In today's Metro newspaper, there was an article titled 7m GBP to tell mandarins how to keep desks tidy. It said that civil servants at National Insurance offices in North Tyneside were being trained how to keep their desks tidy and free of clutter. This is part of a pilot Lean programme brought in by consultants Unipart to boost efficiency. Apparently, black tape is stuck to desks at various locations to indicate where people should place their phone, keyboard, stationery, etc.
Is this part of an application of the 5S Philosophy? If it is, I hope it's part of a broader programme to introduce a Lean thinking culture, which aims to eliminate waste and improve effectiveness and quality. Otherwise the net result will be nothing more than a lot of very clean desks.
The 5S Philosophy focuses on effective work place organization and standardised work procedures, which together simplify the work environment. There are 5 steps:
Seiri - Sort and eliminate unnecessary items from the workplace.
Seiton - Set in order and utilise efficient and effective storage methods.
Seiso - Shine, thoroughly clean the work area regularly.
Seiketsu - Standardise best practices in the work area.
Shitsuke - Sustain a new standard of work place organisation because human nature resists change and it's too easy to return to the old way of doing things.
Since I read Tom DeMarco's book, Slack, I focus on being effective before efficient. I always aim to be effective first because it has a more immediate impact than being efficient. And once you're effective you become more efficient naturally. More large organisations should take a leaf out of this book.
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