Back-office operations often harbor unproductive and ineffective practices, embedded in the rationale: “it’s always been done that way”. A startling 40% of workers admit that at least a quarter of their daily work is unproductive, with some studies indicating that up to 75% of work can be deemed wasteful. How can we energize and create efficiency within such contexts?
I came across an article by Cem Yurdum, Head of Logistics at Coca Cola, titled Back Office Productivity and a Case for Lean and Scientific Method to Work Together that outlined the below framework for optimization. In reading, I found that I wholeheartedly agree with his thoughts and opinions on the topic and felt it worth a share.
During my initial career years, “Taylorism” or the “Scientific Method” introduced by Frederic Taylor instilled in me the analytical reasoning to explore cause and effect in various operational settings. Continuous improvement, intertwined with operational improvement protocols, became apparent through the tangible benefits observed over the years. This belief is not just about enhancing processes, but also about fostering a culture of growth and bonding among team members through sharing and openness.
Implementing a Framework for Work Optimization
- Observe (Genchi Genbutsu): Ensuring sustainable improvement mandates first-hand experience with processes. Adopting a “watch and learn” approach and standardizing understandings with operators is vital. Engaging with multiple subject matter experts provides a holistic view, unclouding judgment and uncovering nuances within tasks, where bottlenecks and inefficiencies often lurk.
- Break Down the Work: Viewing work as a series of tasks that form an end-to-end process allows us to discern the building blocks of everyday tasks. Ensuring these blocks are measurable, flexible, and transferable supports focused process improvement efforts and facilitates cross-training and upskilling of employees.
- Study Your Elements: Measuring and analyzing task blocks allow for constructing standard process times, facilitating the transition to an activity cost-based structure. Like Banta Foods, organizations can leverage ABC analysis to enhance their revenue and profitability by focusing on their most critical activities and reducing wasteful ones.
- Eliminate, Automate, Shorten: Lean proposes the elimination of “Waste” – anything not contributing to customer value. Identifying and weeding out wasteful components, particularly prevalent in back-office operations such as waiting and overprocessing, is pivotal once your building blocks are defined.
- Sustain and Improve Continually: Embracing the spirit of continuous improvement necessitates an understanding that process optimization is an ongoing journey. Adopting a culture of perpetual enhancement, as embodied by the emergence of roles like Chief Transformation Officers, underlines the imperative for organizations to perpetually reinvent themselves in the face of evolving macroeconomic and social needs.
Unleashing a Culture of Continuous Improvement
In the words of Mark Twain, “continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” The manifestation of this mindset across team practices redefines the “new normal” and ensures that organizations are continually evolving in alignment with both internal capabilities and external market demands.
I’ll leave you with this thought: take a hard look at the above framework, and then figure out how to utilize it properly within your business practices. The approach is never a ‘one-size-fits-all’. However, having a strategy in place to not only acknowledge where Lean exists but then also implement systematic process improvement can truly be the driver toward operational success.