Is Kaizen Appropriate For My Project?
A project manager should always be looking to improve upon the processes they carry out. This is so that projects completed in the future do not succumb to problems that have already been faced in the past, in other words ‘project managers should learn from their mistakes’. Whilst this is theoretically easy to achieve, in practice it can prove difficult. Many managers will claim that they never make the same mistake twice, but quickly fall prey to going behind schedule through not having all the materials needed to do a job. The question that each manager should seek to answer is ‘How can I improve the processes carried out?’
One such way that this can be achieved is the Japanese principle of ‘Kaizen’. In essence this means ‘continuous improvement’, rather than trying to solve all the problems being faced at once try to improve a little each time. This means that you should never be faced with large problems to deal with and any potential difficulties arising should be seen before they occur. The philosophy of Kaizen works particularly well within a production line setting, where there are particular groups that are responsible for an individual part of the production. It is also easy to teach through project management training.
The successful implementation of Kaizen rests upon being able to standardise a particular operation that can then be timed. If this is possible then innovative improvements can be sought, enabling productivity to be increased. From here the process should then be carried out again, standardising the improvement and looking at ways in which it can be improved.
However there can also be several negative effects that can come from implementing such an approach. For example, there must be a willingness to change from the employees. This is where good project management and people management must exist and can be taught through project management training. People tend to be very wary when they are being watched or measured, one way that this can be overcome is to include the employees in the improvement process and have quality circles. These are groups of employees that are asked to come up with innovative ways that they can improve the way they work. This employee involvement and teamwork based approach is essential to successful implementation.
Project management training can help to implement some of these approaches. Whilst it will not work for every business many of the ideals of Kaizen can be taken and adapted to fit within many project management roles. The key to the approach is gaining the trust of employees and involving them in the whole process.
Bill Weston writes on a number of subjects including project management training and apmp courses.
Look here for more information on project management training and apmp course
