Spring Cleaning Easy 5S Style - Lean Thinking for Any Business

Start Fresh - Spring Cleaning Time – for all Businesses

There is a term in Lean Six Sigma called 5S. Stop – do not stop reading and think that Six Sigma is only for manufacturing professionals. Lean Six Sigma is applicable across all business processes from marketing and operations to customer service and manufacturing. Please keep reading. It is so neat because it is simple and a great tool for any business.  You never knew that all those years practicing spring cleaning at home that you were actually practicing part of the Toyota Production Systems process! We are going to undergo this process to both improve appearance, efficiency, morale and reduce safety issues and waste.  5S is one of the easiest tool s to use and was created by Taiichi Ono and Shigeo Shino as part of the quality improvement evolutionary process.

First, put on an inspector hat mentality and fresh eyes. Pretend that you have never visited your business previously. That is so key – you cannot allow your eyes and brain to see status quo. I used to walk around our offices and see scuffed floors or uneven ceiling tiles. It is easy to think that this is the way things have to be. Attention to detail matters either directly or indirectly to your customers or patients.   Their eyes may pick up on the dusty dividers separating booths at the restaurant and think “what is the quality of the food that I will be eating?” They may see the scuffed floors and wonder how clean is this exam room and am I at risk for infection.

Implementing the 5S process is going to involve both you and your team. I also suggest surveying your patients or clients. Do not just send them a survey with rankings to choose. Give them comment lines so they can record their suggestions and observations too. Do not forget to send them a thank you for taking the time to complete your survey.  You could give them a coupon for a free package of batteries for their hearing aids or a free cup of coffee at their next visit.  Gain an army of individuals supporting quality, efficiency and effectiveness year round.

What is 5S? Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain

What are we going to do? We are going to turn things inside out and upside down. We are going to ask why? We are going to create a respectable, polished, organized, clean work area for our team, vendors and patients/clients. We are going to go through this process with our team. Sometimes, we have to lead others into battle by rolling up our sleeves and participating in the process together.  Clean with them.  It is amazing what you find out by doing this. Ask for people to join the committee. Train them on what and why you are doing 5S. Inform everyone what your committee is organizing and that participation is expected from everyone. Designate a day when everyone is expected to clean their workstation. (Try to rotate around so you can be part of the process. You will gain respect,  ideas, and camaraderie.)

Sort

The old adage is true – just because it has always been, does not mean that is the best way now. Open drawers, closets and cabinets. Clean house. If you are not using something, discard it properly. (Follow all guidelines for maintaining business security and patient confidentiality.) I used to find people with reams of paper stored at their cabinets and realized that not only was hoarding an issue but inventory. I instituted a simple request that all offices check their inventories the first week of each month.  Since everyone could count on supplies being present and obtained timely if needed, we reduced supplies.  Reduced supplies means cash is not sitting on the shelf gathering dust.

Check why old equipment is stored in the cabinet, on the floor or under the current equipment. Can you donate it to a charitable organization or recycle it? If you are not using something, does it need to remain at a workstation? With my boss’s permission, I would hold mini-garage sales and just put out unused, unneeded, old items to see if anyone in the office could use them. The piles disappeared fast. My only request was that they had to take them off the premises. (Make sure this is okay with your organization too.)

Straighten

Organize everything. My Dad had a magic junk drawer with every imaginable small part, screw, bolt, etc.  We had fun playing with the items but difficulty finding something when we actually needed it.  Put all the tools and parts in order of usage and need. Reduce search time.  Label drawers when helpful to expedite searches. Think logically about how processes occur and put things in the order that actions should happen.  This is when I would learn that maybe we need to move files, cabinets or something as simple as a pen holder in different position. Think – what is step one. What does the patient do first? The patient needs a clipboard and a pen.  Can the patient reach the pens? Step two – did I make the patron who is limping sit down at the table furthest from the door or did my table directory easily show me the closest table to reduce walking?  Check your hallways.  Is the directory all the way at the back of the hallway in small print or is it upfront where your clients can easily read it? Can you move it forward?  Keep going through each part of the process to make sure each station is organized and clear for everyone.

I cannot say enough the importance of people being able to cover for each other in an emergency. Someone should always be able to sit at a work station or desk and know where everything is located. You should be able to have cross-trained teams work at different desks and know operations are identical. If your employee is kind enough to cover in a different location today, make their day easier by ensuring their work station looks familiar.

Shine

I was raised on Murphy’s Oil soap, Windex and Mr. Clean. You knew something was clean and shiny because it smelled clean. We were so proud of those shiny windows. Your staff will feel more pride when they know that you care about their work environment. That means that you care about them too. When you shine, you find what needs a fresh coat of paint. You identify what is worn and needs to be replaced like chairs and counters.  I found leaky pipes by cleaning under a sink. I would rather catch a leak than a flood that ruins the carpeting or causes someone to slip. Go get those gloves on and make the workstations sparkle together.

Standardize

The 5S process is not a one-time event. You must communicate to your team that this is an ongoing process that will be regularly scheduled.  One suggestion: utilize a new employee to evaluate the system now in place. New employees have the freshest eyes and may help you identify areas that still need more organization and standardization.

Sustain

How have you changed the culture in your organization? Did they look at these efforts as just another quality management exercise flavor of the month? Did they find value in what you did? Did they take pride in participating in the solutions? Did you solicit their opinions and advice so they support keeping the changes in place? Have you identified champions to keep the changes going? Even better, have you identified the negative nellies/downie donnies who want to derail your changes and made them accountable for the changes? Did you listen to their concerns and advice? Did you acknowledge and then encourage their participation? Do you have a leader that is going to inspect and make sure changes stay in place? Did you set up a communication plan so the leader can tell you if dissension is occurring? Maybe the changes need to be tweaked since they were implemented?

I joked about this being a spring cleaning. However, it is so easy to become complacent and think that this is how we have always done things.

Here is an exercise to try:

Pretend you are investor and want to buy your business. Walk in with a clipboard and write down everything that makes no sense. If you were a patient with a walker, how far are you making them walk? Are your signs clear and legible? What time of day is the person making deliveries? Is it interrupting workflow? Is the chair leg in the reception area cracked and now a safety hazard? Are your walls all nicked up because the hallway is too narrow? Do you need chair rails to protect the walls?  Look at everything.  I once sat with our biller and remembered a time where I worked simultaneously with two computer screens and two phones to be efficient.

If you are a marketer, how does this apply to you? Easy – how is your website organized? Have you removed old events or former staff? Is your anniversary date updated? Can you click on every tab and it opens? Did you check how it responds in multiple browsers: Mozilla, IE, Chrome, Safari, etc?  Does it convert understandably onto a mobile site? Check your email address databases. Are they current? Are you selling deceased names or old addresses to your clients?  Have you checked your font size on graphics for your 50+ year old audiences? 5S cleaning works for you too.

Thank you for reading about 5S.  I cannot wait to read your success stories from trying 5S.

 Written by

Diane M. Schultz

[email protected]

630.624.0222