Communicating the job to be done with 6S
Whether you are organizing a room in the house or optimizing a target area in your workplace, communication is key if you intend to have others collaborating with you on the endeavor. 6S establishes several opportunities and standard mechanism for establishing and communicating expectations during 6S activities. In fact, each 6S activity has a set of corresponding procedures, checklists, forms and tools that can be used to clearly set expectations and instructions for anyone participating in your 6S activities.
For example, the 6S Sort process provides the Sort Inspection Checklist, Red Tag Checklist, Unnecessary Item Checklist, and Item Disposition Guidelines, in addition to the standard operating procedures to complete each activity. The 6S Straighten process provides the Straighten Criteria Checklist, 6S Storage Checklist, and complete guidelines for using visual controls such as lines, labels, and signboards in your target area. Each 6S process is documented for easy communication to 6S teams.
Communication doesn’t start and end with an easy printout of the above checklists and guidelines. 6S teams should feel engaged and empowered and communication will set the stage. How can you successfully engage and empower your 6S team? Understand that in the dynamic world we live in, things are constantly changing. Most likely, each person’s personal and team needs are always changing with the environment. Many people feel challenged with living amid such chaotic and uncertain conditions. Like most organism, if people can’t adapt quickly enough with their changing environments they will not succeed and likely fail out of the environmental system. However, most people also have a rigid paradigm regarding almost every aspect of their lives and are remarkably resistant to change.
Communication is an excellent way to break down barriers to change. Every team, whether it be a family team organizing a house or a work shop team organizing a factory, needs communication. So you should certainly start your communication plan by review the 6S Success Process and Procedures. The well documented standard operating procedures for over 20 steps in the 6S process will establish the foundation of your approach and provide the 6S team with a clear set of instructions and deliverables for each activity. The checklists and guidelines provided for each 6S activity will provide information on traditional decision making and problem solving approaches. Other 6S templates and forms that are provided on 6ssuccess.com will help 6S participants complete each activity with the least amount of time and effort and ensure that everyone is approaching each activity with the same focus on results.
Communication should start early if you are interested in engaging and empower each 6S participant. You should give ample preparation, both mentally and physically, to 6S participants by providing them with information on what 6S is and when you plan on facilitating the 6S event. If you have a family or household that you wish to engage and empower with 6S, you should create a brief “pitch” to let them know what 6S is, what area of the house you would like to target, and when you would like to accomplish the tasks. You may also need to clearly define that you wish for them to be involved and what specifically they can expect to be doing during this time. It makes many people less defensive when you let them know that each family member is already doing most of these activities and that you have discovered some ways to do those activities is less time and with less effort, but the family has to work together to accomplish it. If you are in an office or factory environment, you essentially need a similar approach.
In fact, in a work environment, you may want to craft an email or print out a communication piece that briefly touches on what 6S is, when it is scheduled, who will participate, why it’s important, and how it will benefit each worker and the organization. You can also touch on benefits with your family if you feel they are in to that kind of stuff or really need it. Hopefully you agree by now that communication is a key factor for success in your 6S results, so next time I will provide you with a template for working some of this information into your communication with the 6S team.
