A metric is a measure that is considered to be a key indicator of performance. The best way to get people to contribute to your process improvement efforts is to give them a simple measure to help them understand the impact of their efforts. Establishing metrics for an office can provide employees with exactly that information, get everyone on the same page, and help drive continuous improvement and elimination of waste.A lean office strives to improve customer satisfaction by giving customers what they want when they want it, and at a price, they are willing to pay. Office metrics usually fall into the categories of improving speed and accuracy of delivery. They can include:
- Total work lead time
- Total work cycle time
- Number of errors or defects
- Amount of overtime
- Work-load backlog
In order to implement a metric in your office, perform the following activities:
- Perform an assessment of the process to be improved. This should include the use of a value stream map, process map, or swim lane diagram and an evaluation of all the forms of waste present in the current process.
- During the assessment, determine the total process lead time, cycle times of each task, the number of errors committed each day, the amount of overtime generated each week, and any work-load backlog each day.
- Determine which metric is appropriate for the improvement project under consideration. Reduce overall lead time, reduce the number of defects, reduce cycle times of certain tasks, reduce overtime, work-load backlog, etc.
- Calculate the baseline measures. Where are we today? What is the goal? What is the timeframe for completion?
- Get management buy-in for the measurable.
- Make your measures visual. Use charts and graphs so that employees see their current performance and their gap to the project goal. Post graphs and charts in the work area so they are visible to everyone. Communicate the status of the metrics in your office meetings. Identify action plans to reduce the gaps and hold those responsible for taking those actions accountable. Hold weekly meetings to review the status of the actions.
Once the measure has been established and agreed upon, the team can begin to implement kaizen events to make process improvements and monitor their progress using the metrics or KPI.