Daily Management Walks – a Primer

  

Don’t trust the report, dashboard or AI summary. Go see for yourself.

My friend & colleague, Martin, recently asked me about Daily Management Walks (DMW). I thought I’d share my thoughts with you all. DMWs are a key part of how managers deliver value.  Although they’re commonly associated with analogue industries (manufacturing, healthcare, construction), DMWs are as important in Digital industries like Tech & Financial Services.

The purpose of a daily management walk is threefold:

1) Show respect for the people doing the work,

2) Reinforce your core values & strategic direction, and

3) Confirm a good condition, both in terms of results & process execution (lagging & leading indicators, if you will). 

Show Respect for the People Doing the Work

Life is hard & people face great challenges holding things together. People who show up for work every day, ready & able to help our company meet the day’s challenges, and also to improve deserve our respect & recognition.

Mouthing cliches & feigning interest is not respectful. (‘Here comes the boss again, pretending she cares what we’re doing.’). Respect means checking on the team’s work & problems solving activity. Respect means observing several cycles or a given process & asking questions based on what you see.  ‘I noticed you were a bit behind when…’  ‘I saw a number of awkward postures…’  Would it not be easier if the work piece was a little higher when you…’

Whether you’re in an analogue or digital/virtual industry you need to understand the fundamentals of visual management, quality in the process, standardized work and ergonomics. It’s helpful if you can connect the work the team is doing with work of teams upstream or downstream, or with the ultimate customer. Core message: ‘You are part of a living breathing hole that is creating value for our customers.  We appreciate you & all your efforts. Thanks & please continue.’

Reinforce Core Values & Strategic Direction

Who are we? What do we believe in? These questions define our core values.

Where are we going? How do we get there? And these define our Aspiration & Winning Logic.

Leaders needs to articulate clear answers for themselves and then tirelessly reinforce the key points (without becoming tiresome.)

Core values must begin with People, and in particular, Health & Safety. As a Toyota manager I attended daily walks with the President, Mr. Watanabe, a person I still revere. He continually stopped to pick trash & other tripping hazards, not because anybody was watching, but because it reflected who he was & what he believed in. I remember thinking, ‘I want to be like him.’  I still do.

Here’s a clever way to measure strategic alignment: Ask ten people on the shop floor, ‘What is our company’s Purpose?’ and ‘What is our company’s winning logic?’ I recall a fine manufacturer in America’s Midwest whose team members could readily articulate the company’s aspiration (The Solution Provider) & winning logic (Speed, Cost, Innovation). The company remains as focused as a great sports team.

Confirm a Good Condition (both results & process)

Key checkpoints include output & process, informed by your strategic pillars (typically People, Quality, Delivery, Cost), and the Four M’s (Manpower, Methods, Machinery, Materials). ‘Results’ means: Are we winning or losing? ‘Process’ means: Is the process working as designed?  Do you see any evidence of waste, unevenness or physical/cognitive strain? (Muda, Mura, Muri for the cool kids).

Build a schedule that helps you touch each zone you manage. For example, if you are in charge of Zones 1 to 5, you might schedule your daily walks as follows: Monday: Zone 1; Tuesday: Zone 2; Wednesday…). In the same way, you can shift emphasis each week by, say, doing a deep dive on People in Week 1, Quality in Week 2, Delivery in Week 3 and Cost in Week 4. In other words, organize your DMWs so you cover the key checkpoints in a systematic way. 

It also makes sense to summarize key checkpoints on small cards (kamishibai for all you hipsters) and then use the cards to populate a visual schedule board. You can digitize all of this, of course, and there are intense debates in Lean circles about the pros & cons. I am an agnostic. I prefer analogue systems but working with multinationals I see the benefits of electronic systems than connect far-flung locations.

There you have it, Martin. Trust it is helpful & makes sense.

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis         E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

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