I’d like to walk you through a helpful Lean tool called Kaizen Newspaper.

Just like a real newspaper, the Kaizen Newspaper is a great way to summarize the main headlines of activities that are of interest to your area of ​​work.

What is it mainly used for?

The Kaizen journal is primarily used to facilitate the following:

• Assignment of improvement activities to individuals, subteams, or team members
• Quickly create action
• Track activities and level of completion
• Help maintain team momentum

It can be the primary summary and reporting mechanism for a team of people working on continuous improvement activity in a particular area.

What does a kaizen newspaper look like?

A kaizen journal is usually written on an A1 flipchart. The top of the flipchart should have the following information: the words ‘Kaizen Newspaper’, the name of the team, the area they are working on, and the date. Immediately after this, the following headings should be written from right to left with column lines separating them.

ACTION WHO WHEN OUTCOME

For each continuous improvement activity, the above detail should be added.

For example, in the ACTION column you can write ‘Review file storage system’, in the WHO column you can write ‘Fred Lean’ and in the WHEN column you can write ’10 am to 12 pm’

At this stage, the RESULT column would be left blank, which is usually completed after a review of the actions has been performed. that is, if Fred Lean was charged as a member of the file storage review team between 10 am and 12 pm, we may have a review meeting at 1 pm. results column with the fruits of Freds labor.

Obviously, there would be an action, who, when, and output input for every continuous improvement activity we can think of. In addition to using paper flipcharts, by being a little creative you can help save the planet. I made an A4 foldable kaizen newspaper from a laminated white card that folds out to A1 size. I also recently started using ‘magic whiteboard’ in a reel that appeared in “Dragons Den”.

When, where and why do you use a kaizen journal?

One of the reasons to use a kaizen journal is when we are running a rapid improvement workshop or Kaizen Blitz event. It’s a great way to track teams’ action during the few days you have to make improvements. That said, it can also be very useful. effective in helping to run daily activities in any operational area. Only the actions associated with the improvement of the area should be noted on the paper. In other words, it is not a personal wish list but a process improvement list associated with the elimination of one or more of the seven classic residues. In general, the newspaper should be located in a focal point where all those involved know its location. The tool works best when we use it to assign short bursts of activity. That is, we allocate a few hours of activity, review that activity, and then write a new graph for the next set of actions. This helps keep the momentum going and makes the newspaper a living document that people actually use.

Who is responsible for creating the Newspaper?

There has to be an owner for the Kaizen newspaper. Typically, this should be the group’s team leader, a team facilitator, or someone within the team who has agreed to coordinate the improvement work. They need to organize regular activity reviews and make a decision on when to write the next Kaizen Journal.

Summary

The Kaizen newspaper is a very simple Lean tool. Although very simple, its power is often overlooked. When used well, it can help build real enthusiasm and a sense of contributing to the general good within a group.