Daily Management is a “survival” factor in these complex times – and it works even remotely

The current times of crisis have been teaching us – sometimes suddenly and painfully – some lessons that are already, and will be increasingly, important for the survival of companies. One of them is certainly about one of the essentials of the lean system, which is Daily Management (DM).

Put very simply and directly, DM has never been as important for companies as it is in today's day-to-day, increasingly permeated by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity – the already famous, and why not recall it, “VUCA world”.

In this delicate context, in which “annual strategic plans” and decisions made for the “long term” have already gone (or will still go) into the trash can, it has never been so necessary to make quick decisions and correct course at the various levels of the organization. And to do so consciously, scientifically, with quality and wisdom, understanding precisely the causes and consequences of what is done.

All of this can happen if everyday management is based on Daily Management. It is therefore essential to reinforce our knowledge of this essential concept, which in companies' day-to-day turns into basic lean management practices and which, even in this context of social isolation and remote work, needs to be maintained.

The foundation of Daily Management can be summed up in a single, very pragmatic sentence, though one not so simple to put into practice: in companies' daily routine, DM means identifying problems, finding the root causes, defining the countermeasures and thus resolving “now” or “today” the deviations that occur in organizations.

The implicit idea is simple, but not so easy to implement. It is to create conditions, by changing mindsets, behaviors and structures, so that people seek to solve problems immediately, as soon as they occur. That way, problems do not perpetuate themselves, nor do they grow or multiply, causing rework and losses for everyone.

For this to happen, it is necessary to promote changes in companies that are sometimes profound.

For example, all work teams need to create precise, clear “visual controls” over the activities and deliverables they carry out every day. This “visual management”, as we call it in the lean system, should show whether the work being done is happening as it was designed. Otherwise, it should show what the problems are and how they can be solved. Only then will it be possible to immediately identify failures and seek to adopt solutions.

For this to happen in practice, an essential element of Daily Management is needed: the “help chain”.

In practical terms, it means that when people identify, in their daily work, a problem that they cannot solve alone, with effort and autonomy, they will have to trigger their “help chain”.

That is, someone or some “system” that can help them seek and implement the necessary solution: their immediate leader, a support area or the process manager, for example. This “chain” needs to be structured, named and defined so as to act quickly in these cases.

If the problem is too complex to be solved during the day through this “chain”, it will appear as a deviation that occurred during that shift and should be discussed by the team of that work area in the DM.

These meetings, which are the foundation of “Daily Management”, should be quick, between 10 and 15 minutes, always at the same time. And this will be the daily “standard” meeting for discussing failures and the solutions to be implemented.

It is important to stress, as already mentioned, that in all these processes and structures, the essence of the mindset that should guide those involved must be the same: to solve “now” or, at the latest, “today” the problems that afflict organizations.

Those who already put these DM concepts, practices and structures “into action” know how powerful this is. Large, medium-sized and even small companies that already use it see, in practice, how this process unites and develops teams and thereby eliminates waste, reduces costs, generates innovation, increases productivity and boosts quality, profits and results.

Hence the question pertinent to our times: is it possible to implement, or even keep, Daily Management running in the current context of remote work?

The answer is absolutely “yes”. DM can perfectly well be applied and maintained remotely.

How, then, can this be done? Of course, some adaptations are and will be necessary. Essentially, the DM operating model consists of seven elements, which, in summary, are:

• 1 What is the problem DM needs to address, its purpose and its connection with the strategy?
  
  
• 2 What is the history of the indicators that will be monitored?
  
  
• 3 How do people need to get involved, and what are the roles and responsibilities in the meetings?
  
  
• 4 What do they need to monitor and control daily (the heart of DM)?
  
  
• 5 What do they do and/or should they do when a problem occurs, and which help chain should be involved?
  
  
• 6 What standards need to be used in these processes?
  
  
• 7 How should the problem-solving system work?

These seven elements, once understood and assimilated by everyone, can be applied, disseminated and used in organizations' daily routines, on boards displayed on walls or made available through sharing software. In this way, they can be accessed, understood and effectively used by everyone in the company, wherever they are.

Likewise, the daily Daily Management meetings can also take place remotely (for example, on the digital conferencing platforms many people are already using).

The most important thing, whether in person or remotely, is to maintain the essence of DM: based on visual management, identifying problems and seeking their solution in a structured way, as immediately as possible.

Large companies, such as banks, software companies and carriers, with teams distributed across several units, sometimes very far from one another, have been using this kind of remote Daily Management for a long time, even before the pandemic. And possibly many more will use even hybrid models in a scenario where, for example, part of the team meets in person and part is remote.

Another fundamental factor for DM to achieve its goals concerns people's behavior: they should be encouraged to adopt a much more proactive attitude. The team must have the capabilities to go after solutions to the deviations that occur in their work processes. And, of course, it will be necessary to establish a “new culture” so that they do not feel intimidated or afraid, either of trying to solve problems on their own or of seeking help when they feel powerless to solve them.

For all of this to work in practice, the role of leaders has always been fundamental. And it is even more fundamental in the current context of crisis.

Thus, in Daily Management, the leader's role is different from the traditional one. It is to encourage people to reveal and solve problems. Leaders do this in various ways: asking questions in the right way, setting challenges, teaching and spreading lessons already learned… but always based on respect for the person and aiming more to “support” than to “command”.

In a context of daily uncertainty, it has become indispensable for every organization to understand problems and the necessary changes quickly and precisely, to identify real deviations the moment they happen and to make quick decisions based on in-depth facts and data. In short, to manage the company in “short cycles”, with the energy of everyone on the front line, using Daily Management. This is today a factor of survival and a fundamental preparation for the future.