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The Kaizen approach: 6 steps to

continuous improvement

By Ricardo Singh • Updated: May 20, 2020, first publication: April 2020

Table of contents

Are you familiar with the Kaizen approach?

Known for being a quality management, collaboration, and continuous improvement tool, the Kaizen approach
advocates progressive change management in a business, while limiting risks.

More efficient, more productive, more competent... We are constantly pushed to be better while going to the
essential. This can be quite a challenge!

There are two schools of thought for this: radical change or continuous improvement. The fast track or the slow
track. Pressure or experimentation. The Kaizen method, in the second category, is appreciated in process
management for its reassuring side, supervised and not rushed, with the perspective of a soft but constant
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evolution.

From productivity to well-being at work, we will explain how this managerial technique works. And, perhaps you Enhance Productivity with the
will want to try it? Continual Improvement Process

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What is the Lean Startup

A short history of the Kaizen approach Methodology? Basic principles

A true Japanese development philosophy, kaizen is composed of two words, kai 改, and zen 善 which means
"change" and "better". Work Smarter : the Appvizer newsletter

Also known as the small-step work improvement approach, or the method of continuous improvement, the New trends and tips to be more efficient at work,
Kaizen approach was developed in the United States under the Training With Industry (TWI) program, set up by in your mailbox.
consultants (including W. Edwards Deming) under the supervision of General MacArthur, to help the Japanese industry
recover after World War II. Email Subscribe

Masaaki Imai made the term famous in 1986 with his book “Kaizen: The Key to Japan's competitive success”.
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Initially implemented in the industrial sector, it was used for lean manufacturing, a management approach to
reduce waste and increase profits. monday.com
The most intuitive platform to manage
Today, the Kaizen approach is used in all industries: it is referred to as lean management or agile management projects and teamwork
which aims to improve a company's performance by involving all employees.
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 DiliTrust Governance
The approach, therefore, requires a corporate culture adapted to this philosophy, and sometimes even guidance to
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change. and committees
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RationalPlan
Collaboration “Be careful not to HR
Organization confuse Accounting
the Kaizen approach
Sales with the
Marketing IT Communication BIProject Business
and Portfolio Management the
sector
Easy Way
Kaizen workshop, or kaizen blitz, or kaikaku (reform), which is
used for major changes in a production system, a
reengineering.”

Personal and professional development

The Kaizen approach is increasingly used for personal development. Moreover, it is a vital tool for people who fear
failure, abrupt changes, and frustration. They can use this approach to help learn a foreign language without putting
pressure on themselves, quit smoking little by little and even overcome their shyness.

© Pi nte re st

The 5 elements of the Kaizen approach

The Kaizen approach consists of 5 founding elements :

teamwork,
personal discipline,
improved morale,
quality circles,
suggestions for improvement.

“Chi va piano va sano ! (Slowly but surely!)”

“One step at a time!”

The strategic objectives

Toyota has been using the Kaizen approach since it was created, it is the best ambassador of the approach and the
use it to improve processes, tools, and skills to :

optimize:

productivity,
 safety (reduce risks),
quality,
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deadlines,
costs,
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working conditions,

value collective intelligence and decompartmentalize skills,

reduce waste ( to improve inventory management).

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Why implement the Kaizen approach?

The benefits of the Kaizen approach

Are you afraid to step out of your comfort zone? Then, the Kaizen approach is an ideal solution for you! It can be
used to :

set up new habits with minimal effort,

simplify workflows and task management by breaking down an objective into sub-objectives that are easier to
achieve,
reduce stress:

setbacks are accepted better because there are fewer consequences and they are less time-consuming,
progress is clearer, with a path filled with as many successes as sub-objectives,

improve estimates of costs and time frames,

eliminate risk factors due to overly ambitious and outdated forecasts,
value and motivate employees at their workstation.

See also
What is the Lean Startup Methodology? Basic principles

Streamline Your Processes in 5 Steps with DMAIC

In short, the Kaizen approach improves the feasibility of a project and the morale of the teams!

The drawbacks

We are more creative without stress. But adopting an improvement process that is too gradual can be a barrier to
breakthrough innovation. Indeed, this requires making "leaps" forward from time to time and reactivity that is
incompatible with the time constraints of continuous improvement.
As a result, Toyota has set aside the Kaizen approach for the manufacturing of its autonomous vehicles. Gill Pratt,
CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, explained :
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“At Toyota, Kaizen or Continuous Improvement, is at the heart
Collaboration of everything we do.
Organization HRIt remains the foundation
Accounting Salesand one of our
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biggest strengths. However, in these unprecedented times,
we need additional approaches. In this particular domain, it’s
simply not enough to only take small steps. You have to take
leaps, which often results in failure. If you are lucky, after you
have the courage to keep on failing again and again, you
suddenly succeed.”

However, an innovative company can still use the Kaizen approach to review internal administrative procedures,
routine projects. They can even integrate it into the management of an innovative project by combining several
methods, depending on the tasks, flexibility and reactivity they require.

How to use the Kaizen approach

Here is a video that explains how the Kaizen approach works:

What is Kaizen - The Lean Experts' Answer

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The 6 steps of the Kaizen approach

identify an opportunity, an objective for improvement,

explore new ideas by consulting with your employees,
break the objective down into sub-objectives or deliverables,
plan the tasks for each sub-objective, without overlapping human and material resources or timeframes,
test, monitor progress and adapt the schedule,
move on to the next objective.

Methods that can be combined with the Kaizen approach

Many different approaches are used to break down projects, plan tasks, find the causes of problems, manage
resources and monitor progress.

Among them (non-exhaustive list) :

the Deming wheel (or PDCA cycle, Plan - Do - Check - Act/Adjust, to test new processes in 4 steps),
TQM (total quality management) tools,
the 5 W’s method (Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?),
the 5 M’s (Ishikawa diagram) and the 5 P’s (for a search for the causes of problems),
the 5 S's (to improve a workspace; in Japanese: Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, Shitsuke or Clear the space of the
superfluous, Tidy, Clean, Standardize, Progress),
the Six Sigma (a management method aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of processes filed by
Motorola),
the WBS method (Work Breakdown Structure),
the critical chain (CCPM or Critical Chain Project Management),
the Adaptive Project Framework (APF),
the Kanban board (visual method based on the just-in-time method, to provide key information in a just-in-time
manner).
Choose the right tool
With a new generation of software
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improve your processes and continuous improvement.

Collaboration Organization HR Accounting Sales Marketing IT Communication BI Business sector

Thanks to the real-time collection of production data, or taking into account feedback from project managers, these
IT solutions are constantly improving and adapting to the needs of their users.

In addition, unlike on-premise software installed in workstations and requires purchasing updates, cloud solutions are
constantly evolving with technological improvements.

Many solutions are adapted to task management (Asana, Trello, and monday.com) and offer functionalities that are
in line with the Kaizen philosophy:

priority management,
roadmap,
incident management,
dashboards,
monitoring the profitability of projects…

There is also software dedicated to internal communication (Slack and Yammer) and idea management
(Brightidea).

See also
6 tips to improve your internal communication

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Step-by-step progress to meet your goals

What do you think, are you Kaizen-minded?

The well-beingSearch softwaredepends

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There are many existing methods; choose the ones that fit your corporate culture and that have been proven to work
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in your teams. And why not combine them to meet special, continuous or short-term needs?

For several years now, appvizer has been improving the daily life of teams and managers by using the right tools.

Check out our articles and reviews and let us know what you think. This is the way to continuous improvement!

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