How can you measure the impact of lean management training on reducing waste?

1 Define your goals and indicators

Before you start measuring, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. What are the specific waste reduction goals that you have set for your staff and your processes? How do they align with your overall business objectives and customer needs? What are the indicators that will show you if you are on track or not? For example, you might want to measure the amount of inventory, defects, rework, waiting time, or overproduction that your staff can reduce after the training.

2 Choose your methods and tools

Once you have defined your goals and indicators, you need to decide how you will collect and analyze the data. You can use a variety of methods and tools to measure the impact of lean management training on reducing waste, depending on the context, resources, and preferences. For example, surveys and interviews can provide qualitative and quantitative feedback from staff, customers, and suppliers about the lean management training and its effects on waste reduction. Observations and audits can also be used to observe how staff apply the lean management principles and tools in their daily work, as well as how it affects the waste levels in processes. Additionally, metrics and reports can be used to track and measure the waste reduction outcomes of the lean management training. Data from systems, databases, or dashboards can be used to calculate and compare the metrics before and after the training.

3 Plan your timeline and frequency

Another important aspect of measuring the impact of lean management training on reducing waste is to plan when and how often you will do it. You need to have a realistic and consistent timeline and frequency that will allow you to capture the short-term and long-term effects of the training, and to make adjustments if needed. For example, you might want to measure the impact of the training immediately after it, then after three months, six months, and one year, to see how the results change over time.

4 Communicate and act on the results

Finally, you need to communicate and act on the results of your measurement. You need to share the findings and insights with your staff, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders, and celebrate the successes and acknowledge the challenges. You also need to use the results to identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement, and to plan and implement the necessary actions to sustain and enhance the impact of the lean management training on reducing waste.