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Why Visual Management is recognized as an Effective Tool for Performance Improvement?

Technological Revamp in past 10 years
We all know that there is great revolution in technology in past 10 years and it will continue for next 10-15 years. Many of us have experienced a mode of communication by sending letters through post office in 1985-1990. Later on, the speed of communication was expedited by e-mails and now whatsapp.

Today it is a matter of 3 to 5 seconds to send the messages, images and documents to any part of the world. Now a days everyone is engrossed in looking at mobile screen and gathering the information which is available in abundance.
Impact of Technological Revamp on Human mind
We are now dependent on electronic media which offers information visually. We get all the information on our individual mobile phone or laptop. As a part of this impact, even human mind has started believing the data which he/she can see. We have started believing the information which we can see rather than what we here from others. It is stated that “Human brain processes Visual Memory 60,000 times faster than auditory memory”. We can review following examples to understand the impact of changing technology on our mind.

1] We like to see the cricket match score on mobile rather than hearing it on transistor which we used to do it in year 1990.

2] We like to learn through webinars rather than attending a training programme in an auditorium

3] We like to see images and graphs as a part of result analysis

4] We like to see the flight schedule indicator rather than hearing the announcement at the airport.

5] We prefer to send good images and text as a greeting to wish birthdays/anniversaries rather than calling a person and wishing him/her on occasion.

I don’t think anyone will disagree with me on above mentioned examples. All such real life examples prompt us that our brain is very much inclined towards understanding the information through visuals rather than any other mode of communication. Visual management is considered as silent yet very effective media of communication.

The impact of the changing technology on human mind is mainly because of shortage of time and cut throat competition in every field across the globe. We strive to learn things as fast as possible to win the race or survive in this world.
Impact of Technological Revamp on Industries & Businesses??
Similar to humans, even every business house / industry is facing a tremendous level of competition as a result of globalization happened through these technological changes. In order to be leading in a race or just to survive, every company has to perform better in every department of the business.

This calls for awareness at each level of operations. i.e the “Change in Mindset” is needed right from Security Guard to the CEO of the company. Companywide implementation of Visual Management supports to develop a good culture to enhance performance as a team.

Guidelines for Effective Visual Management

There are few guidelines to be followed while implementation of Visual Management at the Facility
1] Selection of appropriate visual displays. Should communicate the correct messages in shortest possible time.

2] Displays should be placed at correct location and should be legible

3] The language and size of the display should be appropriate for better effectiveness

The displays at the facility can include but not limited to Safety posters, Quality & Productivity posters, Safety signs, Work Instructions, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Informative boards, Material Identification Boards, Performance White Boards, Compliance Boards etc.

Effective displays act as a “Trainer at the place” which is available for all 24 hours and this trainer will not miss anything while communicating to the target audience.

Globalization has also helped companies/businesses from individual countries to adopt International Techniques to match to International standard performance. Many techniques such as 5S, Lean management, Kaizen, Pokayoke, Kanban, 6 Sigma, TQM, TPM, Gemba etc. are complemented by an effective visual management.

The benefits of Visual management have been availed by many companies and facilities so far and the journey will continue for next few decades. Many companies have experienced extra ordinary results through this implementation.

Visualmitra is executing Visual Management Projects at many places including industries and also the commercial establishments. Visualmitra has completed 200+ projects and the feedback from the clients is very inspiring. The main motto of this project to create an inspiring work culture which supports the overall business performance and sustainability of the company.

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What is the Concept of a Visual Factory ?

In countries like Japan, Singapore, Korea etc, you can experience the implementation of visual management to a great extent. Visual management is effectively implemented not only in industry but also at all public and private establishments. The direction boards on roads, safety signs at places, good motivational quotes across the country in the view of developing culture.

They are following this for past many years and really gained benefits with regards to creating of good culture and developing feel of responsibility as a good citizen of the country. We also realize it when we visit these countries. To our surprise, even a small child understands the messages communicated through effective signs displayed at the public places. Such effective visual management has helped all these countries to make people understand the duties of a good citizen. Here we need to think that if the visual management so effective and adding value in daily life, then what magic it can have if we effectively implement in our professional life i.e. at our offices, factories etc.

The concept of VISUAL FACTORY evolved after experiencing the positive impacts of the visual management in daily routine life. At factory, the most challenging task is to develop feel of responsibility and accountability at all levels irrespective of their nature of work & specific job profile.

Real life examples preach us that the reason for poor performance of an individual is not only the lack of competence but it is the individual’s mindset in most of the cases. There are many cases where the professional under performs just because of negative mindset in-spite of having good qualification and experience.

At any manufacturing plant/factory, the good mindset of each individual will make company win over its competitors. Developing a good team at the factory is not a simple task and it requires extensive training, routine monitoring and controlling.

Effective displays at the factory create a media of communication on several industrial parameters including Safety, Quality & Productivity. The awareness on these parameters make lot of difference in individual’s thinking and mindset for company’s progress. It is experienced that efficiency & productivity is always better in well maintained and managed workplace.

Use of visual management tools help in creating an ideal workplace where improved performance can be expected. The effective visual management is systematic identification & display of effective visuals including posters, signs, policies. Instructions, performance monitoring boards etc. The correct identification of visual tools adds lot of value in terms of effectiveness and towards creating an effective media of communication available 24×7.

All standard and professionally managed companies have adopted a concept of “VISUAL FACTORY” & are still continually improving upon. The small & medium enterprises are also understanding the benefits of this concept and trying to implement to a great extent.

Visualmitra LLP is a company based out of Mumbai, India offering its services to industries and business houses towards creating inspiring work cultures at the facilities. Many companies are availing services from Visualmitra LLP team which offers end to end turnkey solution towards creating inspiring work cultures at the facilities.

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How can you bring “Change In Mindset” of your team members?

Colleagues giving a fist bump

Global recession has really impacted every industry like never before. In today’s world, every industry is facing challenge for Survival & Sustainability. The performance with regards to the basic industry parameters such as Safety, Quality, Productivity, Teamwork, Cost effectiveness, Analysis and Improvements needs attention. Creating a good culture at the company becomes a challenge.

The most vital point which is identified as a hurdle towards achievement of business targets is the mindset of the entire team of the company. The change in mindset is needed at all the levels at the company. The awareness on current business challenges and expectations from an individual team member is a must to bring in the change.

There are various methods to change the mindset of the human being. Training, Counselling, Monitoring, Controlling etc. are the traditional methods being exercised at the industry. All these methods need human intervention and one to one interaction which is a time consuming activity. Also at times, the efforts are wasted if the team member leaves the company for any of the reason. In such cases, the training and counselling activities are repeated to train the new team member to match the expectations. Due to all such reasons, these methods have limitations in producing the desired results.

Many multinational companies are implementing International techniques such as Lean, Six Sigma, 5S Technique, Kaizen etc. to inculcate good culture and create awareness on performance achievement. All such techniques are complemented with Visual Management. The visual workplace, may it be a factory or office produces better results in terms of performance and achievement of desired results. The visual workplace always creates a better culture where practices such as analysis, data monitoring, prompt actions, correct decisions are supported.

It is said that “One display is worth million words”. The display is a consultant which is available for 24 hours and all 365 days of the year. An effective display at the workplace guides the team member & at the same time, its makes team member to think and access his/her own performance. Visual management really brings awareness at all levels. Many companies are putting in efforts to identify what all can be done in terms of visual management to make the workplace productive.

Visual management at the workplace covers many Health safety posters, motivational posters, safety signs, work instructions, policies, procedures, informative boards, performance white boards etc. All such displays are noted to be effective to create awareness and also to monitor & control the performance of the individual business process. It is also believed that only display is not enough, it has to be appropriate and displayed at the right location. Hence identification of appropriate displays and identifying the display location at the facility is very important to achieve the desired results by means of visual management technique.

Visualmitra LLP is a company based out of Mumbai, India offering its services to industries and business houses towards creating inspiring work cultures at the facilities. Many companies are availing services from Visualmitra LLP team which offers end to end turnkey solution towards creating inspiring work cultures at the facilities.

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Visual Management – It’s All About the Benefits

This blog explains what a team should expect after implementing visual management. In Visual Management, most important part is “Why” before digging too much into the “How.” That way, when the going gets tough, we have a reason to follow through on the effort. Benefits can really be broken down into two areas: the hard, measurable benefits, and the soft, cultural benefits. First, the measurable:

Measurable Benefits of Visual Management

“That which is measured improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially.”– Karl Pearson

Adding to that when team members understand how their individual work impacts the process, real, sustainable improvement begins. By linking together the work of individual team members with the team’s tactical targets, and aligning those with the company’s overall objectives, magic happens. We have personally witnessed countless examples of this principle play out within both manufacturing and office settings. There is something magical about displaying current vs. target condition in real-time.

There are multiple reasons for this:
1] Team members understand what you care about most-you as an employer could have measured any metric, but you chose this one so it must be important!
2] Display it on the wall-this targets few items, typically personal and team pride in terms of ownership, a natural desire to do better than previous day
3] People desire to win- In every organisation, even semi-engaged team members show up to work every day desiring to do a good job. Now, you’ve provided a medium of measuring what a “better work” looks like
4] My hard work matters-as mentioned above, team members that are able to connect their individual decision-making and output to the overall team performance are dangerous, in a very good way

Visual management project implementation as part of your Lean Management System can be difficult, but the measurable, tangible benefits of the effort are many.

Cultural Benefits of Visual Management implementation

In an age where data-driven reporting and results-oriented management strategies are becoming the expected norm, it can be easy to forget about the relational and cultural health of your organization. The purpose of visual management is a far cry from trying to marginalise individuals and promote bottom line metrics at all costs. In fact, visual management and Lean ideology is based on a ‘deep respect for people’. Below are three of the impacts on your team culture you will observe after implementing visual management:

Unity

An unfortunate truth is that in many organizations, the relationship between manager and employee is one of constant tension, disagreement, and frustration. Over time, this starts to create a ‘managers vs. employees’ mindset where managers are after one thing and employees are working in different direction. If left unchecked, this mindset actually breeds all kinds of organizational waste. When leadership and team members are not aligned and are not excited about the same things, it results into an ineffective team.

Visualmitra actually provides a unique solution to this cultural problem by supplying a shared view, visible to everyone in form of Informative boards, Performance improvement board which is used to report in real-time how the team as one unit is doing. This ‘scoreboard’ is allowing the team to be privy to the same information at the same time, and make decisions in one accord.

Visualmitra custom designed visual management displays will start to point out problems in the process and not problems with people. When an entire team starts dancing to the same tune, and everyone can agree on what success looks like, any employer will find high level of sense of unity within the team.

Alignment of Vision

Similar to unity within a team, it is very common for members at different levels of an organization to have different goals for the company and the personal role they play. Many times the vision and mission of higher management doesn’t reach to the ears of front line employees. In this ‘telephone’ game where we expect vision and mission to be carried on through a conversation the CEO had with the Manager, and the Manager had with the Supervisor, and the Supervisor had with the Employees. Somewhere along the way things are going to get lost and people are not going to be operating on a shared vision.

Visual management provides a transparent information flow which constantly communicates the vision, objectives, and priorities of leadership to everyone, regardless of their job profile. When employees are aware of the metrics are being displayed and driving their day to day work are coming directly from leadership, it boasts their confidence and provide a sense that their work is valuable and important to an organization. Engaged Workforce

As you start to recognise more unity and shared vision across your organization, you will see that employees at all levels are becoming more engaged with their work and feel empowered to identify and solve problems.

As per the Gallup research, keeping employees happy or satisfied is worth to help build inspiring workplace. Just measuring employee satisfaction or happiness levels is not sufficient to create sustainable change, retain star employees, and improve the bottom line. Satisfied or happy employees are not always engaged ones. Engaged employees are committed and hard working ones.

If you’re engaged, you know employer’s expectations form your work and you feel connected with your teammates, and you want to be there. An employee has a feeling of being a part of something significant, which reflects into a want to be part of a solution, to be part of a bigger tribe. All of that results into positive performance consequences for teams and organisation.

In other words, employees who know what is expected of them become more engaged. When you start to feel like you are part of something bigger than yourself, it’s empowering, energising, and you will desire to do your part and add value to the whole. Visual management becomes a vital tool for always letting employees know what is expected of them. As more and more of your workforce becomes engaged with their work, morale will skyrocket and the atmosphere will become attractive to everyone on the team.

Successful visual management implementation has clear benefits creating inspiring cultures, and when you add those benefits to the significant improvement in the actual processes being measured, implementing visuals as part of your Lean Management is a win-win situation for an organisation and employees too.