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Benefits of Comparing Lean/Kaizen with Agile/Scrum

April 14, 2022

Our previous article covered the benefits of comparing the DMAIC problem solving thought process with project management.  The key takeaway was DMAIC can be more effectively executed using “measure & plan” phase. Now let’s compare and contrast agile/scrum with lean/kaizen.  While agile…

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Achieving Lean by Identifying Forms of Waste

April 14, 2022

Our previous article compared agile/scrum with lean/kaizen and revealed several similar fundamentals that helped make each methodology easier to understand. Since the objective of lean and agile is waste reduction, we also want to identify and eliminate various forms of…

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Minimizing Waste and Task Management

October 19, 2021

Our previous article identified several forms of waste, specific to completing tasks, as detailed by the following table: Keep in mind, by focusing on tasks, this table assumes several things: a project selection process that ensures the project is valuable…

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Fundamentals of Applying a Structured Approach

October 19, 2021

In reviewing several previous articles in this article series, it’s apparent there is much in common with product development, project management and process improvement. Let’s look at a brief list that considers a structured approach vs. unstructured While this list is…

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Tiered Meetings Structure Enables Production Oversight & Support

October 19, 2021

A complex production process requires a mixture of leadership, governance and management. In this article, we’ll discuss a tiered meetings structure that can effectively enable this. Empowerment, escalation paths, accountability and responsibility are included as some key ingredients. We’ll start…

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Demystifying Business Requirements

October 19, 2021

In a previous article, we compared and contrasted the definition of a requirement, with a ‘story’, which is used in agile/scrum. In that article, we stated: “requirements and stories establish a clear understanding of customer needs in the context of desired functionality”. What…

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Who called this meeting, anyway?

October 19, 2021

Often, when the completion of a task or deliverable is needed, a meeting is a good way to establish mutual understanding of the way forward. With many resources working remote these days, effective meetings are taking on even greater importance. An…

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