BOOK EXCERPT

Excerpt from Seeing Is Believing: How the New Art of Visual Management Can Boost Performance Throughout Your Organization, Stewart Liff and Pamela A. Posey, (New York: AMACOM, A Division of the American Management Association, 2004).

Imagine! A New Kind of Workplace

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to manage and work in an organization that really works? Do you know what one looks like, and how it feels to be in that kind of workplace? Have you ever had days in which you wonder if anyone in your organization really understands what your business is about? Do people around you keep their heads down, work in seeming isolation, and appear not to understand the full performance requirements of the system? If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone.

Have you occasionally thought about why you bother to come in to the office some days, given the number of people who just don't seem to care about the business or its results? Do you feel as though you spend too much time trying to figure out how to motivate the people around you? Do you sometimes get discouraged and feel that you need to carry the load by yourself? Do you wonder where all the good, energetic, and committed people are? If so, you are in good company.

Have you ever looked around your physical workplace and wondered why nothing ever seems to change there? Have you noticed the same furniture, the same color walls and carpet, the same photos and messages on bulletin boards? Do you even notice when new memos are posted or when information is updated? Does this familiarity create a comfort zone at the expense of a vibrancy and energy that could help channel efforts in more positive directions? Or have you given up on the thought that your workplace could become a new and different environment in which to spend time? We hear similar concerns from people in nearly every workplace we visit, and we have shown them, as we will show you, that workplaces do not have to be like this.

Imagine!

Imagine an organization that is a work of art, a work of art that uses all of the effective management tools and the tools of an artist to produce a workplace designed to work great. Imagine a vision statement that is more than just a bunch of words, one that captures the mission, vision, and guiding principles of the organization with a compelling image on a single page. Imagine a physical plant that is bright, airy, and open, one that has the most effective workflow, as well as workspace that allows people to both concentrate on their individual tasks and work together in a team. Imagine a workplace in which the walls, floors, and ceilings are decorated with a coordinated set of pictures, sculptures, banners, flags, and other displays that are all designed to link people directly to the mission. Imagine that the employees are so proud of the workplace that they bring their families to see the workplace of which they are a part. Imagine a workplace so visually coherent that it could instantly shape the impression or point of view from the outside world the minute a visitor entered. Visually, this would be a place that is special, a place that is filled with innovation and creativity.

Now imagine that same workplace as a place in which information is shared to an unprecedented degree, and shared with all employees in many different forms. Imagine that employees in the organization know and understand the metrics and performance measures, and are working together as a group to try and achieve them. Imagine in this environment that unit and individual employee performance are posted, that all employees know exactly how they are doing relative to everybody else, that there are mechanisms in place to help low performers improve, and that high performing teams and individuals are rewarded accordingly. Imagine a work environment in which people are celebrated in employee galleries that display photos of individuals and work teams, of the union leadership, of employee events, and of new and even former employees. Imagine if these galleries also contained photos of the families of employees. This would be an environment in which employees truly felt appreciated by their employers. Now imagine if that same environment is so compelling, so attractive that it allows the organization to recruit and retain top-notch talent. This would truly be a focused and effective workplace.

Finally, imagine that all of these different elements be brought together in one organization using modern management principles, organization system design principles, and all of the tools at the disposal of an artist. Imagine that the result is an organization in which employees are directly connected to the mission, in which information of all types is widely shared, in which employees consistently deliver top performance, in which employees feel celebrated and valued, and in which people have fun working. This is what visual management does, and this is what visual management can do in your organization. Now imagine that you can truly make this happen.

What is it that you want to see, feel, and do when you go to work? Have you made attempts to focus the efforts of people in your organization toward common goals? Have you thought about how you might change from a scenario of complacency and build an effective, efficient, and fun (Yes, Fun!!) workplace for yourself and others? If you are asking these questions of yourself, then this book is for you. In the next 6 chapters, we will share with you important lessons in how to re-energize, revitalize, and re-focus your organization so that it works at its very best. We will show you a process for organizational improvement that encourages people to become more proficient, more committed, and more focused on attaining the goals of the organization. We will walk you through this process, step-by-step, and will show you how to guarantee performance improvements as a result of your efforts. We will show you how to do this across an entire organization or simply within your area or department. And we will help you do this by utilizing the tools and thinking of leading edge management practice combined with the tools of an artist to produce a workplace deliberately designed to work great. In fact, we will introduce you to the art of visual management.

What Is Visual Management?

Visual management is a system for organizational improvement that can be used in almost any type of organization to focus attention on what is important, and to improve performance across the board. It adds a new dimension to the processes, systems, and structures that comprise the existing organization by utilizing strong graphic visualization techniques to enhance organizational system alignment for performance improvement. It draws directly on the principles of good organization design and clarity of mission, and then introduces a stimulating visual dimension to heighten the focus on performance. Moreover, it grabs the attention of employees, customers, and other important constituents and keeps that attention focused on the goals of the organization. This innovative management system adds visible and visual depth and consistency to an organization's messages about its mission and goals; it keeps information about mission, goals, and performance in front of employees at all times; and it does this in the most visual way possible by converting information about the company, its customers, and its performance into graphic displays that cannot be ignored. Visual management appeals directly to the high level of visual literacy that exists among today's workforce.