Knowledge Base · Tools & Terms
What is standard work?
Standard work is the agreed, written-down best way we know to do a task today.
It captures the steps in order, the key points that make each step succeed, and the checks that prove the work was done right. It is written with the people who do the work, not handed down to them, because they know where the task actually breaks.
Standard work is not a rulebook for its own sake. It does three jobs. It trains new people the same way every time. It makes problems visible, because when everyone follows the same steps, a failure points at the process instead of the person. And it gives improvement a starting line: you cannot improve a process that changes from person to person and shift to shift. When a better way is found, the standard is updated, and the new way becomes the standard.
Keep it short, keep it where the work happens, and review it on a rhythm. A standard nobody can find, or nobody has checked in a year, is not a standard. It is a rumour.
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Source: Approved framing — Dave O'Riordan, 2026-10-25.