Knowledge Base · Engagement
How do I run a mini-kaizen in one hour?
Pick one small named problem, map it as it runs today, ask why at the worst point, choose the fix you can test immediately, implement a rough version inside the hour, and agree the check before you leave. It is the book's rapid improvement event scaled down, run on PDCA discipline.
A mini-kaizen is the rapid improvement event of Chapter 4 shrunk to an hour: one small, specific problem, the people who live with it, and a fix tested before everyone leaves. It suits the problems too big for a Just Do It and far too small for a project, and it is the fastest way to give a new team its first completed improvement.
- Minutes 0 to 10: state the problem in one sentence and agree what better looks like, with a number if you can: the morning report takes 40 minutes; better is 20.
- Minutes 10 to 25: walk the process as it runs today, on paper or at the workplace itself, and mark where the time, waiting or errors actually happen.
- Minutes 25 to 40: ask why at the worst point, a quick 5 Whys, and list candidate fixes. Sort them on impact versus effort and pick the one you can test today.
- Minutes 40 to 55: implement the test version now, even if it is rough: the new checklist, the moved printer, the reordered form.
- Minutes 55 to 60: agree how you will know it worked, who checks, and when, the Check step of a PDCA cycle, and put the review in the next huddle.
The hour works because of what it refuses: no scope creep, no committee, no report. Chapter 10's Innovation Carnival and Idea Box feed exactly this format, a steady supply of small, named problems with owners waiting. Run one a fortnight and a team accumulates something no programme can give it: a habit of finishing.
Related questions
- How do I run a rapid improvement event, day by day?
- What is the PDCA cycle, and how do I run one?
- How do I run a small improvement experiment this week?
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 4 (Solution Creation and Implementation) and Ch. 10 (Engaging Activities for Continuous Improvement).