I recently had the pleasure of attending a two day Lessons Learned Workshop at NIH related to Biomedical Research Facilities that have been built in the last several years. In today’s complex world we architects are trying, harder than ever it seems, to meet the needs of our client with each project, but today, our clients seem to have many voices. The beauty of this conference was that all of the competing voices were in one place and had a chance to express their perspective in an educational setting. In the project world it can be an extremely delicate balancing act to place the proper emphasis on the right voice.
More and more my conversations with clients are round the idea of optimizing the work space to increase efficiency and productivity for scientists while maintaining a safe environment. Why you might ask? In these economic times companies want to expand in place and make minor changes in space and process that could have benefits of increased employee satisfaction and quality, while using less resources, time, and effort.
How do we do this? We implement Lean Lab Principles. Lean lab principles are derived from lean manufacturing and the 5S workplace organization methodology. These Lean principles can aid a laboratory in increasing speed, efficiency, quality and safety. The physical layout will affect how people work.
Going through this collaborative process you can improve the performance of your lab by improving flow and eliminating waste.
1. Sort – to get rid of unnecessary equipment or store it.
2. Straighten (or “Set in Order”) – Organize work areas for maximum efficiency by organizing tools & equipment to promote optimum work flows through minimizing movement. 3. Shine – Everything is cleaned and functioning properly. 4. Standardize – Develop a routine for sorting, setting and shining.� 5. Sustain–create a culture that follows the steps on a daily basis.
What makes one business unit mobile work ready, while another remains in fixed work traditions – within the same organization? This Pecha Kucha style, six minute and forty second presentation begins with the definition of cultural agility. Within the story is a lesson for all who are driving their organization to capitalize on today’s mobile workforces.
On a recent business trip to the University of Chicago, I took the opportunity while on campus to visit with Judith Nadler, Dean of University Libraries at UoC. We had a wonderful discussion about the evolving role of the library. Judi shared a fascinating diagram along with her thoughts on the degrees of change occurring within the library.
Sometimes metrics that matter are best captured on something other than a spreadsheet.
We are thinking about ways that we can make measures for organizational improvement associated with workplace change more effective by making them more visual. The idea is to help people see their work in order to understand it better and make quicker more tangible changes in their behavior, similar to the way a dancer, a diver, a tennis player or a golfer might use visualization to improve performance.
