The 5 S  are the 5 pillars of the Visual Workplace

Quote: Like a mirror, the shop floor does not lie.

The 1st Pillar: Organisation(loose translation of Seiri)

Organisation means clearly distinguishing between (1) what is needed & to be kept and (2) what is unneeded to be discarded.

In the clerical division, we must target all unnecessary paper work, along with superfluous desks, lockers & the like.

Eliminate everything that is no longer necessary

When in doubt, throw it out. It means leaving only the bare essentials. It demands boldness & ruthlessness in discarding unnecessary items.

The 2nd Pillar: Orderliness (loose translation of Seiton)

Orderliness means organising the way needed things are kept so that anyone can find & use them easily.

The key word in this definition is “anyone”.

Signboards are the vital tools of Orderliness. There should be no “searching waste”.

In other words, “A place for everything & everything in its place.” This leads to visual control.

The 3rd Pillar:Cleanliness (Loose translation of Seisoh)

Cleanliness means sweeping floors & keeping things in order.

The basics are simply sweeping floors & wiping off machinery.

The 4th Pillar: Standardised Cleanup (loose translation of Seiketsu)

Standardised cleanup means that Organisation, Orderliness & Cleanliness are being maintained.

The 5th Pillar: Discipline(loose translation of Shitsuke)

Discipline means always following specified (& standardised procedures). Making a habit of properly maintaining correct procedures.

CEO

• Do you have a mission statement?
• What is your core ideology? (keeping customer in mind) & (keeping your frequently practised beliefs in mind)
• What do you want to be in the next 5 years? (envisioned future)
• What is your core competence?
• What is your method for enhancing core competence?
• What is your quality policy?
• How do you keep improving your competitive position?
• What is your business?
• Who is the customer?
• What does the customer consider value?
• How many hours do you spend everyday searching for information?

Sales

• How many items have you sold in the past year?
• How many customers do you have?
• How do you arrive at the selling price of your product?
• How do go about procuring orders?
• How do you make an invoice?
• How do you calculate your debtors?
• Which is your most (& least) profitable product?
• How do you review your existing selling prices?
• How do you monitor C form collections?
• How many phone calls do customers make everyday?
• What are their typical questions?
• Who answers customers?
• How many hours do you spend everyday searching for information?

Stores & Inventory

• What is your ROL/ROQ & when do you change it?
• How do you tally your stocks?
• What things do you consider before making a GRN?
• What is the value of your inventory?
• What processes are in place to monitor/reduce the inventory?
• How many hours do you spend everyday searching for information?

PPC (Production Planning & Control)

• When do you actually start producing on a machine?
• When do you actually order any raw material?
• Do you have a real-time “shortage” list of raw materials?
• Do you know how old an order is?
• What is your inventory of orders?
• How do you choose your supplier for outward freight?
• How do you ensure that you produce exactly the quantity planned?
• How many different products does a single raw material go into?
• How do you arrive at the “promised date” for any order?
• How many hours do you spend everyday searching for information?

Accounts & Finance

• What is your P&L format?
• How do you calculate the “yield analysis”?

Personnel

• Exactly, how many employees do you have?
• Exactly, how many employees do you have department-wise?
• What is their CTC?
• What is the CTC department-wise?
• How do you maintain leave records?
• How do you calculate the salaries to be paid each month?
• How many hours do you spend everyday searching for information?

Do employees  say “yes” to the following :

• I know what is expected of me at work.
• I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right.
• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
• In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
• There is someone at work who encourages my development.
• At work, my opinions seem to count.
• The mission/purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
• My fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
• I have a best friend at work.
• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn & grow.

Show me &  I may remember

Involve me, &  I will understand.

Socrates said that the unexamined life was not worth living. An individual has to constantly challenge accepted precepts, conventions & beliefs in order to improve.

Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. A set of behaviours on the part of the coach that helps the client develop a new way of seeing, feeling about & behaving in situations that are defined by the client as problematic.

Coaches do not advise clients; the client has the answers. The modern coach asks killer questions & it is up to the client to come up with the answers & accompanying action plan. Coaching helps people to help themselves, whatever their chosen goals may be. It helps them do better than their bestest. The coach is primarily reliant on the resources, the intelligence, creativity & intuition of other people. The coach should get people thinking, not to guide, instruct or suggest. Coaches lead the way to a “learning organisation”- in other words, one capable of adapting to change through the continuous acquisition of learning & knowledge. Coaches help to bridge the gap between human potential & actual performance.

Coaches come from a variety of backgrounds & disciplines. Some have no industry-specific qualifications at all. Some business coaches are driven by business needs & processes, while others are motivated by life’s “bigger picture” & a desire to reform individuals & businesses. Coaches are often thieves, who have borrowed ideas from others.

Coaching is a consolidation & amalgamation of many fields & the integrative thinking of great pioneers.

Even high-powered chief executives say it is lonely at the top. Everyone, it seems, needs a coach.

Good coaches have an extraordinary ability “to see into men’s souls”, to get to the very heart of the issue in question, to challenge & enlighten. A good coach helps people liberate themselves from their fears. They help unlock the unlimited potential that most individuals possess. They help create awareness & self-responsibility in the person being coached. Coaches are passionate about how to get the best out of people.

Highly talented sports persons also have a coach. The coach sees more opportunities.

A mentor  has a profound respect for youth, sees potential in individuals that they or others cannot recognise. He is a wise but economical counsellor, a good listener & a friend. Mentors give advise & make expert recommendations; they bring personal experience to bear; they are usually but not always unpaid; they ask insightful questions; they listen carefully; are empathetic; are generous of spirit & time; help bring about self-awareness.

Mentoring can be one of the most important relationships an individual can have in early adult life. The mentor, ordinarily several years older, with greater experience & seniority in the world the protege is entering, serves variously as teacher, sponsor, adviser & model.

A good mentor has wisdom, a low ego & a determination to ensure that the person they are mentoring succeeds.

One can think of one’s mentor as  one’s personal board of directors.

Contact:
chandarora@chandarora.com
manisha@chandarora.com

I am serving as CEO & MD of a limited listed company for 27 years. I now work as a mentor for the same company with fewer responsibilities. This start-up is a labour of love.

What I  Do

I create content on management & social knowledge. The articles are brief, interesting & lucid.

For Who I Do

The company executive.

How I Do

I read extensively & select portions that  explain issues, facts & ideas. I edit & post such content on my Website.

Vision

To create a site that adds value to a company executive by providing a ready guide, 24×7, to ideas & facts on management & social knowledge. I want to   give him the ability to “talk beyond that which is necessary to the purposes of actual business”.

How am I  different

A. My domain is management ideas & social knowledge. The content will not digress from these topics.

B. Large selection of management ideas & rich content of social knowledge.

C. Information available 24×7.

D. Inexpensive

E. Good English

Critical skills

I have read & selected articles since the past 15 years. I have extensive management experience & have led diverse people. I have faced myriad management problems & looked for innovative solutions. I have been reading & comparing the ideas with my work experience. I have lived the ideas. They have helped me. I can judge what an executive wants to know.

USP

Relevant & rich information for the executive made available 24×7 at cheap prices.

The articles are meant to whet the appetite for ideas & knowledge. The generic competition are: books, trainers, newspapers, magazines, DVDs. None of these are inexpensive nor available 24×7. The world wide net is difficult to navigate with too many “hits” to choose from.

Competitive Landscape

To the best of my knowledge, there is no similar service in the market. A business executive who does not read books will find this site an easy way to update his knowledge, and the executive who does read extensively, will find the site useful as a quick reference point. He has access to the site 24×7.