There is a lot of discussion, including books, about applying these principles to office/administrative type work. Michael George made that case in his book, "Lean Six Sigma for Services" (this link is provided for informational purposes but doesn't necessarily indicate any endorsement). Some call what we do "transactional" work.
How can we make something better that seems to be different for each contracting action we work?
This article makes a case for workload planning as a way to do just that. Author Dan Markovitz, president, TimeBack Management says that:
A well-written project implementation plan breaks complicated and/or long-term projects into simple, sequenced, discrete steps with clearly assigned
responsibilities and interim due dates. Workers schedule time in their calendars to complete each task for which they are responsible (or to follow up with the person responsible for a given task).
He recognizes that, unlike production workers, we are pulled many ways (participate in multiple value streams is "lean speak" for this) at the same time. However, the author, recommends that
every project, every meeting and every action that consumes time must be rigorously entered into the calendar. Only by doing so can (you) see the total
demand on (your) time, identify capacity constraints in advance, and by applying
heijunka (leveling the workload), adjust (your) commitments appropriately. The result is fewer crises, better allocation of resources, and lower stress for everyone.
So, think of the work in your inbox. Determine when it is due, count back the days you need for review, approvals and research, then schedule that time. Do that with the other items in your inbox and see if you find those days when your workload is less and schedule some work from your heavier work days.
This a first step to a lean office.
Let's continue this discussion on Lean Six Sigma in contracting.
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