Develop a Visual Strategy Room
Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work.
—Seth Godin
Once the organization report card is developed, the next step is to create a dedicated strategy room using the principles of visual management for the senior executives to strategize and reflect as a team on the performance of the organization. A dedicated strategy room that is used religiously by the senior executives and made accessible to all staff builds accountability, ownership, transparency, and teamwork. It also sends a message to the people that the organization strategy is a live document and not something that sits on the shelf or is discussed behind closed doors in a boardroom by the senior executive team.
The layout of the strategy room, the purpose and the flow of communication on each wall, the ease of understanding, the visual appeal, and the availability of standard work to read and interpret the work depicted on the walls are all factors that contribute to the success of how often and how effectively the room will be used by everyone. Else, it will become a modern art display room, where everyone appreciates the art but no one understands anything, nor do they see themselves as a part of it.
Given below is a concept of a visual strategy room, sometimes also called a “war room.” The room is organized into four walls, with each wall having a distinct purpose (Figure 11.1). Availability of standard work ensures that everyone speaks the same language.
Wall 1 has the “true north” measures for the organization, breakthrough A3s, and potential value streams.
Wall 2 has all the value streams under implementation supported with performance metrics.
Wall 3 has the performance measures broken down on the basis of safety, quality, people, delivery, and cost.
Wall 4 has all the problems arising from any of the other three walls that needs senior management’s attention.
Based on the above concept, Hospital Heal customized their visual strategy room (Figure 11.2).
Wall 1 had the key measures that the organization wanted to focus on for the one year in context.
Wall 2 had the metrics the organization wanted to keep an eye on.
Wall 3 had the projects in progress that supported the organization’s priorities based on the metrics on Wall 1.
Wall 4 informed the senior leadership team where support was required and highlighted celebrations.
The visual strategy room was open to all staff at the Hospital Heal. The CEO and the vice presidents reviewed Wall 4 during their weekly meetings and addressed any operational issues that were reflected on this wall. The directors met with the CEO and vice presidents on a quarterly basis to review the projects listed on Wall 3 and validated the priorities for the ongoing projects. Oftentimes, the directors brought their managers into the room to discuss the progress of the projects in their areas directly impacting Wall 1 and/or Wall 2, if their teams were currently building foundation for something long term. The value stream coaches conducted tours in batches of 12–15 for existing and new employees and walked them through all the four walls, not only to share how the information flowed between the walls, but also to acknowledge how the work of all employees supported the organization report card. The availability of standard work ensured that everyone spoke the same language.
The standard work created at Hospital Heal for conducting a visual room tour is shared below.
|
Standard Work for the Visual Strategy Room Tour |
|||
|
Last Updated: |
|
Performed By: |
Senior leadership team, directors, performance excellence team |
|
Revision: |
|
Frequency: |
As scheduled |
|
Standard Work Owner: |
Vice presidents and CEO |
Duration: |
15–30 minutes |
|
Standard Work Purpose: The purpose of the visual room tour is to help participants understand how the organization cascades its priorities, identifies projects, completes work, and celebrates accomplishments. |
|||
|
PLAN |
|||
|
Prepare for the Visual Room Tour |
|||
|
Know your audience and the purpose of the tour. Tailor your presentation accordingly. Book the visual strategy room. |
|||
|
DO |
|||
|
1.Introduce yourself, welcome guests, and provide a Visual Strategy Room overview |
|||
|
•The visual room is where the CEO and the vice presidents gather regularly to strategize and reflect as a team on the performance of the organization. The information in the visual room has been organized into four walls, with each wall having a distinct purpose. •Wall 1 has the key measures that the organization wants to focus on for the year. •Wall 2 has the metrics the organization wants to keep an eye on. •Wall 3 has the projects in progress that support the organization’s priorities. •Wall 4 informs the senior leadership team where support is required and highlights celebrations. |
|||
|
2.Explain the components of WALL 1 |
|||
|
•Wall 1 is the strategy wall that includes the mission, vision, values, strategic directions, and associated metrics at the organization level for clinical services, mental health, addictions, senior’s services, and corporate and support services. •The Organization Report Card keeps us focused on achieving the milestones that we have set out in our strategic plan and identifies the areas where work is needed. •The Report Card has been cascaded to service-level metrics, for which each vice president is accountable. •The driver metrics drive performance at the organization, service, and department levels. These metrics are actively being worked on and may have an associated project. |
|||
|
3.Explain the components of WALL 2 |
|||
|
•Wall 2 includes metrics that we do not want to lose sight of and items we are building our foundation on for this year. •Watch metrics are not being actively worked on and do not have any associated projects. |
|||
|
4.Explain the components of WALL 3 |
|||
|
•Wall 3 displays project status updates by service level. •Make the connection between the projects under the “work in progress” category and the metrics on Wall 1. •Through prioritization, some projects/initiatives are categorized as “waiting” and will start when organizational capacity allows. •The row on implemented projects/initiatives shows projects that have been completed. |
|||
|
5.Explain the components of WALL 4 |
|||
|
•Wall 4 contains issues that require assistance or that have been escalated for support. It also includes celebrations. •Share a recent celebration. |
|||
|
STUDY |
|||
|
Share and discuss your learning and observations from the visual room tour with your colleagues during huddles, monthly scorecard reviews, or visual room performance reviews. |
|||
|
ADJUST |
|||
|
Through experimentation and interactions, your own learning will begin to influence the visual room tour. |
|||
The ongoing senior leadership commitment to demonstrate the use of the visual strategy room supported by a formal governance structure of weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings to discuss the information on the walls, built accountability at all levels and brought focus to the key priorities of Hospital Heal.
Sensei Gyaan: While the primary audience for the strategy room is the senior executives, encourage leaders at all levels of the organization to review the room with their respective teams on a regular basis and relate how their work contributes to moving the big dot measures of the organization.