Visual management – ‘A piece a day will keep the boss away’

How much information can you pass on to your boss or a working committee on a piece of A4 (about letter-size) paper? Not a whole lot. You just can’t use it to contain the whole report of a cost saving project that took 3 weeks to complete. However, it can contain complete daily progress report that include graph, charts, drawing and matrixes; enough information for the boss to be updated and informed about the daily progress that you'd made. This type of report is commonly known as one-page report, and it is an invaluable piece of objective evidence that tells the story about the events of the particular day in the course of completing a project.
Why a one-page report is indispensable for a project or a job assignment? There are two good reasons why this one-page report is indispensable. The first is a one-page report on an A4 paper is just nice to fax to the boss or peers of the same project team but located in separate locations; second it can be filed in and converted into the project journal or ledger which would be useful later when compiling the final report of such project. “A piece a day will keep the boss away”….emm, how about that?
The one-page report is usually prepared by hand in about 20 to 30 minutes and it’s normally written towards the end of each day. The content is restricted to the day’s results and observations made on the day. Since visual presentation can replace many words, it is preferred than written or essay style since there are no conclusions to be written. It’s just like making a presentation to the boss on a white board at the end of the day but now instead of the white board it is on paper. The boss or your committee might scribble some comments for you to look into and later would pass a copy back to you.
It fast, efficient and instant documented communication. This concise and simple reporting method is an important element of continuous improvement activity that an active organization cannot do without. It teaches technicians, engineers, and project managers to be more objective in presenting daily progress reports so as to leave a traceable track that can be developed into highway as soon as the project is completed.

Visual management – Getting ahead with symbols

Using symbols in your presentation, whether it’s on screen or on paper is very effective and could give clear picture to your audiences. Symbols usage had rooted thousands of years before the invention of the modern day’s alpha-numeric writing which I’m using now. Nevertheless, the use of symbols nowadays are still widespread and among the symbols that are popularly used today are the cross (×) and the tick (∕) which carry the universal the meaning of wrong and correct or right respectively. The cross and tick are symbols have been the most useful means of communication between teachers, students and parents for many decades. All ticks in the homework books would make parents proud of the children as they know that their children are good in their studies.
During my early school days I would feel uneasy if my homework books are filled with crosses marked by my teachers, the more crosses I received the more uneasy I’d become. I got on few occasions the teacher would just made a big cross that covered the whole page of my exercise book. I felt like tearing off the page which I couldn’t because the teacher would report my bad behavior to the headmaster.
In daily business communication, the use of symbols have many advantages over descriptive words. Two profound advantages in symbols are first symbols do not occupy large spaces particularly if the presentation is on a spreadsheet and secondly it’s a real time saver as there are no descriptions to be written. There are four symbols that are being used in Total Quality Management in entire Japan, they are the cross, the triangle, the circle and the double circle (one smaller circle inside the circle). These four symbols have powered Japan Industries as leaders in the production of quality products and services.
There are two types of measurements that must be carried out when conducting analyses in today’s businesses; they are either quantitative or qualitative measurements. The quantitative measurement is one that quantifies amount of the items being measured, example are, 5.89kg of potatoes in a bag or $4.12 per piece of screw. While qualitative measurement is commonly made in comparison with a standard or a reference items. It is relative. One example is a par in your golf score can be marked with a circle symbol in your score card or in another example a lighter object against the standard object can be indicated by a triangle in your record sheet. Symbols can be used in most of the qualitative measurements and analyses and in some situations they are most suitable.
The four symbols described above are; first, a cross symbols which means any situation that is totally out of expectation or an action plan that has not started. The second symbol which is a triangle represents any situation that has just taken off or test results that below the expectation and not good enough. When confronted with a triangleor even a cross, more effort must be taken as corrective actions to get the expected results. The third symbols, a circle means situations or conditions that meet the set expectations, such as a par score on a certain hole of a golf round; it can also mean that situations that are under control or a project that is ending with expected results. Lastly the fourth, the double circle or a closed loop is to indicate any situation or condition that is closed or completed. This symbol is also used to indicate above expectation results, like an A+ grade of a test for example.
Projects matrixes, charts and tables can be simplified by utilizing these symbols, they are simple to prepare, easily to understand and a real time saver.

Visual management – simply the best communication option

I’m very sure that most of us knew pretty well what is meant by the saying “A picture can tell a thousand words”. This old cliché is very much useful in simplifying the communication process intra and inter organizations. A smiley in an instant messenger is a perfect example of a visual that has replaced lots of descriptive words and a tremendous time saver. It’s so simple, direct, understandable, and fast to get your message across; I sure that you’d agree with me.
Some countries have come up a very simple and easy to identify rest rooms whether they are for male or female with only visual signs; but unfortunately in my country this simple convention has not been used for reasons which I really don’t know. In Japan for example, a ladies rest rooms are marked by any simple drawing shape (triangle or a circle) that is pink in color while for gentlemen the shape is colored blue. So, being a simple minded person, I’d always look for blue color when looking for public gents rest rooms. In Malaysia most of the toilets signs are unicolored and a simple sketch (long haired face and a side face figure with a tobacco pipe in the mouth) to differential between ladies and gentlemen respectively. Wouldn’t it be easy if the same color convention by were to be used?
Signboards, posters and banners are the existing visual management media that are still being trusted by organizations as the effective means to communicate to employees, contractors and customers. With the advent multimedia for PCs and mobile devices, the possibilities to communicate with visual management is limitless. Myspace.com and Youtube.com are excellent examples of how visual management can be very effective in helping managers and entrepreneurs to getting their business goals faster. Business performance graphs reprsented online can be programmed to impart tremendous amount of information to affiliates and branches offices around the world. Google Analytics has done a really good job in making graphic presentations which has vast application potential. Visual management is simply the best communication option that is readily available.