A Visual Management Definition You Can Rely On

Visual management is the go-getter of Lean, the vital ingredients that engage your people to make Lean work.

Put simply, visual management is both a tool and a concept in the world of Lean. The concept of visual management is that everyone entering a workplace should be able to see, understand and be able to manage every element of a process ‘at a glance’. It’s the visual element which enables this to happen as information presented visually is processed over 60,000 times faster than text. A workplace which is effectively managed visually should have each and every one of its processes assessed at a glance.

Visual management as a tool in Lean is about using visual management products in order to facilitate a visual workplace, these products are typically visual management boards, SOP displays, magnetic overlays or products that facilitate 5S programs such as shadow boards and cleaning stations.

clarity-rev-counter-displays

It’s easy to see how these products help create a visual workplace, their bold design and clear layouts enable viewing and understanding the information effortlessly, they also transcend language barriers which is an essential feature for global & multisite operations with continuous improvement managed centrally from one location.

Take a look at this example of a Clarity Visual Management Rev Counter. This board has been specifically developed to ensure that KPIs can be easily tracked versus target – anyone looking at this board knows exactly what’s on-track and what’s not, the cornerstone of visual management.

The benefit of a board such as a Clarity Rev Counter is that anyone, regardless of whether they’re familiar with the process, knows the current status of a process, or KPI. This is hugely important for senior management, visitors or new starters unfamiliar with typical operations.

If you like the look of the Clarity Visual Management Rev Counter then you can get in touch with us here to find out more

How visual management benefits your business…

In order to get the most from your visual management, it needs careful thought and planning and needs to be thought of in terms of the bigger picture (your continuous improvement programme). There are many obvious benefits of implementing visual management boards but one huge factor is that without the proper consideration in making it as relevant and engaging as possible you end up with visual management boards that are more like wallpaper; pretty to look at but don’t drive any engagement!

Getting visual management right unlocks a new world of possibility within your business and allows you to:

See and understand the current state of work
Have clear visibility of performance, what/who is hitting target or exceeding expectation and what/who is falling behind
Indicate work priorities and areas on which to focus in order to add the most value
Identify workflows and highlight what is being done
Identify when something is going wrong and being able to see this information quickly for swift action
Clearly communicate the standards of expectation and where performance should be at
Offer real-time data to everyone involved in the process

How to get started with visual management

Getting started is easy and there are many ways to secure quick wins in order to start creating your visual workplace. Getting in touch with Clarity Visual Management to find out how we can make Lean work in your workplace is a sure-fire route to success. Our approach is a comprehensive consultancy service to strategise and plan a visual solution to drive the most engagement within your organisation which is then facilitated by our high-quality visual management products, developed specifically for this application and bespoke to your business.

A Visual Management Definition You Can Rely On