Most people are happier when they are creating something they believe to be of value. But in the mass production model of most businesses today, specialization has removed any sense of the value being produced by individual employees. With a mass production model it is difficult to determine the value produced unless an employee’s role has a direct impact on a customer.
Removing any sense of value being produced for a customer leads to employees who only feel they are cogs in the wheel. We all know of roles somewhere in the middle of a long process with many activities, where employees have no sense of the customer. A task shows up, they work on it, and then they send it on. The primary value recognized by the employee is keeping work off their desk.
Lean office engages people in making things better every day. It provides a framework to continuously increase the value of what is produced for both internal and external customers.
A lean office business model provides an innovative alternative to one based on mass production. Lean office treats processes as a series of value added activities; referred to as a value stream. The value of each activity is related to every other activity and eventually the end customer of the value stream.
Employees are not asked to perform specialized tasks (mass production); they are asked to contribute a unit of value (lean production). Changing an employee’s goal from completing a task to creating value instills in them a sense of ownership of the result. Like a landowner instead of a sharecropper, the employee takes pride and responsibility for the measurable value they create; leading to happier employees and satisfied customers.
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