Messy Desk Part XIII: Lean 5S

When I set out to straighten up my desk I had 5S in mind, but I never thought that I'd actually do it all. I was thinking that "true 5S" would be a higher standard that I wouldn't rise to. I've come to realize that 5S shouldn't be thought of as something you do infrequently.

The initial 5S session could be difficult and time-consuming, but 5S should be continuous and sustained once put in place. Let's see how I did.?

Lean 5s: Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain.

I have sorted (eliminated) and straightened (organized) as described in my other dozen articles about my messy desk. These 3 remain:

• Shine: Clean and inspect the work area.
• Standardize: Write standards (for the work & work area, particularly concerning 5S).
• Sustain: Consistently apply the 5S standards.

Have I done the remaining three?

Shine

Lots of dust had accumulated all around and especially on the desk, on the top and back of the monitor, and on the monitor stand. I shined that up. I also cleaned both monitor screens and blew out the keyboard with compressed air. In a manufacturing environment, shine means much more. There would also be more to it for a SW dev team room. But this is just my personal desk. Not complicated.

Standardize

Are Standardize and Sustain about the 5s process itself (but with respect to that space and the tasks that happen in the space)? I.E., Is it about how to "Sort, Straighten, Shine" periodically in the space?

Or are Standardize and Sustain primarily about the space and the work that happens in the space (instead of about the 5S process itself)? I.E. I could standardize something as a result of a 5S activity, without documenting how we would do 5S on that space/process/activity in the future.

The answer is "both". How we care for the area is about 5S itself with regard to the space -- and about the space itself.

During the Standardize step, the team documents the best practices developed during the previous steps and creates standardized work instructions or checklists that outline the ideal procedures for organizing, cleaning, and maintaining the workplace. AND it's about the layout, visual controls, visually marking the location for items, SOPs for performing both work tasks and 5S improvement tasks, job aids, and performance metrics.

Imagine if I were to mark locations for tools on a peg board, arrange equipment for efficiency and to limit motion and reduce stress, write down a process for the work, and write down a cleaning or maintenance schedule. All of that would be about the space/process as well as about the 5S process itself for that space. (This is especially true if all of that was a 5S outcome.)

As for my personal desk, I have a place for tools, a place for office supplies, a place for my coffee. I have a new desire to keep the desk clean. I plan to do so by processing -- mainly using "Getting Things Done" (#GTD) -- whatever has accumulated each week. So that's a new process step for me.

5S also forced me to make some decisions on where certain information should be kept -- standards.

I didn't document any of that though, other than the fact that I already had the GTD flow chart pinned to my bulletin board. On the other hand, blogging about this cemented it in my mind and for a little while serves the spirit of Standardize in 5S.

Sustain

How should I schedule my personal 5S? Monthly? Or weekly? For me, I think monthly is good. But that's not the spirit of 5S. These 5 steps are intended to be done continuously, or at least daily or weekly. What I've done is not in the spirit of 5S. I let the issue build into a messy work area. 5S is intended to be a habit, like refactoring, pair programming, and continuous integration. It is about creating a culture of discipline and ownership to ensure that the improvements achieved through the earlier steps of 5S are sustained over the long term.

So, "How do I keep my desk clean" and "How do I continuously perform 5S on my desk" are 2 sides of the same coin.

While scheduling regular 5S cleanups or audits may be part of the sustainment efforts, the focus of the "Sustain" step is broader than just scheduling cleanups. It involves developing mechanisms to prevent the reoccurrence of clutter, disorganization, and non-compliance with established standards.

My situation is that I like to scribble little notes on sticky notes. Thoughts come to me faster than I can process them. Then the day ends before I process all the little notes. I haven't managed to reserve time for a daily 5S. My next morning starts with a full calendar. All the meetings pile on more work, more to-do's. So I think I'm down to needing to say 'no' more (often to myself) or delegate more.

While thinking of this, I thought I could retrospect on my work, do a 5S check, and plan upcoming work on the same cadence. Should I incorporate retrospectives and weekly planning? That may be beyond the scope of 5S. Worse, it could complicate either of those activities. On the other hand, tying them together might ensure that they both get done. I think I'll keep them separate. There is no right answer. Either way may be fine depending on the situation.

So how should I schedule this? I could put it on my calendar, recurring. Or I could put this in my #43folders (#GTD) system, which would give me more flexibility to adjust when exactly I want to do the task.

I need to do this weekly. I don't think I could achieve it daily. But I probably could block off a long lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 5S.

Conclusion

When I set out to straighten up my desk, I didn't think I would do all of 5S. I was thinking that true 5S would be something out of reach for my office. I was thinking of 5S in a larger context, in that of a team or organization. Upon reflection, I see "personal 5S" as both achievable and a good thing. We shouldn't elevate 5S to be some big thing that might be out of reach. Practicing this on an individual level has helped me gain a better understanding of how this practice really is useful and within reach.?

For further reading, check out Jim Benson's article on 5S in Personal Kanban.