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Hello, dear readers of Valery Kharlamov’s blog! The Japanese have a special, consistent approach to the work process. If they are not satisfied with the position, they do not consider quitting an option, but decide to improve their skills so that the activity begins to bring success and pleasure. This is the philosophy, it is also called the kaizen system, thanks to which the Japanese are famous for their efficiency, high-quality and modernized production. And today I will introduce you to its main principles and provisions.
Characteristics of the system
Kaizen stands for and translates as «constant, continuous improvement»
That is, what I said at the beginning, if a person got a job as a janitor, there is a huge probability that he will remain one until the end of his days. But he will become a master of his craft, not blaming fate and others for the way life has turned out.
Due to continuous improvement, the result of the activity will not be short-term, this is precisely the strategy of this approach, it is focused on the future, saving internal resources and time. It has no restrictions, being a way of thinking, so people with completely different responsibilities can use it, both at work and in everyday life.
The principle of kaizen is that it is important to solve problems together and immediately, as they arise. Not in the usual way, to look for the guilty and responsible, but directly to throw all efforts in search of options for correcting errors, moreover, they should be budgetary. Always questioning even a familiar, well-established process, inventing how to modernize and simplify it.
Rules
This technique is mainly focused on eliminating difficulties qualitatively and quickly. After all, no matter how successful a company may be, problems cannot be avoided. And in order for management to be effective, the manager must spend most of the time directly at work, and not in his office. Because he must have information about his product, knowing all the subtleties and nuances, only then he will be able to make the right decisions regarding the activities of the enterprise. In an article about the 14 principles of Dao Toyota, It was mentioned that this successful corporation strictly adheres to the strategy of «work like a turtle, not a hare», paying maximum attention to the process, not the race for results.
The first rule is «one minute»
It consists in taking a very small step every day, a minute long, towards your dreams and the realization of plans. At first glance, it seems that it is absolutely impossible to do something in such a period, but in fact it is not. For example, you want to learn a foreign language. Devoting 60 seconds a day to one new word, you will significantly replenish your vocabulary over time. This method kills all attempts to come up with an excuse that there is no time to do what you want. A person who practices this method increases the level of self-esteem and decreases anxiety due to postponing something important for later. By the way, if you get used to paying attention to the same thing every day, try slightly increasing the time from one minute to five.
Right question
If, with every failure and difficulty, you ask the question “Why did this happen?”, You will be able to realize your mistakes. There is only one point — you should ask five times in a row. Although it looks unnecessarily annoying and “meticulous”, but this way you will get to the true cause of the problem.
Five principles
It is simply necessary to adhere to them in order to confidently, step by step, move towards your goal and achieve success.
- Cleanliness. Not only do you need to be clean and tidy, but also the workplace, and it doesn’t matter if you are in the office or on the shop floor. For example, in the evening, before going home, clean up after yourself first, and then the next day you will not have to spend time cleaning when there are much more important issues.
- Discipline. It is very important to follow the safety rules and treat the leaders with respect. In the CIS countries, there is still a disunity of workers who do not agree on the procedure for actions, considering their opinion to be the only correct one, which causes a lot of difficulties for the corporation itself. Remember the fable «The Swan, the Cancer and the Pike»?
- Order and priorities. If you have read an article about biological rhythms, then you know that the first hours after waking up are the most effective, and, therefore, the most difficult issues must be resolved in the morning, otherwise, after lunch, the energy level drops, and the brain is not able to process information so quickly. Make an action plan for every day, then you can combine the implementation of your tasks, significantly saving time, resources and effort.
- Selectivity. You must reconsider not only the financial, time costs of completing the task, but even your preferences and habits. Maybe you are used to drinking coffee with colleagues in the morning, losing 20-30 minutes of working time every day, why do you not have time to fulfill your duties on time? Or do you check your email several times an hour? You have to be selective in planning your workflow.
- Standardization. The essence of standardization is that as soon as you find a balance in production, that something gives a good, expected result, be sure to make it the standard of the organization, which you will follow in the future. For example, when we purchase a product made in Germany or Japan, we know for sure that we can be calm about the quality, because it will last longer than a few cheap Chinese ones.
You can read more about 5s here.
Stages of improvement
Any company that decides to take action to get out of the crisis must go through the following steps:
- Set yourself the main goal — to improve the quality of goods and increase the competitiveness of the organization. Moreover, this goal must be stable, regardless of the success and popularity of products.
- Adopt the philosophy of kaiza, with it, starting from the leader and ending with the cleaner or janitor.
- Adjust production so that the emphasis is on quality, not quantity.
- Minimize costs and all sorts of costs, disruptions.
- Do not stop in improving the quality of service, thinking about how to take care of customers as much as possible.
- Constantly train and improve the skills of their employees by creating the so-called Work Institute.
- Organize the process so that it is comfortable not only for customers, but also for employees.
- The staff should feel their importance and need, then they will be ready to take responsibility for the development of the company.
- Production activities should be without restrictions and barriers. I mean, don’t set boundaries between departments, it’s better if they work together. So they will be able to predict any problems and jointly find ways to solve them.
- It is important to understand that the system itself is responsible for the efficiency and quality of the product, so employees should not be blamed or penalized for reduced or no sales.
- Be sure to study all the nuances that interfere with the full-fledged activity of the staff in order to eliminate them and increase production efficiency.
- Get a tool that will make your workflow easier.
- Introduce a self-development program at the corporate level.
- Motivate absolutely every employee so that he not only strives to benefit the corporation, but also wants to stay in it as long as possible, improving and moving forward.
Application in everyday life
The Japanese system is effective not only in the management of huge corporations, it can be applied in absolutely any area of human life. For example, you read an article about a healthy lifestyle and decided to review your habits in order to keep youth and health as long as possible. To develop an action plan, a scheme of five principles is perfect, to make it clearer, I will sign it step by step:
- Selectivity — take a sheet of paper and write out all the pros and cons of your lifestyle, what is beneficial, and what is better to exclude.
- Priority — draw up an action plan, that is, a clear schedule for visiting the gym, a menu with prohibited foods, sign up for training, etc.
- Cleanliness — When leading a healthy lifestyle, thoughts must also be streamlined, so include breathing techniques and meditation in your schedule.
- Discipline — to achieve results, you should not give yourself indulgence, strictly following the recommendations and the schedule.
- Standardization – Make a healthy lifestyle permanent by making adjustments to your diet and exercise.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Do not forget to subscribe to the blog to be aware of new and useful information that will help you become better and more successful.
The material was prepared by Zhuravina Alina