Continuous Improvement Blog

School is back, and my schedule is busier then ever! I’m sure everyone is feeling a little bit of this chaos with getting back into the swing of things, having student back on campus, and starting classes. With this chaos everyone has their own way of organization to make sure they can remember everything. Actually, many people use personal kanbans and aren’t even aware. A personal kanban is a very versatile productivity system that has basically only two rules, visualize your work and limit your work in progress. Personal kanbans can be made in many different way to organize many different aspect of your life.

Personally, I use my personal kanban to keep track of events that I have and tasks that need to get done. During the school year, I have classes, work, homeowner/study time, and multiple extra curricular that I need to plan out to make sure I get to everything on time and prepared. My personal kanban helps me do that by allowing me to see all that information in one spot and mark things complete when I have accomplished them. Many others use personal kanbans for tasks such as work meetings or projects, home tasks or chores, and homework completion. Some also use them to keep track of all of these things at once.

While there are many different ways to use a personal kanban, there are also many different ways to make a personal kanban. It could be electronically, in a book, on a white board, or maybe even just a piece of paper. I used to use a laminated A3 piece of paper, however I found that I didn’t look at it as often as I needed to. I switched to google calendar and have found great success with that. This way I was able to color code my events, add tasks that I could mark complete, and the best part it was basically always available on my phone. While google calendar worked for me, different platforms work for different people, electronic or not.

Personal kanbans are a life-saver for me and I think they could be for you too! Next time you feel over whelmed and don’t know where to start, try making this visual management system to help you figure out where you are with everything. Also, if you would like help or more information always feel free to stop by the Office of Continuous Improvement and we would be happy to give you a hand. This tool might just be the right step to turn your hectic year into a breeze.

I hope you all are excited for K Day as much as I am! It is such an amazing event and over 250 student organizations will be there to show you what they are all about. From fishing to accounting clubs, you will be bound to find something that works for you. I am personally excited to visit the cooking club and try out some pasties with them. It is going to be such an exciting day and so many new students will get to find places they feel happy to join.

One amazing thing about K day is the amount of planning and organization that goes into it on all levels. Without the Lean principles, K day would be impossible! Some principles they employ are spaghetti flow charts, a 5S, and the collection of metrics every year. According to Business Analyst Learnings, “A spaghetti diagram is a visual representation of the actual path taken by people as they move through a process within a department to complete their jobs.”. As seen in the picture above there is a ton of people around but there is also some obvious flow of the crowds. Through the use of a spaghetti diagram, the organizers of K day have the skills to direct the flow of people so that there is less chaos. Much like the spaghetti diagram, 5S and metrics helps them keep themselves organized. They can help expand upon previous years successes with the metrics and improve upon their set up and break down systems with the 5S. Lean tools are a necessary part of the success of K day.

If you would like more information on some of the lean tools listed above or what we do here in the Office of Continuous Improvement, then please feel free to drop by in wads 136W or or email us at improvement@mtu.edu. I hope you have an amazing K day and weekend!

It’s almost O-Week, can you believe it? With a new school year starting, it’s probably safe to say everyone is setting new goals for themselves. Maybe if you’re a student, you want to study more, get better grades, or be more social this school year. If you’re faculty or staff, you might want to better your teaching strategies or increase your productivity at work. While these might sound like simple goals, many people set these same goals every semester and are never able to achieve them. This lack of success can be due to many different attributes but, more often than not, it boils down to not actually knowing the root cause of your issue.

Every start of the year the student employees in the Office of Continuous Improvement set a goal for themselves. The goal can be personal, professional, or academic, it just has to be something they want to accomplish that school year. After they have set their achievable goals, then it is time to create an A3. The A3 helps the students understand the root cause of why they are not currently achieving their goal and how to get there. It also aids in improving your goal so that it is a S.M.A.R.T. goal, which makes it more likely for you to obtain.

This last year I decided my goal would be to improve my study habits. When first looking at this goal it seems very vague, this is where the A3 came in. It allowed me to assess why my current study habits were not working and what study habits would work for me. I also used tools like a fish-bone diagram and the 5 why’s. Laying out the issues around my study habits helped me find the root cause of my poor study habits and how to improve them.

Using an A3 to map out your goal and the issues associated with what you are currently doing is a great way to come up with solutions. If you are interested in trying out an A3 with your school year goal, you can find an A3 template and quick point on the Continuous Improvement website. It’s definitely an effective way to kick off your journey to your goal!

Do you feel ready to be tested in your classes? Track 2 midterms are currently taking place this week, and it is time to shape up. The Office of Continuous Improvement is working hard to be the most productive we can be and we are ready to help you too with some simple tips!

What is the easiest way to improve your study methods? Well, the answer is to cut out all distractions and useless projects. Start with your electronics. When going over your work you should put them out of your sight. This is because by looking at the electronics you are more likely going to shift your focus while studying. According to Texas Undergraduate Studies, “Students who kept their phones on the desk performed the worst on the tests followed by those who kept their phones in a pocket or backpack. The highest performers were the students who left their phones in a separate room”. Take this advice to heart and try to leave it in your dorm or one of the lockers the library provides while studying. See how much you can improve your scores.

Our next lean tip is to eliminate waste. You can do this by bringing everything you need and nothing you don’t. For example, when studying for a math class, you should bring a calculator, notes, your book, and blank paper. You do not need to bring your phone, a fun book to read or your computer. It will just make you distracted and take time away from the work that needs to be done. Even your computer with your notes can be a bad idea because there are fun games, social media and a whole host of other things that are on there that can distract you. Try printing out our notes ahead of time and leave the computer behind. I know when I am studying I often want to check my email and messages. When I leave my electronics behind, I can put all my focus on my studies.

Make sure to have breaks. Studying nonstop for 8 hours is no good for anyone. It exhausts you and makes you much less productive. Try throwing breaks into your studying. According to Elizabeth Hoyt, “Studies show that breaks in your study routine can positively affect your attention abilities. Taking breaks from studying every ninety minutes or so can improve both focus and attention”. So take a break every once in a while. Step outside the library and take a short walk around campus, get a snack, or stretch your muscles. It is good for you to rest every once in a while.

If you have any more questions or want to know more about maximizing your efforts in your studies, please feel free to drop by the office in 135 West Wadsworth hall. We look forward to seeing you and hope you have a good midterm week!

As we reflect on the state of our lives and homes a lot of the time the word that comes to mind is chaotic, well at least for me it does. Then we begin to reflect on why our lives seem so chaotic, and that’s no hard question to answer. Most of us are balancing tight schedules whether it be work, school, a family, or activities we are involved in, it tends to seem like downtime is never a thing.  So how do we keep organized during these chaotic times so we aren’t spending our free time searching for items and reorganizing places we can never seem to keep organized? Well, a good way is to 5S your spaces. Now, you can’t dive in headfirst and do it to every room in your house all at once, but you can start with one area and go from there. Let’s say you start with your closet.

So first you will need a little background on exactly what 5S is. 5S is an organizational tool where you sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. Each one of these “S’s” has a distinct definition:

Sort – Sort items in the area to figure out what is not needed and eliminate it. In your closet, this would be separating your clothes, shoes and other items to figure out what you wear, what you don’t wear, and what doesn’t belong in the closet. Then get rid of the things not used or not in the right spot.

Set in Order – Organize items that remain after sorting. Arrange items neatly and make sure there is “a place for everything and everything in its place”. In your closet, that means putting all your clothes in easy to find spots and designating an area for each type of clothing.

Shine – Clean the area that you have previously organized. In your closet, that means dusting, vacuuming, and completing any other cleanup you can think of.

Standardize – Set regular cleaning and maintenance to be done. For your closet, this could mean every time you put your clothes away make sure everything is in its spot and the closet is clean.

Sustain – Make this process a habit and conduct audits to make sure the process is working. For your closet, this could mean every month you go through and asses if everything is in place and if not rethink the process.

Following these steps and performing a 5S on your closet could save you a lot of time in the morning and maybe allow you to get that extra 5 minutes of sleep. The closet is also just the beginning. This tool can help you with any other area or process at home, work, school, or any other place. So, next time your feeling overwhelmed, try using this tool to organize the area causing you stress.

As we start the first week of track B, the Office of Continuous Improvement would like to welcome back all the students for summer classes. It has been a very busy summer, and we are happy to report that track A ended successfully. Now that track B is starting, we want to remind everyone that we are available to help you start off this term on the right foot. The best way to start off these classes successfully is to set up a smart study plan. There are many strategies and tools out there that will help you with your organization. These tools have the potential to speed up and improve your work.  The Office of Continuous Improvement would like to be a tool in your tool box and assist you in accomplishing your summer goals.

The Office of Continuous Improvement has many tools and methods you can implement in your work. The office has a library of books that can help you maximize your work efforts while minimizing the time wasted. We also have tools like the personal Kanban, and other visual tools which will help you organize what you have to get done. A personal Kanban is an organizational tool that helps you track what you need to do, are doing, and have done. You can refine this system further by color coding the notes. I personally use pink for most important, purple for the least, and blue for the rest. To bring it a step further you can add due dates to your notes to keep it better organised. This is just one of the many tools that the Office of Continuous Improvement uses on a daily basis. 

If you want to learn more about personal Kabans or other organization tools for your work please feel free to stop by. We have books available in the lean library that can help you on your Lean journey. If you want some basic organization tips, the book “How To Organize Your Office” will be a great tool. This book brings up Kabans, as well as other visual tools available to use. Another book that can be a great help on how to get started being organized could be “How to De-Junk Your Life: Keys to Taking Control, Getting Organized and Getting It All Done”. These books among many others we have can help you get situated into a productive routine that can save you time. I have personally implemented parts of both of these books in my life to improve my productivity. We are located in room 136W, Wadsworth hall and you can also reach us at improvemnt@mtu.edu. 

With the Fourth of July quickly approaching, I imagine many of you are planning or have already planned a vacation during this holiday. Maybe it’s to your lake house or to visit family or maybe to go camping. Nevertheless, planning a vacation can be a very stressful task and you could run into many issues in the process. So, if we know these issues are going to arise, why don’t we get one step ahead and plan for them? I mean, we have all these Lean tools at our disposal to pinpoint these issues before they arise.

A great Lean tool to use to sort out issues involved in planning a fun family vacation is an affinity diagram. An affinity diagram is a tool used by groups to gather and sort ideas, opinions, and issues when brainstorming. It gives structure and helps initiate action when brainstorming about a topic. In this situation, it will also allow your family to brainstorm ideas with you so everyone’s issues can be accounted for. The first step in creating the affinity diagram is to have your family brainstorm as many issues as possible that could occur when planning a fun family vacation. Then, have them write down each issue on a sticky note and place them all in a central location.  There should be one issue per sticky note and they should be placed at random in the central location. An example of this can be seen in the figure below.

The next step is to sort the ideas that are similar to each other. Put these ideas in a vertical line with one another, so you can distinguish between the different groupings. An example of this step can be seen in the figure below.

The last step is to come up with category names for each grouping so that you can pinpoint the similarities within them. Place the category name above each grouping. This can be seen in the figure below.

As you can see from the figure above, the issues that you could encounter when planning a fun family vacation are now clearly laid out and can be more easily addressed. Now you will be ready for almost any issue that appears during the process. Affinity diagrams can be used in many situations other than this one and are a very good tool to have in your back pocket. So, next time you are planning a vacation, brainstorming good movies options, or trying to figure out what could be wrong with your dishwasher, try using this tool. It could be a lifesaver in your situation!

There are 100 days with leaves on the trees at Michigan Tech. At first glance that sounds like a lot because it is about 27% of the year, but when you think of what that entails you can clearly see how little that is. For the most part spring, summer and fall are crammed into these days and they go by so quickly. Then we are back to winter and snow. This is why we need to be smart about how we utilize our time this summer to get the most out of it that we can.

In order to get the most out of these days I am going to use one of the best tools in my belt, lean. The way to do this is through the use of a SMART goal. A SMART goal is a tool to use to ensure your hard work is paying off. It does this through being specific, measurable,attainable, relevant and timely. 

http://www.newfoundbalance.com/new-year-new-goals/

My SMART goal for this summer is to get at least an 85% in my finance class by working on my independent studies for at least 6 hours every week starting in July until it finishes in August. I will do this by visiting the professor’s office hours every other week and doing all the practice problems i can make. I will be able to do better in the class because I will be keeping my studies on track and creating a study group with other students in my class. A study group will help me be able to work out problems and bounce ideas off others. This is my SMART goal because it is specific about what I want, has check points that I can measure my progress with, is a reasonable goal that pertains to my degree and has a timeline that I can follow. 

A smart goal can be a useful tool to anyone trying to make the most of their time this summer and can help you spend less time on unimportant activities. When you make your smart goal remember to ask yourself is it as specific as possible? Will you be able to track its progress? Can you reasonably reach this goal? Why do you want to reach this goal? When should it be finished?  If you want to learn more about smart goals you can read about theme here or come visit us in the Office of Continuous Improvement in 135 W Wads, or email us at improvment@mtu.edu.

One of the most important aspects of any workplace is the safety of its workers. When most people think of safety in their workplace they envision long boring safety videos and training every so often, but shouldn’t we empower our workers to want to be safe? This is one of the ways that lean can be brought to safety to further improve it. Actually lean has a lot to offer safety in all of its different aspects.

One of the biggest things lean does to change the environment of safety at the workplace is the safety professionals will treat the workers as their costumers. This is different from the average environment because normally safety professionals will view the upper management or board of directors as their customer. When shifting it from “what does management want in safety” to “what do the workers want in safety”, it allows the workers to have more control of how and what they are learning about safety at their workplace. It enables them to learn in a way they want to, and makes them more apt to be engaged during those training sessions.

Another way lean changes the environment of safety is it can help to make safety more apparent and visual. This can be done through the use of visual management. By creating visual cues and diagrams of the right and safe way to do something it will give the employees something to refer to and model after. Visual management in this situations also allows anyone who is walking around to determine if the act is right or wrong or safe or not. This allows for anyone to identify an unsafe action and help to correct it before it turns into an injury.

Another aspect that goes along with Visual Management that can improve the safety of workers is the 5S workplace organizational tool. During a 5S, an area or process gets sorted, set, shined, standardized, and sustained. This improves safety in many ways. Some of these ways include the removal of clutter, ensuring spills get cleaned up quickly, having necessary tools close to where they are needed, and the elimination of unsafe practices through standardization. All of these aspects of 5s help to ensure workers are doing their jobs in the safest way possible.

These are just a few ways that lean can change the environment of safety in the workplace for the better. Lean has a lot to offer safety and on the other hand safety has a lot to offer lean. These two concept go hand in hand and when used together can drastically improve the well-being of the workers and the culture of a workplace.

This week I had the privilege of attending the First Annual Copper Country Lean Conference at Michigan Tech. Now I’m not going to lie I went into this conference not expecting much and was prepared to just be talked at all day but, it ended up being so much more.  Ever since starting this job, I have become significantly interested in Lean and Continuous Improvement. It has helped me figure out how to study in a way that benefits me, plan out trips, and organize almost every aspect of my life. However, until the conference I never really understood the meaning or feeling of being involved in a Lean Community. I mean, I understood that there were people around me who were also passionate about Lean and that I could be considered a part of the Michigan Tech Lean community, but during the conference I was able to see what that truly meant.

At the conference there were people from all different industries and from all across the Keweenaw and further. These people had different jobs, degrees, and interests, but there was one thing everyone had in common, their interest in lean. Some people had been practicing lean for years, while others had just begun their lean journey, but it didn’t really matter. During this day everyone networked and shared stories of how lean has impacted them, or how they plan to integrate lean into their lives. Ideas were being bounced around and contact information was being shared. It was crazy to me how one thing, Lean, could connect so many people who have so many differences.

It’s when I saw all of these people interacting, sharing stories, and really being engaged in the conference I realized how much Lean really can connect you with others. It also showed me how important it is to develop your “community of practice” with in Lean. If you have that group of people eager to share their knowledge with you it allows you to grow as a lean practitioner and expand your own understanding of lean through theirs. So, this week I really felt what is was like to be a part of a Lean community.