No Time To Waste
by LeanTeams
- On Purpose
- On Process
- On People
- Issue #23 — 11 FEB 2026 (2-min read)
On Purpose: Customer Value
Lean purpose starts with what customers actually value (quality, lead time, reliability, experience), expressed in their words.
Translate VOC into Customer Critical Requirements (CCRs) and measurable outcomes.
Use them as a decision filter: if a task doesn’t move a CCR, it’s local optimisation.
Start with the customer and work backward
On Process: Map value vs. non-value
Walk one flow from request → delivery.
Mark steps that change the thing or inform the customer as value-add; everything else is waste or necessary non-value.
Capture lead time, touch time, queues, rework, and handoffs—then remove the biggest obstacles to the CCRs.
Flow where you can, pull where you must
On People: Voice of the customer embedded in teams
Bring the customer into the room:
Relate customer feedback at daily meetings, use actual calls / WhatsApp video clips / tickets raised, and let teams witness the customer experience.
Tie recognition to customer outcomes, not internal effort.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer
Leader’s Task of the Week
30-minute VOC→CCR reset: Write your one-line customer promise.
List 3 CCRs (e.g., on-time, first-time-right, lead time).
For each, name a metric, owner, and weekly review.
Drop one metric that doesn’t prove value.
Upcoming Workshops & Events
Join our upcoming sessions to deepen your Lean knowledge and network.
Lean Business Simulation
New to Lean?Learn the principles and basic tools on our one day training experience.See how a process can be transformed with the application of Lean Thinking.
- Location: Dublin
- Date: Tue March 10th
- Time : 1pm
- Popular
LEAN PRACTITIONER
Apply Lean thinking in 12 weeks. Start with our Lean Business Simulation on February 10th in Dublin.
- Location: Dublin
- Starts: February 10th 2026
- Format: Classrooms, Workshops, 1-1 Mentoring
- Featured
UK Lean Summit 2026
- Premium
- Location: Liverpool
- Date: 28th - 30th April, 2026
- Detail: The summit features a full day of the usual high-quality content, bookended by NEW and exclusive Lean Practice Days at Toyota UK’s Burnaston and Deeside plants. In particular, you’ll learn and apply the Lean Transformation Framework (LTF) Diagnostic and see firsthand how Toyota works across the five dimensions of the LTF.
Connect & Share
Help us spread the Lean mindset. Know a manager who’d benefit? Forward this.