Implementing Leader Standard Work ( LSW )
How can you standardise your routine works as a leader
Hi
Munavver here , Today lets talk about a powerful tool that leaders can use at their work to maintain consistency , transparency and accountability, Leader Standard Work or commonly known as LSW.
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Leader Standard Work (LSW) is a lean management practice that establishes a set of routine tasks and activities for leaders and managers to perform consistently. It is a structured approach to leadership that helps ensure stability, continuous improvement, and effective management practices within an organization. Typically it helps to standardise the routine works ranging from 20% to 80% depending up on the levels of leadership roles that they perform. The higher your level as a leader , the lesser you will have routine standard tasks.
The primary goal of Leader Standard Work is to create a foundation for leaders to lead by example and systematically engage in activities that contribute to the achievement of organizational objectives. By establishing standardized routines, leaders can enhance communication, promote accountability, and drive continuous improvement across teams.
Why Leader Standard Work ?
Consistency: Leaders follow a consistent set of tasks and activities, providing stability to the organization and reinforcing expectations for both leaders and team members.
Focus on Key Priorities: LSW emphasizes tasks that directly contribute to achieving organizational goals. It helps leaders prioritize activities that have the most significant impact on performance and outcomes.
Visibility and Transparency: The routines outlined in Leader Standard Work are often visible to the entire organization. This transparency helps build trust and provides a clear understanding of leadership expectations.
Continuous Improvement: Leader Standard Work is not static. It encourages leaders to regularly review and refine their routines, adapting to changing circumstances and identifying opportunities for improvement.
Accountability: LSW holds leaders accountable for their responsibilities. It establishes a framework for tracking performance, identifying issues, and taking corrective actions.
Typically, Leader Standard Work includes daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. These tasks can vary based on the leader's role, organizational structure, and specific responsibilities. Common elements might include daily huddles, gemba walks (on-site visits to observe and engage with frontline staff), performance reviews, and strategic planning sessions.
Implementing Leader Standard Work :
A part from understanding Leader standard work and working with different leaders to identify key processes and routines that they perform , it requires a careful prioritisation of tasks and setting the frequency of it to be performed for each and every single leader at your organisation. This will help them to maintain high levels of discipline and to create of culture of follow ups and feedbacks for continuous improvement opportunities.
Here is how a Leader Standard work will look like for a QA leader
The critical activities listed in the daily list are those which requires a constant follow up and needs direct involvement
From the above example , you can see that stand up meetings and Gemba walks ( Walks through the shop floor in case of a manufacturing facility ) are scheduled as weekly activities given the level of leadership position that the QA leader holds in the organisation. Also , you can see that these tasks are shaded in different colours to indicate how well these tasks were performed so that it can be used further for analysing. In this case , the green indicates completion with no issues , blue indicates completion with issues , Orange indicates delay and red indicates the task was not completed or cancelled.
Now can you plan a Leader standard work at your workplace with your existing routine ? If yes , tell me how did it go
Ready to start your lean journey? Get in touch today.
Best,
Munavver Fairooze (Connect with me on Linkedin)
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