Prazavi Jain

Batch-2019-21
Section B
B-37
Enrolment Number: 01-19-117
"Lean" is a term in the COVID and post
COVID scenario means:-

Firstly Covid - 19 has been a topic of the day in the world for over 3 months now.
The pandemic of this contagious disease has engulfed the entire world. Doctors
and epidemiologists are making extra-ordinary efforts to stop the spread of this
vicious disease and save lives. This is reported on a daily basis and people are
warned how to contribute themselves to prevent the spread of this vicious disease:
from regular hand washing, maintaining hygiene, meeting.

The key challenge that COVID-19 has posed for business and IT professionals is to
replicate their work environment at home and to be productive in the same.  IT
infrastructure staff have ramped up their efforts and created virtual work platforms
for us, but certain resources cannot be replicated, e.g. access to meeting rooms,
interpersonal interaction, mentors to seek inputs from, status sharing, quick
assistance in case of blockers, etc. These little things which otherwise go un-
noticed at office add to the challenges at home.

Lean has an answer to overcome these challenges. Lean focuses on continuous

productivity improvements. Many if not all the Lean principles are relevant in
current times of COVID-19, for us to remain focused. Let us explore how simple,
application-agnostic Lean levers will help us remain productive and focus on
continuous improvement even in a virtual work environment and also preventing
more people from gathering in one place.

How we believe lean can help during COVID-19 

The first, and most important thing, is safety, both physical and
psychological: Whether physical safety in manufacturing, or psychological safety
in services, or both, keeping team members and customers safe is always our first
priority in Lean. Here are some suggestions to try:
Limit the number of people working and increase the distance between them:
Arrange for people to work remotely. If you can, schedule a test day to make
sure that all your team-members have what they need to work remotely and that all
IT systems can handle the load. Then PDCA continuously to close any gaps found.
If you can’t schedule a test day, start your PDCA cycle from Day 1. Check in each
day to find out what is working and what could be improved.
Add spacing: For teams that can’t work remotely, move desks or work stations
away from each other, and space teams out. Make sure that you are following best
practices from your local health authorities.
Provide point-of-use-cleaning supplies: Give each team-member their own hand-
sanitizer and extra cleaning supplies to keep in their space. Make sure all areas are
extra clean and tidy to avoid the spread of germs.
Teach people proper hand-washing techniques: And then make sure that they
are using them!
Use PDCA to make changes in response to new government and organizational
regulations.
Ensure the psychological safety of workers:
Treat people with respect: Make sure that customers are treating team members
politely and respectfully, and that supervisors and managers are too. In times of
stress, people don’t always act respectfully, so monitor the situation carefully.
Guard against overburden: Make sure that employees aren’t overwhelmed and
overburdened by extra work in call centers, or where essential services takes place
as in hospitals and medical clinics. What are some ways that you can provide
stress-relief to those dealing with spikes in demand?
Make a plan to help team members that become ill: Create ways to check-in
with team members who may become ill, or who are struggling with stress. Plan
ahead and let team members know what you will do.
Post-COVID-19, things will need to be done that have been neglected for decades.
COVID-19 exposes numerous weaknesses in society, including economic,
political, social, and legal systems. These systems should be modified or corrected
quickly, and some foundational preconceptions may have to be ignored or
replaced. These systems need to reflect current, factual realities, not ideological or
imagined realities. Coherence is now more important than disunion. Allow people
to use their ingenuity to create simpler and more productive ways of doing work.
The knock-on effects of having Lean management as part of business recovery
plans is a reduction in environmental footprint, which will help delay a climate
crisis and afford more time to find a wider range of solutions. The reduction in
costs and improvement in productivity can allow for higher corporate taxation,
without impacting profits (pre-COVID-19 levels), to fund climate research and
functional mitigation technologies.
Lean management is also unprepared for COVID-19. After 30 years, only a few
CEOs truly understand Lean, and they are mostly from small- and mid-size
companies. Perhaps Larry Culp, the CEO of GE, and others like him, can advocate
for Lean management as part of business recovery plans. Lean needs a big push
soon, given that decades-long efforts to generate pull for Lean have largely failed.