Visual management boards are a great tool. With only a casual glance you can understand the performance of an office, a production line, or anything else that you care to manage and run.
However, the boards I sometimes see don't always tell you what you want to know instantly:
- Graphs that are effectively upside down (can you tell immediately if the performance is getting better or worse?).
- Information that isn't up to date (can you trust them?).
- Esoteric headings that aren't obvious to others (do you ever bother to find out what they mean?).
- Elements that don't help you run your business any more (are your boards reflective of your current strategy?).
With a little bit of teamwork, a little bit of creativity and a disciplined attitude to operating these boards you can turn them round, if any of the above rings a bell with you.
Visual management boards should help you to run your business more effectively, not be a nuisance that needs to be looked after.
What camp are your boards in - 'useful tool' or a 'nuisance'?
Giles Johnston
Author of 'Business Process Re-Engineering', a practical plan to improve business performance.