The 14 key points of the Toyota Way

In the Book the Toyota Way, Jeffery Likers describe the following 14 key point's of the Toyota Management System


1- Do business with a long term philosophy rather than constantly driving short term gains.
2- Grow leaders from inside your organization.
3- Create a “learning organization” that is continuously improving.
4- Drive decisions through consensus.
5- Empower employees to stop production to fix problems.
6- To understand issues, go see them for yourself rather than simply getting reports from others.
7- Respect your suppliers and network of supporters.
8- Create continuous product flow to expose quality problems.
9- Create pull systems to regulate work.
10- Create visual inventory control.
11- Level the work load so groups are equally balanced.
12- Use reliable and stable technology.
13- Employ exceptional people.
14- Standardize processes and tasks.

Please note that from these key points we can identify 6 that relate directly with employee development:


1. Base all operations and activities on fostering the long-term future of the company,
not on achieving short-term profits or immediate stock value. Invest heavily in employees, their careers, their training and their future.

2. Standardize whenever possible. Empower workers to perform as trusted partners so
they continuously perfect all of the company’s production and work processes. This
will increase efficiency and reduce waste.

3. Ensure that all managers and supervisors thoroughly understand their responsibilities
and can capably instruct their subordinates. Being a good teacher is the most important job requirement for individuals in positions of authority.

4. Establish teams of highly trained employees who can work together seamlessly.

5. Understand that suppliers represent a vital link in your production chain. Help your independent contractors develop and train their employees so they can support your overall production mission.

6. Plan and organize everything so that learning and improving are constant processes
for workers, supervisors and executives.

is your company following any of these?

5S office quote

“People would rather talk to you about their sex lives than their paper problems.”

How to handle you mail?

Are you always looking at the mail staking up on your desk? if you answer positively to this questions, please follow these simple steps:

1. Open and sort the mail with a trashcan at hand.
2. Junk mail goes right into the can.
3. Divide the remaining incoming mail into two stacks: one with correspondence and bills, and the other with magazines, catalogs, newsletters and other items to read later.
4. Set up a quick, easy system for sending mail. Have envelopes, addresses, boxes and tape at hand, so you don’t accumulate items to be mailed.

How can you fight clutter accumulation?

1- Whenever you finish working on something, put it away.

2- Never leave the office without cleaning your desk and leaving things organized for the next day. Combat paper proliferation by dealing with each piece while it is fresh in your mind.

3- If time constraints make this impossible, carry the paper around with you until you can give it your attention. Look at it, define the problem, devise a solution and then take action. But do not let things sit and build up as a testament to your indecisiveness.

4-“In” and “Out” trays can be helpful if you use them. If you do not make use of them, they
will become just another place to accumulate paper. Let the trays help your work flow.
Empty them on schedule, daily or weekly – or get rid of them.

How to get started with 5s in your office - practical tips

Let's assume you decide to move forward with 5s -ing your office, now what. Follow this simple guide:

Start your cleanup by getting rid of “junk bunkers” – those mugs, pencil cups, little
bins and cute boxes where people stash stuff and forget about it.
Next, dispose of empty containers, like old glue bottles. Throw away the “useful” boxes things come in, including CD-ROM boxes, film canisters and mailing tubes. Return duplicate office supplies, such as extra scissors, staplers and notepads, to storage. Other items people think they’ll use, but rarely do, include: last year’s magazines; old calendars and appointment books;
out-of-date stationery, business cards or forms; freebies from seminars and conventions
(next time, just don’t take them); old keys and broken pieces of furniture. Toss it all!

People hold on to all kinds of stuff thinking that they might need it some day. Be ruthless in
your quest to “declutter.” If you don’t use a tool, gadget or accessory, don’t give it valuable
space. If something is broken, even a little broken, pitch it. Get rid of swivel chairs that no
longer swivel, and printers, scanners, fax machines, calculators, recorders and projectors
that either don’t work or seldom get used. Lose the clutter of trophies, souvenirs, wilting
plants, photos, paper clip holders, old eyeglasses, empty binders, candy dishes, ancient
mail, outdated brochures, empty tissue boxes, broken lamps and decorative clocks.

Reroute clothes that have taken up residence at the office, such as golf shoes, raincoats,
extra sweaters and forgotten jackets. You want your work area to be warm and welcoming,
but don’t overdo it with photos, crafts and mementos. Add a personal touch or two, and
then stop.

Now what can you do with the piles of paper stacked high on every surface and weighing
heavily on your mind? To quickly sort through mounds of paper accumulation, follow
this practical guide. You’ll need four boxes, scissors, a stapler, a marker, packing tape and
a garbage can. Label the boxes “Out,” “Route,” “Doubt” and “Sprout.”
Sort through each pile of paper, throwing at least half into the “out” box or garbage can. Paper that found a home in your office, but belongs somewhere else goes into the “route” box.

Anything you’re not sure about should go into the “doubt” box, with the understanding that you
will work on it every day until it is empty. The “sprout” box gets everything that you
want to keep and use.

Computers create their own special clutter. This includes old disks, outdated instruction
manuals, unlabeled CDs, out-of-date hardware, original packaging and outdated
programs. VCR tapes, DVDs and CDs can accumulate and take up room. You might
intend to watch or listen to them, but if the pile gets too high and the contents get too old,
throw them away.

People often hide unwanted, broken, old, ugly or obsolete items in a storage area. Ask
yourself if you are going to need or use each item, and if an item flunks that question,
don’t store it – junk it. However, if something has value, store it properly. That means:

• “Get if off the floor.”
• “Repackage it” when necessary to make it more accessible or stackable.
• “Go for first-class containers.”
• “Mark all sides of each container with the contents.”
• “Make dejunking easy” with a big trashcan.

Besides cluttering up their own work areas, people also tend to clutter the company’s
common areas. Cafeterias and lunchrooms are often depositories for cups, mugs, plastic
containers and paper plates. But the ugliest, nastiest place in any office lunchroom is
inside the communal refrigerator.

Within its doors lie half-eaten sandwiches, almost empty soda bottles, dried up pizza, moldy bread, spoiled yogurt, rotting fruit and rock hard bagels. The company refrigerator should not become an old food graveyard. Take responsibility and clean up your mess. Many companies enforce a weekly cleanup policy for the communal fridge.

The next significant mess magnet is the coffee area. Used spoons, stirrers, napkins, sugar
packets and creamer cartons litter the space around the coffee maker. Go through the
office and collect the half-filled or dirty mugs that can drip, spill and stain your clothes,
carpet and desktop. Spilled drinks cause all kinds of work problems from ruining
documents to killing keyboards. Never set anything down that can spill onto your work
surface or computer.

I hope this has given you some ideas about how to start right on your efforts to 5s your office

Additional reasons to implement 5S in your office

A lot of people ask about why they should implement 5S in their offices if 5s is a concept that was developed in the manufacturing environment.

In addition to all the benefits that we have already mentioned in this blog, I will list some other considerations that you might want to take in to account when trying to decide whether or not you should apply 5s to your office:

You can't work to the best of your abilities when your office is a disorganized mess.
Your workspace is a visual representation of what kind of person you are; that's how your clients and supervisors see it.
Out-of-control office clutter costs money in time, effort, late fees and lost business.

Most people excuse their messy offices by saying they don’t have time to clean. But dealing with the consequences of a chaotic workspace takes far more time than simply cleaning. If a clean office increases your productivity by only 20%, that can convert into approximately $40,000 to $50,000 in value over the next 10 years. A clean office also pays off in reduced stress and anguish.


Office clutter is intimidating, frustrating and time wasting. Your workspace represents you to your clients, superiors and co-workers. It reflects your personality and work habits. What do you want your work area to say about you? (Or do you just want it to be quiet?)

When your desk is a mess, people assume you are incompetent, indecisive and uncaring.

Office clutter is not only unsightly, it’s dangerous. Workplace accidents occur when someone trips on an electrical cord or a box, walks into an open file drawer, has to dodge a falling pile of junk, or slips on loose papers or spilled coffee. To check if your workspace is safe, ask yourself the following questions: Is anything stored on the floor, on stairs or in precarious stacks? Is junk blocking access to fire escapes, doors, windows or walkways? Are chemicals stored properly? Are the electrical outlets overloaded?

These reasons might motivate you to push forward your 5s effort in your office.....if this is still not enough please let me know.

The following video shows a great way to explain 5s

TIme Management Tips- How to Manage your email more effectively

Less is more – Unless your job requires hourly e-mail monitoring – such as receiving
orders from customers – only check e-mail twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon.

Prioritize – Millions of people turn their computers on in the morning and
immediately check their e-mail. That allows e-mail to dictate their schedules. Paying
attention to your projects, goals and tasks is much more important.

Turn off and tune in – Pull the plug on the ping or fl ashing signal that alerts you to
the arrival of a new e-mail. All that does is interrupt your work.

Fight the urge – Breaking the e-mail habit means trying your best for a week or two.

Make a sign as a reminder of your commitment. Resist the urge to check habitually.

Filter, filter, filter – Find a reliable program to keep spam out of your in-box. Notify
family and friends that you’d rather not receive jokes and other useless e-mail.

Reply, divert or delete – Decide what to do with each message: Reply right away, send
it to a particular sorting folder or delete it. Don’t just let stuff sit in your in-box.

Reply in brief – See if you can keep your e-mail answers shorter than five sentences.

5S Quote

"The less clutter,
the less visual
stress."

The following video shows a great way to explain 5S