Factors that promote and hinder the effective work of the team. Improving employee performance: effective ways

No matter what product a company creates, increasing labor efficiency can improve its bottom line. Doing more with less is the reality of today's competitive business environment, and that dynamic is unlikely to change any time soon.

Anton Solovey, head of the Falcongaze expert direction, talks about methods to increase labor efficiency in the company and gives advice on how to organize the workflow in such a way as to get maximum productivity.

It would seem irrelevant in 2018 to remind you that computer technology is a great way to increase company productivity and help every employee get more done in less time. However, this is such a dynamically developing area that requires separate control over emerging innovations that change the idea of the workflow.

Assessing the state of the company and the need for computer technology, it is necessary to study manual processes that are used by the firm and decide how they can be using the right technology.

There are also tasks of Internet filtering (how to prevent the time saved in this way from being scattered) and organizing handy tools for communication within the team: e-mail and bulletin boards, instant messengers and so on.

For example, on Rusbase there was a story about the optimization of management in the Nimax studio, where there was advice on choosing a new project and sales management system, as well as a new messenger. It is not so important which particular tool will be used - it is much more important that it be the same for the entire team and its use be uniform. And also safe.

Control and setting deadlines

It is necessary to track and limit how much time an employee spends on tasks. To do this, you can use one of the activity-tracking applications and thus determine which tasks are carried out in general during the day. This will help to abandon the superfluous and set the optimal time for solving the problem. This is the so-called managed stress. When an employee looks at his watch, he becomes focused and productive.

An important point is that the optimization process should not be chaotic, but controlled.

Despite the fact that our development - the SecureTower DLP system - is designed primarily to provide information security- many customers also use it to work with business processes. For example, after implementation, it is possible to analyze the state of information flows, how departments interact with each other, where and what information is stored, how efficiently the management system works, whether there are obviously disloyal employees and into which groups to divide according to the degree of attention "security" to them. One of the first things that our client companies usually discover is employees surfing the Internet and playing games during the day.

According to a survey conducted over the past year by our managers between companies using our development, 80% of those surveyed reported that leaks of information of commercial value were prevented in their companies, and 11% indicated that attempts to extract such data were made more than 10 times.

What else?

Another important condition- to control not only employees, but also line managers. In one of the companies, in the information environment of which a DLP solution was implemented long ago, a specialist working with the program triggered security rules that reported that in the accounting department for the previous month one of the computers often remained turned on after the end of working hours, and accounting programs were active in it.

After an additional investigation, it turned out that the head of the department had changed, who arranged the work in such a way that one of the accountants was forced to constantly stay late. He simply dumped some of his tasks on a subordinate.

How to protect your business from disloyal employees

When building modern system relations in the organization can not do without strong protection. On the one hand, the DLP system will psychologically stimulate the employee to responsibly adhere to work duties and improve the social climate in the organization. And on the other hand, to protect the business from disloyal employees and insiders whose goal is to harm the company, take advantage of its resources, and steal confidential information.

For example, in a building design company, an employee was discovered who leaked information to competitors. Tracking his activities was not easy, since he did not send the drawings directly via mail or instant messengers, but copied them to his PC and took pictures.

With the help of the file system monitoring module, the information security service created a databank with particularly important documentation. The system scanned all the workstations on the network and revealed that this documentation is stored by a user who was not even involved in this project.

The above methods of increasing labor efficiency require greater independence from the employee, and this, in turn, enhances the importance of monitoring his activities. Properly building relationships between an employer and an employee can help bring the company's work to new level and increase profits.

One of the factors for the effective work of the team is to ensure a normal moral and psychological climate in it. Its presence is evidenced by the mutual support of people, the absence of constant conflicts between them, open discussion of disagreements and other difficult issues, unwillingness to move to a new place. It is better that the team is diverse, consists of dissimilar people.

A workforce must have optimal size. The more people, the more difficult it is for them to communicate with each other and reach agreement on key issues.

An important feature of a healthy team is the clarity of goals. Everyone should have a good idea of what results to strive for, clearly understand and share the goals of the team. And then people will seek a compromise between personal and collective interests in order to satisfy their needs and contribute to the common cause.

The performance of the team is also affected by the implementation of certain norms and standards of behavior, which include honesty, competence, professionalism, and ethical standards.

Maintaining a normal moral and psychological climate in the team is important in ensuring the effectiveness of the work of the team.

The main signs of a favorable moral and psychological climate:

1) trust and high demands of group members to each other;

2) benevolent and businesslike criticism;

3) free expression of one's own opinion when discussing issues relating to the entire team;

4) the absence of pressure from managers on subordinates and the recognition of their right to make decisions that are significant for the group;

5) sufficient awareness of the team members about its tasks and the state of affairs in their implementation;

6) satisfaction with belonging to the team;

7) a high degree of emotional involvement and mutual assistance in situations that cause a state of frustration (deceit, frustration, destruction of plans) in any of the members of the team;

8) taking responsibility for the state of affairs in the group by each of its members, etc.

Also in the work of the team there are 10 factors that impede effective work.

1) The unsuitability of the leader.

Leadership is perhaps the most important factor, which determines the quality of the work of the team. A leader who does not want to take a team approach or who lacks the ability to use this style of leadership will suppress any initiative aimed at building a team. A good leader always pays Special attention and shows by personal example how to bring questions to a complete solution.

2) Unqualified employees.

If team members lack basic skills, useful results are unlikely to be obtained. A combination of professional and human qualities, which together only allow you to successfully cope with the work. The needs for certain qualities are not the same in different teams.

3) Unconstructive climate.

It often turns out that people with very different backgrounds, with very different values and life plans are united in a team. Whether employees are committed to the tasks of the team is one of the signs of a positive climate. Team loyalty must be consciously developed, as it rarely arises on its own until each of the employees individually decides to direct their energy towards collective goals. If disagreements arise between employees, then it is better to speak about them publicly. When important issues remain unspoken, the climate in the team becomes defensive - people hide their views, preferring to be comfortable rather than natural.

4) Fuzziness of goals.

If there is no clear vision of the goal, then as a consequence, individual members of the team cannot contribute to the overall success. Even when the goals are clear to everyone, it is important to find a compromise between personal and collective interests. Effective team gives each employee the opportunity to satisfy their personal interests and contribute to the implementation of collective ones.

5) Low performance.

Some teams have a positive climate and effective leadership but lacks the drive to complete the task. As a result, the results are low, despite the overall competence. The purpose of group work is to produce tangible results that meet the needs of the organization. Even if the team has a good moral climate, but poor results, it does not justify its existence.

6) Ineffective working methods.

In a good team, the methods of work are honed to such an extent that they become an informal, but strict discipline. People learn to apply qualitative criteria to their meetings. Individual employees acquire personal skills that are recognized and used in the team. The meetings have a spirit of competence and rarely get bored. The team moves forward quickly and maintains a high pace, yet a high level of personal attention and ease of communication ensures that all relevant issues are worked out.

7) Lack of openness and confrontation.

In some groups, a certain conspiracy is formed when people and events are not analyzed critically. Here the free flow of judgments and comments is inhibited to create a benevolent microclimate. Team members may discourage openness for several reasons: Politeness: Team members believe that social etiquette precludes confrontation. Fear of “losing face”: people feel that criticism from colleagues can lead to a fall in their authority. Reluctance to “rock the boat”: employees believe that criticism exposes weaknesses and undermines morale. Lack of qualifications: team members understand the benefits of careful analysis, but simply do not feel able to carry it out constructively; they lack the necessary ability to analyze and make personal comparisons.

8) Undeveloped employees.

Effective teamwork must bring together the skills of all employees. Other things being equal, teams with high level individual abilities. Abilities may not depend on education, qualifications and experience. Other managers seem to have all the necessary knowledge and skills, but they never manage to achieve noticeable results. Others, on the other hand, have a low educational level, and at first glance it seems that they lack managerial skills, but despite this, their business is going incredibly well.

9) Low creativity.

An effective team is able to generate creative ideas and implement them. Much depends on a hard-to-describe shared propensity to innovate. Some organizations have managed to achieve that the work there is exciting, and in such cases, life is literally in full swing. The tedious repetition of meaningless tasks only increases frustration, saps vitality, enthusiasm, and creativity. From an organizational point of view, this is dangerous, as it deprives the system of creativity and increases resistance to change.

10) Unconstructive relations with other teams.

At work, you usually have to deal with other teams, but sometimes the quality of such interaction is low. Quite often, communications are unsatisfactory, common goals are not enough. The team leader has a special role to play in strengthening ties with other teams, and he can do much to prevent hostility and create cooperation.

Crisis events in the economy give impetus to increase the efficiency and return of the business to improve the efficiency of the enterprise. To date, the players on the market have not diminished, but the money has decreased. At the same time, competition is also getting tougher, which means that the victory will go to those who manage their enterprise or organization more efficiently. The following will outline how to improve work efficiency in six ways.

We select a team

For high efficiency, a company needs a well-coordinated group of people. A close-knit team will be much better at meeting company goals and performance criteria. Strengthening the staff will help improve skills, positive motivation of employees, the possibility of interchangeability of employees and the presence of a certain personnel reserve.

We improve and modernize

This method quite common, it implies modernization, as software(hereinafter referred to as software), as well as hardware upgrades that will provide greater performance. It is also common to install special corporate software, which makes it possible to make a closer connection between the staff and automate some of the enterprise processes. The introduction of automation has shown quite a good increase in the efficiency of the organization or enterprise.

As for updating equipment, it must be carried out constantly. Just remember that this is a rather costly process and therefore requires high cash injections, and it will take several years to pay off. In such a delicate matter, you need to carefully calculate everything.

We reduce costs

Evaluation of the efficiency of the enterprise is given on the basis of its increased profits. To increase this assessment, there are a huge number of ways, ranging from purchasing by low prices and ending with the reduction of the organization's staff. But let's not forget that we opened our business to earn money, and not to search for cheap materials, job cuts will help only for a short time, in the long term, with this approach, the enterprise will disappear. Costs, of course, must be controlled, but this way of raising the efficiency of the enterprise is rather slow, and if we take into account the current state of affairs, it is completely dangerous.

Correcting the management system

This method does not imply the development of a completely own system based on one's own experience, but the improvement of an already created system at other enterprises. At the moment, there are six most popular systems, these are: Lean Manufacturing, TPS, Quality Management System (QMS), 6 Sigma and Theory of Constraints of Systems.

Adjustment of the management system is characterized by high complexity of implementation, and, at the same time, increased performance indicators of your enterprise. The professionalism of the head of an organization or enterprise is determined, first of all, by the ability to be skeptical and evaluate their own business management system.

With the change of the owner of the enterprise or the replacement of the top management team, the system usually changes. The new leader replaces managers because he does not expect them to change his enterprise management system and it is easier for him to hire new people who are not related to the previous owner. There are also known cases where frequent replacements staff and do not improve efficiency.

We move the gyrus

In another way, it can also be called "Do at least something." In the methods indicated above, this one, in one form or another, is used. This method works like this: the owner gathers his deputies and does not let them go until they "think up" how to improve the efficiency of the company. Most often, after such a "brainstorming" changes organizational structure enterprises: shuffling department heads, merging or vice versa, dismembering services and other similar activities that are designed to increase the speed of decision-making. The result is the methods outlined above - purchasing at low prices, laying off employees, modernizing and changing the management system, which, by the way, can save your company from closing.

Using the Theory of Constraints

The theory is to find the element that limits your enterprise. If you have realized the main problem of your organization, for example, software with a minimum of functions, then you need to purchase and install new, more functional software with retraining of personnel who will use it. This is a simple example. More often than not, when brainstorming, the real problems of inefficiency are simply not visible under the rubbish of other, less important ones. The best solutions for finding the main problem of the company are TOC tools: the logical tree of the current reality or "Thundercloud".

Conclusion

In today's environment, a lot of efforts are spent by the state on the development and maintenance of entrepreneurship. But leaders of organizations and enterprises should also worry about improving the efficiency of their business. I hope this article has helped in the decision to increase the efficiency of your enterprise.

Let's look at demotivators that reduce the effectiveness of staff. What to avoid when working with colleagues, as well as when communicating with employees. This question is about leadership. It is necessary to properly motivate employees, to be loyal, then the return and work efficiency will reach a higher level.

In the material, we will consider in detail the very concept of demotivation, and also learn about its methods and moral demotivating factors.

Every director must know that the foundation for the successful development of any company is the high return of its employees.

The basis of productivity and effective work is the right motivation, its tools that are used in practice. Each director must understand what actions to take in relation to his subordinates so that they work with desire and go to work with pleasure.

Non-objective punishment reduces work efficiency

Also, the concept is called material demotivation. Sometimes management sees that their lower-ranking colleagues evade their direct duties and want to whip them up in some way.

To do this, they "cut off" the salary of the staff. (Since you citizens are lazy and work without enthusiasm, I decide to pay you less).

But it is worth noting that decision wrong. Because hardly anyone will perform feats for such a low fee. If an employee has worked poorly before, then the measures taken will not be an incentive for him. In such a situation, management is removed from office and a more competent and objective person is found who is able to properly motivate subordinates.

Disrespect and constant "sawing" discourages the desire to fulfill their duties in any person. If you never praise the working staff, but inspire them that they are stupid, mediocrity, like zero specialists, then it is difficult to expect full returns from them.

There is another way that negatively affects the attitude of colleagues (see), it is latent. These are employees, the so-called saboteurs, gray cardinals. In teams there are such colleagues who treat their duties irresponsibly, they constantly chat on their mobile phones, sit in in social networks. Such an attitude is detrimental to the service of the entire workforce, because many follow bad example, imitate.

Let's discuss the most common ways of material and moral leverage on colleagues:

Financial factors

Lack of bonuses, incentives, bonuses for the good work of employees.
Employee expenses are not reimbursed. For example, mobile connection, travel, etc.

Moral factors that reduce employee performance

The interest of employees in the development of new projects and ideas is not encouraged.
Any initiative from the staff is rejected.
There is no clear system of tasks for each position (see).
Regular processing, overtime loads.
Too difficult tasks are set for employees.
Mistreatment of colleagues.
Ignoring the rules of business etiquette.
Failure to fulfill promises, lack of career growth.
Strong pressure from the manager, frequent nit-picking, installation of controlling tools. For example, it can be installed beacons on phones, minute-by-minute reporting on the work done.

Expert opinion: What reduces the efficiency of employees?

Olga Nilova

Lead Recruitment Consultant Kelly Services CIS

Many factors can affect the performance of staff. I would break them down into two parts: personal circumstances and external factors.

Personal circumstances affecting the quality of work

Among personal moments, it is worth noting the motivation of employees to perform work, as well as the knowledge and skills necessary to perform certain functions.

An employee is unlikely to be effective if he absolutely does not like what he does. This may be due not only, for example, to initially wrong choice profession, but also with the fact that the employee is "burned out", he needs a new challenge. An employee exhausted by monotonous work is definitely not ready for productive work. Just like an employee who does not have the necessary experience and competencies to perform the work assigned to him, will definitely show low results.

External factors affecting employee productivity

External circumstances include unfavorable working conditions, lack of resources, too much work and poor team relationships.

Imagine that you are working in an office with poor ventilation, in which case the lack of oxygen can not only reduce productivity, but also negatively affect the health of employees. Or are you distracted by the endless squabbles and conflicts of your colleagues: this will not only spoil nervous system but also take away valuable working time.

What demotivating factors do leaders use without knowing it?

AT last years questions of personnel motivation occupy one of the first points in terms of personnel management. In an effort to achieve efficiency, managers develop various systems motivation for their employees. But are these methods always effective?

For example, the systems of fines still used in many companies: there is an opinion that this increases the motivation, for example, of sales managers. Such an employee may try to work better, but how long he will work in this company is a big question. Or constant criticism and admonitions: the manager thinks that this will be beneficial and the employee will correct his work, but in fact, this method can achieve complete demotivation.

It is very easy to demotivate an employee. It is enough to give him what he really does not need. For example, to transfer him from an executive to a managerial position. Out of courtesy, the employee will agree to a promotion, but will feel out of place. As you know, not all people strive for career growth.

Poor communication can also negatively affect motivation: it happens that the manager does not clearly set tasks and, as a result, the employee does not understand what is required of him, often the employee is given unrealistic deadlines for completing tasks. All this subsequently also leads to burnout and demotivation of the staff.

Now you are familiar with the factors that can Negative influence for efficient work of the staff. As a result, the delay in the development of the company, poor performance. Try to draw the right conclusions, you should not make these mistakes when managing colleagues. Be honest, respectful and patient with workers. Show employees that you appreciate them and the services they provide, thank them for their work. Then your organization will become strong, powerful, will flourish before our eyes.

There are four prerequisites that are necessary in order to successfully implement the concept of lean manufacturing in the office. You must always remember them and fulfill them, no matter what stage of transformation you are at. Without them, you won't be successful. Each of the conditions implies that you will try to understand your employees, explain the new principles of work to them and involve them in the implementation of the new concept. These four conditions are the foundation upon which everything else will rest.

Condition 1. Behavior-Attitude-Culture Model

This condition will minimize the resistance of staff to change. The first step in implementing lean principles is to change the behavior of your employees if you want to create a culture of continuous improvement in all processes in your organization. Your employees need to understand that positive change (i.e. implementing lean principles) will help the organization succeed in the long run.

This condition will help your employees understand why the organization's workflow may not be entirely effective. As the company grows and the volume of work increases, reducing waste should be a top priority in all areas of its activity. Employees of the company must realize that each type of administrative process has costs. In the section on the second condition, we will explain how to communicate the need for change to staff.

Condition 3. Seven types of losses

Lean tools and principles help organizations identify and eliminate seven types of waste. The old adage "You can't manage what you can't see" can be rephrased as "You can't improve what you can't understand." It is essential that employees acquire basic knowledge about losses and learn how to understand them.

Condition 4: Management Commitment

The implementation of the principles of lean manufacturing should take place from the top down. Senior executives must be 100% committed to positive change in the company and 100% convinced that a lean enterprise must be created to sustain existing successes or reach new heights. Collaboration between management at the head of the organization and employees who are interested in change is the key to ensuring that lean principles are not only adopted, but also become integral part long-term development strategy of the company.

Condition 1. Behavior-Attitude-Culture Model

To be successful in any process improvement, it is essential to understand the behaviors and attitudes of people working in an office or task.

In the 1990s in the United States, concepts such as “teamwork”, “autonomous working groups”, “employee involvement”, “empowered teams”, etc. arose. Independent working groups, consisting of ordinary employees, were supposed to change the organizational culture of companies. Strict control by managers was becoming a thing of the past, workers were taking more and more part in the management of the company. The idea was right, but there were not enough tools to achieve the desired results. Nevertheless, in the course of such projects it was possible to learn a lot of useful things.

When introducing into practice such concepts as “team leader”, “teamwork” and “autonomous working groups”, people were faced with the question of what and how to do it.

The mere expansion of powers (without special tools) did not bring the desired results. There were some successes, but they were not supported by anything and, therefore, the initiative quickly faded away.

The figure shows that American managers first tried to change corporate culture, expecting a subsequent change in the views and behavior of subordinates. With a closer examination of the concept of lean manufacturing and production system Toyota researchers found a completely different approach. They found that the use of lean tools first changed the behavior of people who sought to identify and eliminate waste. Once workers began to feel they could control their site, reducing waste and making their job easier, their views changed: they realized the need for continuous improvement of all processes. Along with the views of each individual employee, the culture of the organization as a whole changed radically. The main principle of work was not to identify errors, but to prevent them, which, in fact, is the essence of lean production.

The Behavior-Attitude-Culture model, which is based on the philosophy of lean manufacturing, is simple. Its implementation requires constant efforts both on the part of management and on the part of ordinary employees. Work habits are hard to break. It takes discipline, determination, and perseverance to make an organization grow. The first small successes will serve as an impetus from a change in the behavior and attitudes of people to a change in the entire organizational culture.

Knowledge Possession

Another important point concerning the traditional approach to organizing office work, is that, as a rule, an individual employee of the company is the bearer of 80% of knowledge about a particular process. This can cause problems if the employee falls ill, goes on vacation or business, changes jobs, or quits. In these cases, the job cannot be completed. The narrow specialization of personnel and the concentration of knowledge in one or a few people can be serious obstacles to the development of the company.

Since in cases where managers do not have necessary knowledge(they are poorly versed in a particular process), they can only provide support to their subordinates, the effectiveness of the organization is jeopardized for the following reasons:

Building a Lean Office includes (but is not limited to):

The focus is on processes, not employees.
Organizational knowledge is easily transferred from one person to another.
There is a detailed understanding of work processes, which allows them to be better controlled and continuously improved.
Process knowledge is standardized for maximum uniformity.
Losses are identified and eliminated as they occur (daily, hourly and minutely).

These five principles will allow an employee to better understand not only his own work, but also the work that his colleagues do. Thanks to this, knowledge about the processes is distributed within the group.

Change doesn't happen instantly. Any changes should be implemented in stages.

Stage one. Convince others and set the right direction

In most cases, company employees are carriers of 80% of information about processes, and managers (or organization) - 20%. This step also explains why the organization should be the knowledge carrier. It can take up to six months to complete.

Stage two. Organize your workflow

Employees will only control 50% of process knowledge, while managers (or the organization) will control the remaining 50%. The tools will systematize the knowledge of employees and transfer it to the organization so that everyone can feel the positive changes. This stage can take from six months to one year.

Stage three. Save your progress

At the third stage of the transition to a lean office, the company's employees will begin to quietly participate in the continuous improvement of all business processes on a daily basis. 80% of knowledge will now be structured within the new approach to work. It is hard to believe that 100% of process knowledge can be held by an organization. At this stage, it is necessary to begin the process of gradual, systematic documentation of knowledge.

A key success factor for implementing Lean in the office and for maintaining the results achieved is continuous, daily improvement. As the behavior of your employees changes, you will need to introduce a reward system to somehow mark the changes that are taking place. People who adapt easily to change will quickly accept new system. They will immediately see its benefits. Those who adapt slowly to change may resist and hold on to old principles. Be patient: sooner or later, the new concept will speak for itself, and employees will feel the benefits. Lean office cannot be achieved in one fell swoop. You need to take many small, gradual steps every day.

Condition 2: Business case for moving to lean

For a company to remain globally competitive, managers need to focus on costs. Administrative, or office, expenses account for the bulk of the cost of a product or service. Administrative costs are usually 60-80% of the final price of the product. To remain competitive, companies are cutting back on their administrative costs intensively. Toyota has created a whole philosophy of cost reduction. Market conditions (a constant in the equation) determine the selling price. Cost and profit are variable. The desire of companies to reduce internal costs served as an impetus for the improvement of all business processes.

Thanks to the philosophy and tools of lean manufacturing, any organization can reduce its internal costs by eliminating waste and thus remain competitive in the global market. In order to eliminate losses in administrative processes, they must first be identified, and this requires a detailed understanding of what waste is.

Condition 3. Seven types of losses

The goal of lean manufacturing is to identify, analyze and eliminate all waste in manufacturing process. The work of eliminating waste must continue every day, every hour, every minute. The new approach primarily to the department does not mean reducing people, but the reasonable use of their labor and increasing its value for the organization. Therefore, the management of the company may need to review the content of the work or job responsibilities of the staff so that they meet the principles of efficient production.

To better understand the concept of lean manufacturing, you must first understand waste. It is important to identify losses at the lowest level.

Waste is all operations that require time and resources, but do not add value to the finished product or service. The consumer pays for value; Losses are any transactions your organization makes with a product or service that your customers may be paying for when they shouldn't be. As consumers become more and more aware of the true cost of goods and services, they expect companies to optimize their costs and eliminate waste. Customers need stable prices and lower prices as a result of savings. Organizational losses have to be paid by consumers. As a result of all this, we see that:

the daily cost of treatment differs in different hospitals;
mortgage application processing fees, as well as mortgage rates vary significantly between different lending institutions;
there is a large variation in tuition fees in higher education institutions;
annual interest rates vary greatly for different credit cards;
the cost of doing something construction project offered by different contractors can vary significantly.

Such variability in all of these and many other examples arises from the amount of "acceptable" losses by an organization (regardless of how they are defined).

1. Overproduction

Doing a certain type of work before it is required is a waste. This is the worst of all kinds of losses, because overproduction leads to other losses.

Examples of overproduction:

writing reports that no one reads and that no one needs;
making extra copies of documents;
sending the same document e-mail or fax several times;
entering repetitive information into multiple documents;
pointless meetings.

Tools to eliminate overproduction:

takt time;
pitch;
standardized work;
workload balancing;
study of the need for a particular operation.

2. Waiting (time in queue)

Any expectation (of people, signatures, information, etc.) is a loss. This type of loss can be compared to a low-hanging apple, which is easy to reach, pick and use for its intended purpose. We often don't consider paper lying in the incoming document tray as a source of wastage. However, remember how many times we sort through this tray, trying to find something we need? How many times do you start something before you finish it? To get rid of this type of loss, it is necessary to follow the principle of "finished - filed (or thrown away)".

Examples of losses of the second type:

a large number of mandatory signatures and permits;
dependence on other employees in the performance of any task;
delays in obtaining information;
software problems;
performance of the task by different departments;

Tools for eliminating losses of the second type:

pitch;
couriers;
document management system.

3. Movement

Any movement of people, documents and/or electronic communications that do not create value is a waste. This type of waste occurs due to poor office layout, faulty or outdated office equipment, and lack of necessary materials. These losses are insidious and imperceptible in those office processes that have not been analyzed for possible improvements. Regardless of the industry, you can find employees in a company who look "busy" but don't really add value to the product or service. Lean tools can help you identify, reduce, and/or eliminate Type 3 waste.

Examples of losses of the third type:

search for files on the computer;
search for documents in the file cabinet;
constant re-reading of reference books in search of information;
performance of one task by different departments in the absence of effective interaction;
lack of responsibility for the performance of any task.

Tools for eliminating losses of the third type:

standardized work;
redevelopment of the workspace;
pull system and supermarket;
document tracking.

4. Move

Useless movement of documents affects the time required to complete any work in the office. Even if there is free access Documents of little or no value are often sent to the Internet and e-mail to clients. To organize effective work, it is important to reduce or eliminate this type of waste, for which it is necessary to divide all work into successive operations and arrange them as close as possible to each other. If it is impossible to get rid of the movement of documents between processes, then it should be automated as much as possible. Ask yourself the following questions, for example: “Is the office layout optimal?” or “Is the transfer of documents from one stage of work to another automated?”.

Examples of losses of the fourth type:

sending unnecessary documents;
too frequent registration of documents in progress;
too many addresses on the mailing list;
manual transfer of documents to the next stage of work;
performance of one task by several departments;
wrong prioritization.

Tools for eliminating losses of the fourth type:

uniform distribution of the workload;
value stream map;
continuous flow;
document management system;
standardized work;
means of visual control.

5. Over-processing

Doing work that is not required by the internal or external customer is the fifth type of waste. Excessive processing does not create value for the client, and he should not pay for it. In administrative processes, these losses are the most difficult to detect. To do this, you can, for example, ask the following questions: “What are the main operations that need to be performed to satisfy the needs of the client?” or “How clearly do we understand the needs of our customers?”.

Examples of losses of the fifth type:

duplicate reports or information;
entering repetitive data;
dissemination of false information;
constant editing of documents;
inefficient meetings and lack of an agenda;
lack of clear project planning.

Tools for eliminating losses of the fifth type:

data collection methods;
document tracking;
standardized work;
document management system.

6. Stocks (time)

Piles of papers, extra stationery, a large number of signatures on documents - all these are losses. They take up space and time. If the processing of a document is suspended until additional information (signature, etc.) is received and the situation changes, then the time spent on this document can be attributed to losses. In an office, there are two main types of wastage that can be categorized as "inventory": 1) office supplies and 2) time.

Examples of losses of the sixth type:

documents awaiting someone's signature or visa;
work that requires the completion of other processes to continue;
outdated documents;
outdated office equipment;
inadequate training of support staff;
buying extra office supplies.

Tools for elimination of losses of the sixth type:

value stream map;
standardized work;
kanban cards for stationery;
workload leveling - heijunka;
visual pitch;
document management system.

7. Marriage

Waste due to defects includes any processing that resulted in defects and additional processing necessary to eliminate them. Rejection (both internal and external) entails additional document processing that does not add value to the product or service. Getting a job right the first time takes less time than redoing it. Rework is a waste that increases the cost of any product or service, and the consumer does not have to pay for them. Losses of this kind can significantly reduce profits.

Examples of losses of the seventh type:

data entry errors;
errors in setting prices;
transfer of incomplete documentation to next steps processing;
loss of documents or information;
incorrect information in the document;
inefficient organization of files on a computer or folders in a file cabinet;
improper selection of employees for customer service.

Tools for eliminating losses of the seventh type:

providing a predictable result;
means of visual control;
standardized work;
document management system;
log of stops and unscheduled tasks;
short organizational meetings;
error prevention tools.

8. Irrational use of labor force

In many cases irrational use labor force is the eighth type of waste. Human labor is used irrationally when workers perform tasks that do not require all their knowledge, skills and abilities to create value. A proper performance management system can greatly reduce this type of waste. Develop a corporate strategy and methodology for assigning people to areas where they will bring the most value to the organization.

Examples of losses of the eighth type:

violation of the deadlines for the implementation of projects;
uneven distribution of the workload due to insufficiently broad staff qualifications;
frequent absenteeism and high staff turnover;
inadequate performance management system;
insufficient assessment of professional skills before hiring.

Tools for eliminating losses of the eighth type:

accounting of work processes;
standardized work;
document management system;
short organizational meetings;
rationale for moving to a lean office.

Consider the following questions.

How can I communicate information about losses to all employees of the organization?
What losses can be eliminated quickly?
What can be done to improve customer satisfaction immediately?

These questions will encourage others to think and help you have a productive conversation about loss.

Condition 4: Management involvement

Companies like Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Federal Express, GE, and Nike have one thing in common, a very important feature - the undisputed leader at the head, who is guided by the rest. Top managers Bill Gates, Sam Walton and Fred Smith are the core of their company. They are distinguished by exceptional insight, and it was they who turned their business into an immortal empire.

John Maxwell, in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, describes his first law, the law of the ceiling, as follows: “The ability to lead determines the level of effectiveness of a person (organization). Strong leadership greatly enhances the capabilities of an organization. If leadership is weak, then the capacity of the organization is limited.”

It is important to understand that the transition to lean management is impossible without the 100% participation of the company's management. When CEO reading on the plane on the way back from vacation about lean manufacturing in the Wall Street Journal, tells his top executive, "There's something to it," doesn't mean he's ready for long-term change.

The leadership of the company should be driven by the desire for improvement. The top manager must take an active part in the implementation of new principles. Even if three people are involved in a pilot business process reengineering project, the top management of the company should be involved in it. This participation means:

allocation of necessary resources;
attendance at the kick-off meeting;
advising the team if necessary;
showing interest in team achievements and attending team meetings;
rewarding the team based on performance;
support of team members in case of difficulties.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it outlines the main ways in which company management can demonstrate their interest in lean management.

Time frame

Moving to a lean office can take anywhere from a few months to a few years. This will depend on the following factors:

Organization size. The smaller the organization, the less time it will take. In large companies (more than 500 office workers) you should start pilot projects in one department first, and then cover the entire company.
Availability of the necessary tools.
Awareness of the benefits. The reorganization of the office will be successful if the company is aware of the need to train staff in related professions, cooperation between departments, employ generalists rather than narrow specialists, use organizational knowledge and encourage partnerships between managers and subordinates.