Work Like Enterprise: 5 Practices from Big Business to Help You Get Things Done Faster

In large companies, entire departments are racking their brains about improving the efficiency of the team. Many of these practices are helpful not only in business but also in life. So, let’s take a closer look at them.

Kanban Board for Everyday Tasks

Kanban is a control system that was invented for the production of Toyota vehicles. Many companies use the methodology today. It helps you always have the statuses of various tasks in front of your eyes and cope with the work on time. Kanban is useful in everyday life – just the tasks will be different – go for groceries, book an excursion, pay utility bills, etc.

Making a board is not difficult: a large sheet of paper, a pen, and stickers are enough. You can take a board and draw on it with crayons. You need to draw columns that correspond to the stages of the tasks, for example: “New,” “In progress,” “Locked,” and “Ready.” You can mark each sticker with a colored button or magnet referring to the person who took the task and move the stickers from column to column when the status changes.

Another option is to install an app like Trello or MeisterTask. With them, you can set tasks for yourself and your family members on your smartphone and track what happens with the assignment with one click.

Six Sigma for Learning

Motorola engineer Bill Smith developed this methodology in the late 1980s, and General Electric adopted it in the 1990s. The tech giant was committed to reducing manufacturing defects and improving operational performance.

The goal of Six Sigma is to improve the quality of a process or product by identifying and eliminating errors. To do this, you need to perform the same actions consistently, for example, definition, measurement, analysis, improvement, and control.

Six Sigma is useful for learning more effectively. If you are not satisfied with your progress in some direction, determine what exactly you are failing, and describe your current level in as much detail as possible. Assess what you are lacking to achieve high results and what is blocking your path to success. Think about how to improve your level, and step by step, start moving towards your goal. Check if the changes help, and if necessary, adjust your plan – go through all the stages from definition to control again.

Lean Manufacturing

The concept of lean manufacturing also came from Toyota – it was developed and implemented in the 50s. Experts wondered how a company that produced mediocre cars had become the market leader in a few years and surpassed American competitors in quality and price. Everything turned out to be simple and complex at the same time: Toyota focused on eliminating all types of losses. And it worked!

Lean manufacturing at every stage prioritizes the value of the result for the end-user. At the same time, the participants in the process focus on the continuous elimination of losses – waste, defective goods, and time wasted.

Consider lean manufacturing in everyday life using the example of parents who need to teach their children how to cook. There are two goals – to get something edible at the exit and not waste products. Accordingly, all participants in the preparation of lunch must first understand how much food they need and what kind of food it will take.

If you avoid such losses at every stage and immediately correct minor mistakes, the chances of preparing a delicious meal will increase. And products, forces, and other resources will not be wasted.

Brainstorming for Family Problems

It can be difficult to find a solution to a problem alone, and as a result, it takes hours to find an answer. But if you call your friends and acquaintances and allow them to throw ideas together, you can do it faster and better.

Most importantly, at the stage of brainstorming, you cannot criticize other people’s ideas. Participants will find it difficult to voice new versions if they feel that the thoughts are not good enough. But you should not immediately approve the first option – then the discussion will end too quickly.

After you have compiled a list of ideas, you can vote for the best one. Since there may be more ideas than voters, invite everyone to rate each of the options on a scale from 1 to 10 and then add up the scores. This will help you get an objective view of each idea and choose the best one.

Bonuses for Motivation

If a person is interested in improving the result, they will perform better. This is why many sellers are offered a two-part payment: a guaranteed rate and a percentage of sales. The more goods such a specialist sells, the higher their income will be.

You can also use this approach in everyday life – for example, for a teenager’s pocket money. Agree on a small fixed amount of money per month, which will definitely be enough for travel, snacks, and stationery. And let the rest of the money be a reward proportional to the successes or household chores done.

Self-motivation can be organized in a similar way. For example, promise yourself sushi or the best cake in town for going for a run five times a week. Or plan to buy some cool new sneakers if you walk 10,000 steps every day for a month.