weight loss chart like the one shown below.

 2. Deviations from a Standard - Visual management also seeks to identify abnormal conditions. While it is important that we see, and know when conditions are not meeting the expected level of performance, it is probably even more important that visual controls share knowledge throughout an organization allowing individuals to look, understand and act accordingly.  If you had as part of your new year’s weight loss goal a diet, the plate shown below may be helpful to use at each meal.  You can see what the standard is and you can see if the standard is being met or not and correct it accordingly.  Now that's Lean.

3.  What you need to do - Exception messages in ERP/MRP give us information and prompt us to act or receive information.  A gas light on our car tells us we need gas and both our weight loss tracker and portioned plate show us what we are doing in relation to the standard.  If we are not meeting a standard we need to understand the abnormality and act accordingly.  If we are meeting the standard, we keep doing what we are doing or do a little better.  The point is the means of communication being used for visual management should help us to make decisions of what needs to be done.

  There you have it one easy tool you can use in 2017 to become much leaner.  Just remember: 

1. How we are performing or progressing with our activity or work effort.
2. If anything is deviating from a standard.
3. What we need to do.

For more information on how you can use visual management email us here!