Employee Participation and Work Simplification
Knowledge of the work itself is crucial to improving the work.  The people who do the work are the best source of that knowledge.  So we recommend that employees participate in work improvement.

 In addition to knowledge of the work, it is necessary to approach work improvement with fresh perspectives.  Therefore, knowledge of the work alone is not sufficient.  The two ingredients that combine to produce outstanding improvements are:

1. Knowledge of the work.
2. Fresh perspectives for accomplishing the work.

Read the complete paper... (246K PDF)

Musing

What is 'Work Simplification'?
Chances are you haven't heard of it.  But from the 1930s into the 1980s, 'work simplification' was what many excellent organizations were calling their process-focused improvement work.  IBM, Ford, TI, Maytag, Standard Register, John Deere, Remington Rand, US Air Force, Republic Steel and Caterpillar were just a few of the organizations with work simplification programs.  Work Simplification is defined as 'the organized application of common sense' or, more completely, 'the organized application of common sense by everyone to eliminate waste of any kind - wasted time, energy, space, material, equipment, etc.'  Work simplification includes a number of tools, but the most powerful is the process chart.

Allan Mogensen, the Father of Work Simplification, points out in his autobiography, "In order to achieve measurement, tools are needed and the most important of these is the process chart.…Once a process chart has been drawn up, common sense is all that is needed to improve efficiency and better the process being examined.…The process chart then, is the lifeblood of work simplification. It is an irreplaceable tool. It is a guide and stimulant. It takes time to properly utilize but there is absolutely no doubt that it works."¹

Today, you are more likely to hear of reengineering, BPI, Six Sigma and Lean, all of which have roots in work simplification.  All contribute new thinking to process improvement.  But, somewhere along the line, the valuable process chart was either discarded or replaced with high-level program flowcharts.  Hopefully, more folks will rediscover that 'irreplaceable tool' and take advantage of the value it can add to any process improvement methodology.

If you have comments or thoughts you would like to share with our readers, send them to: Here's a thought...

On the Road to Mastery

Business Process Improvement Workshops 
Two public workshops have now been scheduled for next year in Dayton, OH...   If you are serious about developing your process improvement skills quickly, join us at one of these hands-on workshops where you will draw process maps, participate in a role-playing analysis session and be involved in discussion and exercises that address all the phases of an improvement project.

Register by December 31 for either workshop to receive the earlybird special rate of $995.00 (a $200.00 discount) -Call 800-628-9558 today to reserve your seat.

US Workshop schedule   ...Overview

Software
Did you know that Graham Process Mapping Software is the only process mapping software that was designed specifically to capture the multiple flows of a business process?  How many significant processes can you think of that use only ONE form or ONE email OR one database OR ONE report...you get the picture.  If you use Graham Process Mapping Software, you'll see all of the items and how they relate to each other.  If you would like to try out the best process mapping software available, you can download a fully-functional 30-day evaluation copy here:

Graham Process Mapping 7.0

If you are using Graham Process Mapping 7.0, open the About window and click on 'Check for Updates'.  This will take you to the Updates page where you can download the latest update.

Reading
Mark McGregor has recently assembled a fine collection of his process-related articles as an eBook, 'Winning at Enterprise Process Management".  You can receive a free copy by registering at www.tinyurl.com/y4ncez

I wish you the best with your process work.

Ben B. Graham
ben.graham@worksimp.com

1 Allan H. Mogensen with Rosario “Zip” Rausa, Mogy: An Autobiography (Idea Associates, 1989), 44–46.