Identify waste/improvements with sticky dots – Workshop Tip

Once we have mapped our current as-is process with the relevant employees or stakeholders, how do we now identify the areas of waste and improvement with sticky dots. Lets ask the people that do the job day in day out. Gather the main stakeholders in a room and give them all 5-10 red sticky dots and ask them to place the dots on the area that they feel is wasted effort/time or is a priority for improvement. This is done without discussion, as we dont want strong and vocal characters to lead the witness. This will ensure that all attendees get an equal vote and say, and you will end up with a fantastic visual showing you where the issues are, democratically decided by the guys who are in the trenches doing the job. There is no point taking direction and solutions from the board or CEO as they often don’t know what is really happening. There main role is to ensure that the project is supported and the outcome and change is implemented and sticks. 

This example shows the idea/process/discussion after voting. You will see that Task 4 and 5 are a priority for focus and improvement, with task 5 the next area of attack. It is important to understand why task 7 and 10 were also highlighted as areas for improvement, unpack these selections by spending some time discussing the tasks that have been identified to ascertain why people voted for them and that all attendees understood the task and what their vote meant.

Once all stakeholders are happy with the outcome, you will need to discuss how are we going to improve/change Task 4 and 5. Congratulations you are on the way to making a real impactful change in your process/way of working.

Sticky dots and posted notes are an easy, flexible, and cheap way of getting data from your employees, don’t overlook the importance of them

Next stop, coming up with the solutions!

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