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Hospitals and McDonald’s don’t seem to have much in common, but both establishments are conquering chaos by changing the way they communicate. Instead of using lots of words and text, they are sharing information with signs, noises, colors, and other cues. This technique, called Visual Management, makes communicating simple, clear, and quick.
What is Visual Management?
Visual Management is the practice of using visual (and audible) signals to communicate. Communications should be easily understood by all, encourage quick decision-making, enable waste identification, and provide status updates.
There are two types of Visual Management:
- Display – visual displays are intended to provide information and status updates (e.g. number of errors per month, weekly sales results)
- Control – visual controls are intended to change someone’s behavior (e.g. stop signs, walk and stand lanes on escalators, shadow-boards with outlines for tools, trash cans and recycling bins)
Visual Management In Action
McDonald’s
Next time you stop at a McDonald’s, take notice with what’s happening all around you. There are beeps, lights, signs, and other signals that indicate things like how to place an order and when the fries are crispy, golden brown.
Instead of reading long descriptions on a printed menu, there is a large sign for everyone to see that has pictures and numbers, which makes ordering quick and easy.
McDonald’s adopted the Lean philosophy in the late ’80s and changed the face of how Lean can be utilized – no longer just for manufacturing, but for service industries, too. Today, McDonald’s reports that Lean techniques such as Visual Management have boosted productivity and provided a competitive advantage. (Source: Lean In Service Industry)
Hospitals
The Fransician Alliance Hospital of Indiana joined industry leaders such as the Cleaveland Clinic to standardize uniform colors. Unit clerks now wear khaki, medical assistants wear wine, and nurses wear midnight blue. After implementing these visual signals, the hospital found that patients are no longer confused about caregiver roles, thus improving communication and their overall experience.
“Lean Hospitals,” a book by Mark Graban, also describes multiple examples of utilizing Visual Management in a healthcare setting. He mentions a radiology department in a children’s hospital where kids would go for imaging such as MRIs. Some kids would require two imaging procedures to be performed during a single appointment. This information wasn’t clear to staff or patient families, so children were often sent home after only completing one imaging procedure. This caused a lot of waste and frustration as appointments needed to be rescheduled and patients had to return for another visit.
The front office staff thought of a solution using Visual Management. Now when a child has multiple imaging procedures, the staff clips on two color coded cards to their shirt. This gives a clear indicator to the staff that the patient needs to have a second procedure.
How Can You Use Visual Management?
Visual Management can be used by anyone and in any industry. It is designed to make the control and management of an organization as simple as possible.
Consider the following examples that could be used in your workplace:
- Flag specific tasks, statuses, or emails with a color.
- Use shadow boards and outlines for tools and equipment.
- Set triggers and alerts for issues.
- Use labeled bins and folders.
- Create a task board with categories (e.g. To Do, Doing, Done).
- Create reports with red, yellow, and green colors for quick status summaries.
- Consider your customers and how you communicate with them (e.g. easy website navigation, signs to direct people where to go, etc.)
- Put a flag in each inventory supply when it’s time to reorder. When the supply gets low, someone will see the flag and place an order.
- Add pictures to work instructions.
