April Q&E Kaizen 4/18/2010: The Search Party process

Before: When someone in our house would lose something, chaos would ensue because the accusations about who took it would fly.  The common refrain became, "You did something with it!" We would would argue about whom had take the missing item (OK, I was the one who usually lost things and got mad at the kids) and people got really mad.

After: We created the "search party" process.  If something was lost, we would rally everyone together, there was no blaming or finger pointing, and we would search for the object as a family with no questions asked.  We meeting in the living room and all those available would help by looking and asking the person questions to help track down the misplaced object.

Benefits:

• Changed the focus from a people problem to a process problem
• The lost item is usually found within a few minutes
• Everyone stays calm
• We work together as a team
• Our family is happier

What has your family improved today?

Dan Lafever, Kaizeneer