The Transactional and Administrative Processes

Apply basic lean tools such as 5S and kanban in transactional and administrative processes.

Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic

My own lean journey exploded when I stepped into number 120. I had many years of practice with basic lean tools in the production environment, and many people still believe today that lean is a factory process. The initial challenge of seeing transactional and administrative processes through the same lens really challenges most.

By slowing down and following the information through the systems and identifying the decisions made with it along the way, I began to see the ‘steps in the process’ and could then notice the material and tools required to complete tasks more effectively.

As the inventory of information took shape, I began to notice the opportunities to apply kanban, to see the timing of decisions (or the lack of timing of decisions), the bottlenecks of decision making and the impact to transactional and administrative processes. When the dust finally settled, I could see the application of every tool I had experience in the production space, translated into the world of information and decision. I felt a great epiphany.

Translating the Transactional and Administrative Processes

Translating performance measures then becomes the next great challenge. The language of S, Q, D, P is so foreign to most office teams that broadening the interpretation of each was required, but that conversation is for another number and another day.

Today, we have come to understand that the opportunity in the administrative and transactional processes might be even greater than what we have recovered in the physical process world. The transition might be challenging, but I assure you every lean tool is applicable in the informational processes we most often fail to notice.