tech·nic·al·ly agile class·i·fic·at·ion

Lean Thinking: Streamlining Workflows to Maximise Customer Value

Optimise value delivery, eliminate waste, and foster continuous improvement through customer-focused workflows and sustainable process innovation.

Applying Lean principles to reduce waste and improve efficiency in workflows.

Image
https://nkdagility.com/resources/lean-thinking/

Overview

Lean Thinking focuses on maximising value by minimising waste within organisational processes. It emphasises the importance of understanding customer needs and aligning workflows to deliver products and services that meet those needs efficiently. By applying Lean principles, teams can identify non-value-adding activities, streamline operations, and enhance overall productivity. This approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging teams to experiment, learn, and adapt their processes over time.

Lean Thinking is not merely about cutting costs; it is about creating a sustainable system that supports long-term value delivery. It enables teams to respond swiftly to changing market demands while maintaining high quality and customer satisfaction. By integrating Lean practices, organisations can achieve greater predictability in their delivery cycles, reduce lead times, and improve collaboration across cross-functional teams. This systemic approach empowers individuals at all levels to contribute to process enhancements, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement that drives innovation and resilience. Lean Thinking ultimately transforms how organisations operate, ensuring they remain competitive and responsive in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Learn More about Lean Thinking

Signals

Toyota "andon" cord lets any worker stop production to fix defects

Explains how true quality improvement needs both tools and a culture of safety, using Toyota’s andon cord as a lesson for Agile and Scrum adoption in organisations.
Tags

Value Stream Mapping

Visualising workflows to identify inefficiencies and optimise value delivery.
    Tags

    Lead Time

    Measuring the time from work initiation to customer delivery, helping teams monitor workflow efficiency and improve value delivery.
    Signals

    Why Tracking Individual Cycle Time Distorts Team Behaviour

    Tracking individual cycle time can harm team performance by encouraging task cherry-picking, reduced collaboration, and lower quality, without improving overall delivery speed.
    Blog

    Why Measuring Individual Cycle Time is Killing Your Flow (And What to Do Instead)

    Measuring individual cycle time in Kanban misleads teams, hides real bottlenecks, and harms flow. Focus on system-wide metrics like PCE, WIP, and throughput instead.
    Tags

    Scaling

    Coordinate multiple teams to deliver complex products while preserving agility. Focus on alignment, flow, and value delivery across the enterprise using lean principles and adaptive product structures.
    Videos

    Stop Starting and Start Finishing: The Key to Team Success

    Multitasking reduces team productivity. Learn how focusing on finishing tasks, limiting work in progress, and value-based prioritisation boosts efficiency and business value.
    Videos

    Mastering Kanban: Creating a Pull-Based System for Workflow Efficiency

    Learn how Kanban’s pull-based system boosts workflow efficiency by visualising tasks, setting WIP limits, managing bottlenecks, and enabling continuous process improvement.
    Signals

    Understanding Blocked Columns and Stalled Work in Project Boards

    Explains why using blocked columns for stalled tasks on project boards harms workflow, and suggests better ways to highlight and address blocked work without losing progress.
    Signals

    Why Measuring Individual Cycle Time Fails to Help Teams

    Measuring individual cycle time overlooks team performance and system bottlenecks. Focus on lead time, throughput, and process efficiency to improve workflow.
    Videos

    Embrace Kaizen: Unlocking Continuous Improvement for Personal and Team Success

    Explains how adopting Kaizen’s continuous improvement approach can enhance personal growth, team collaboration, and process optimisation in work and daily life.
    Videos

    The Power of Kaizen: Continuous Improvement in Scrum and Beyond

    Explains how Kaizen’s continuous improvement principles enhance Scrum and Agile teams, with practical tips for retrospectives, workflow optimisation, and team culture.
    Signals

    At the end of the day, Kanban is about improving flow

    Kanban focuses on improving workflow by removing bottlenecks and constraints, reducing work in progress, and increasing process efficiency—not by overworking people.
    Workshops

    The Importance of Batch to Optimise Flow

    Discover more about The Importance of Batch to Optimise Flow and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
    Guides

    Kanban Guide

    Discover more about Kanban Guide and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
    Videos

    Why Limiting Work in Progress is Key to Success in Kanban

    Limiting work in progress in Kanban helps teams focus, spot bottlenecks, maintain quality, and deliver value efficiently by ensuring a sustainable, manageable workflow.
    Videos

    3 core practices of Kanban. Improving a workflow.

    Learn how to improve Kanban workflows by identifying blockages, reducing waiting times, and making continuous changes to boost efficiency and value delivery in your process.
    Videos

    Unlocking Success: The Essential Role of Product Ownership in Lean Product Delivery

    Explores how effective product ownership and lean delivery drive alignment, collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement in modern product development teams.
    Videos

    Unlocking Success: How Lean Product Development Transforms Decision-Making and Value Creation

    Explores how lean product development improves decision-making, reduces risk, and increases value by focusing on customer needs and efficient product ownership practices.
    Videos

    Navigating the Balance: How Lean Governance Can Boost Agility and Innovation in Your Organisation

    Explores how lean governance reduces unnecessary processes, enabling organisations to stay agile, meet compliance, and foster innovation without excess bureaucracy.
    Course

    Applying Professional Kanban (APK) Course with Certification

    Revolutionize Your Team’s Performance with Kanban: Join our Immersion Training Course for a deep, practical dive into Kanban principles, designed to seamlessly integrate into your work life and foster continuous improvement and real-world application. Transform the way you deliver value today!
    Course

    Practicing Kanban Using Azure Boards

    All software development teams aim to enhance flow and throughput. This one-day course combines Kanban principles with Azure Boards, showing agile teams how to configure and effectively use the platform for Kanban practices. Participants will collaborate in teams on a shared project and case study to maximize learning.

    Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

    If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

    Concepts


    Categories


    Tags

    GitHub (4)
    Scaling (15)
    Windows (97)

    Our Happy Clients​

    We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.​

    Milliman Logo

    Milliman

    ALS Life Sciences Logo

    ALS Life Sciences

    Akaditi Logo

    Akaditi

    Schlumberger Logo

    Schlumberger

    Workday Logo

    Workday

    YearUp.org Logo

    YearUp.org

    MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd. Logo

    MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.

    Sage Logo

    Sage

    CR2

    Higher Education Statistics Agency Logo

    Higher Education Statistics Agency

    Teleplan Logo

    Teleplan

    ProgramUtvikling Logo

    ProgramUtvikling

    Boeing Logo

    Boeing

    Hubtel Ghana Logo

    Hubtel Ghana

    Trayport Logo

    Trayport

    Jack Links Logo

    Jack Links

    Lean SA Logo

    Lean SA

    Bistech Logo

    Bistech

    Ghana Police Service Logo

    Ghana Police Service

    Royal Air Force Logo

    Royal Air Force

    Nottingham County Council Logo

    Nottingham County Council

    Department of Work and Pensions (UK) Logo

    Department of Work and Pensions (UK)

    New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo

    New Hampshire Supreme Court

    Washington Department of Enterprise Services Logo

    Washington Department of Enterprise Services

    Genus Breeding Ltd Logo

    Genus Breeding Ltd

    Lean SA Logo

    Lean SA

    NIT A/S

    MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd. Logo

    MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.

    Lockheed Martin Logo

    Lockheed Martin

    New Signature Logo

    New Signature