Running a kaizen event, is a magical thing. It’s a great way to achieve remarkable results that you can’t get from a meeting an email exchange or a simple action plan.
When to do a kaizen event?
One should be very deliberate and conscientious when organising a kaizen. One shouldn’t decide lightly. And this is important. A kaizen event is a big thing, takes a lot of time, is very intense. It also comes or should come with high expectations.
So, when you plan for a kaizen, you’d better make sure:
- it’s a big problem you want to solve
- it has a high impact on your customers
- it relates to you key improvement priorities, as per your Hoshin Kanri matrix
- it needs a cross-functional team
What makes a kaizen event different than just a meeting?
If you are clear and aligned on doing a kaizen. If you are sure you want to pull all people together in a room, follow a specific process (TPI, A3 Problem Solving, Value Stream Mapping or whatever), you better make sure you are committed. You better make sure you are prepared and have clarity on the kaizen objectives. You better make sure everyone in the room, on day 1 is committed to the outcome. You better make sure everyone in the room is committed to the implementation of the outcome.
People need to understand, they are in the room because they were selected. They are asked to contribute significantly, they are needed to make decisions. Most important, they are need to come to a change. They are the ambassador of the future state now.
Too often, people leave a kaizen with a statement like “great idea, let’s see when we can implement”. NO, big fat NO. It has to be clear that when you join a kaizen you’re ready to implement. And you implement directly. No discussion afterwards, no doubts. In the kaizen you discuss, you challenge and you decide. After the kaizen you run with the process and optimize as you go.