How To Automate Success - Hotsheets

Do you run a business in which people are required to do the same thing multiple times (everyone nod their head up and down)? This type of work could be manufacturing, sales, management, service, clerical, or basically any other job out there.

You should considering implementing Hotsheets. What are hotshots you might ask (why thank you for asking!)?

A Hotsheet is a concise 1-2 page document used to quickly instruct someone on important procedures.

An example of this might be filling out an accident investigation form for an employee injury - your small business might only experience 2-5 injuries per year, but you need your management team to properly fill out the investigation form - and ideally you don't have to do it with them every time (you've hopefully got better things to do). Failure to fill out the accident investigation form correctly could result in more claims (for instance, if there is a procedural error that caused the injury, etc).

Therefore, you create an "Accident Investigation Hotsheet" - which is a one page document summarizing the main goal of the task, and the most commonly made errors. It might look something like this:

Sample Hotsheet - Accident Investigation Report

Goal: Safety in the workplace, and thorough investigation of all injuries to ensure problems in environment, procedures, and equipment are remedied.

1). Interview any witnesses individually and ask these questions: (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4)

2). Watch video of incident and look for: broken equipment, procedural errors, carelessness, horseplay, etc.

3). Does video align with what witnesses said happened? Are there any discrepancies?

4). Meet with area manager to discuss and have him sign the investigation form along with you

Hotsheets can be used for all sorts of things from filling the company dishwasher, cleaning the bathrooms, dealing with customer claims and warranties, Hiring/firing, etc. Anything that you want to automate some level of success in should have a simple written procedure of some sort to back it up.

So when your manager comes to you and says "Johnny fell and his her ankle, what do I do?" you can refer her to the "Injury/801 Form Hotsheet" which explains step by step exactly what is required of her.

These hotsheets are especially helpful for new managers who are learning a lot on the job and want something tangible to follow so they know exactly how to win.

I believe I found this concept from Paul Aker's book: 2 Second Lean, which is a fun. They integrate QR and YouTube videos into the hotsheets too, which is a neat possibility. I also stole the phrase "Automating success" from one of my mentors. Nothing I say is truly original.

These hotsheets are meant to streamline procedures and help you spend less time on the phone dealing with issues that should be automated.

What types of things have you found that increase efficiency within your industry? How do you automate success?