Explaining the Lean Management System Part 4 Kamishibai
Lean Nation,
These four include:
1) Process or production control - This is used to ensure standard work is
performing as designed and to provide hourly insights into waste creeping back
into the system
2) Daily tiered huddles - These are used to monitor outcomes of processes
aligned to true north measures
3) Kamishibai task audits - These daily audits are used to satisfy your
curiosity that things are operating as designed with special emphasis on key
standards, best practices, compliance, safety, etc.
4) Leader standard work - This practice to designed to ensure time is being
spent on improvement by leaders at all levels of the organization.
Thus far we have discussed the
production control board ( previous blog Explaining
the Lean Management System Part 2 Production (or Process) Control ), and
the daily tiered huddle with primary emphasis on the tier one huddle ( previous
blog Explaining
the Lean Management System Part 3 Managing for Daily Improvement ). This blog will focus on kamishibai. This is the fourth blog ion the series and
the third tool we will discuss.
A control point for the visual
management systems and standard work that leverages staff engagement is a
system known as Kamishibai. This daily audit system is used as a peer-to-peer
feedback mechanism to re-enforce the maintenance of operational standards. Kamishibai loosely translates to "paper
theatre"” and is part of a long tradition of picture
storytelling, beginning as early as the 9th or 10th centuries when priests used
illustrated (cartoon) scrolls combined with narration to convey Buddhist
doctrine to lay audiences.[1]
The Buddhist monks used the kamishibai scrolls to allow the audience a self-reflection
to determine if they were living the correct Buddhist lifestyle. This system is wildly popular in Japan today
with children and the cartoon-based stories are used to teach behaviors such as
sharing and punctuality.
In a lean organization, the
kamishibai system is used to reinforce to the auditor that he/she is living a
"lean lifestyle." An example of a visually managed kamishibai system
looks like this:
First, audits are created. On any
unit, or in any department, many different types of audits cards can be
created. The audits are pictures that
represent the key standards for the organization. An example of a kamishibai
card for agriculture is shown below.
Every staff member can conduct
daily, a single 3–5-minute audit using a
card created from one of the department standards.
If the audit is passed, the green
side of the card is slotted in the board. If the audit fails, the red side of
the card is slotted. A red audit is dealt with in real time and the auditor
discusses the result with the person being audited. Real-time feedback, both
positive and negative, is the best way to change behavior. In addition to
re-enforcing the standard for the person being audited, value created is for
the auditor. While completing the audit, the auditor gets a chance to reflect
on the standard and evaluate if he/she is following the standard.
Failed audits are trended based on
frequency. The frequency of the failures can be summarized in a pareto diagram
for further action. The type and number of cards in the system is dynamic. Cards
can be added and subtracted based on what is being found in the audits. For
audits that fail frequently, more cards can be added into the system so these standard
adherence shortfalls can be reviewed more often. In the same light, for audits
that pass consistently, cards of this type of audit can be removed, thus they
are audited less frequently. For the example below, the team is having a problem with adherence to the standards detailed in cards 14, 3, and 7.
The key point of Kamishibai is that
while completing the audit, the auditor is re-enforcing their own understanding
of the importance of following standards. It is through this self-reflection
that the staff assesses if they are following a lean lifestyle. A lean
lifestyle is one where everyone follows standards until a better standard can
be created.
Two common issues that every
organization faces when implementing a culture of continuous improvement
include getting every to follow standard work and creating the capacity to
audit all of the standards which typically falls on management; Kamishibai
addresses both of these concerns. By
having every staff member engaged in the audit process, everyone doing the work
is involved with auditing standards. The process of auditing is designed to
have the auditor self-assess if they are following the standards. This
reflection helps the entire staff support the new approaches to work that
support improvement in quality, access, and cost. The process of getting
everyone to follow the standards is the key to improvement sustainability. Secondly,
by having everyone participate in the kamishibai system, the workload of
auditing is shared by everyone. Audit work that might take a single manager two
or more hours can be spread across all shifts in 3- 5-minute increments. In
addition to distributing the workload, having everyone engaged allows broader
coverage of all the standards. Yet another benefit of kamishibai is that like
the other management systems, the audit system is entirely visual. The audits
to be completed, the results of the audits, the pass-fail status of the audits,
and the corrective action for failed audit are all posted for everyone to see.
When is the last time you audited
your standard work? Most organization do
this when preparing for a certification audit like joint commission, or ISO
9000. This approach is not frequent
enough to ensure adherence to standards and fails to get everyone involved.
Juice up your results and introduce
kamishibai to your improvement environment.
Lean Blessings,
Ron
Ron
Bercaw, President, and Sensei
Breakthrough
Horizons
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-bercaw-882a0a8/
[1]
Tara McGowen, Kamishibai for Kids, Kamishibai a Brief History, http://www.kamishibai.com/history.html
, accessed April 2024
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