No Time To Waste
by LeanTeams
- On Purpose
- On Process
- On People
- Issue #11 — 29 OCT 2025 (2-min read)
On Purpose: Understanding customer needs (VOC)
Customers can be internal or external.
Lean starts by defining value in their words and then designing work to deliver it consistently.
Capture the Voice of the Customer (VOC) in plain language (needs, expectations, and outcomes), translate it into a few measurable requirements, and review them where the work happens.
Voice of the customer (VOC) means the expressed requirements and expectations of customers… documented and disseminated to the organization’s members
On Process: Working with Takt Time
Takt time is the pace you must meet to satisfy demand.
Available time ÷ customer demand.
It creates a common beat across roles, highlighting where capacity or stability is short.
Start by calculating TAKT for your key product/service, then compare to actual cycle time at each step.
If a step can’t meet takt, stabilise flow (standard work, smaller batches, WIP limits), rebalance work, or add flexible capacity.
Use takt to size teams, level work, and expose bottlenecks before customers feel them.
Takt time is the available production time divided by customer demand… the heartbeat of a lean production system
Leader’s Task of the Week
Pick one service/product stream. Calculate TAKT (e.g., 360 mins available / 120 orders = 3 min per order). Walk the process: record current cycle time per step vs. takt; flag any step > takt. Decide one countermeasure at the worst step (rebalance work, reduce setup, standardise, or cap WIP). Post the chart (takt vs. cycle) on the team board; review daily for a week and tune.
On People: Sharing Lean success stories internally
Stories spread improvement faster than slide decks.
Share short, specific wins that show how a change improved the customer experience (fewer issues, faster delivery) or made it easier for the team to deliver that value (clearer standards, less WIP).
Use your daily meeting to share the problem, the experiment, the result, and the next step.
Pair storytelling with psychological safety so people will share problems and lessons
Daily management systems tap visual elements that expose problems…” (so teams can learn and improve)
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