Operational Excellence Tools Blog : Windows Vista

5s OneNote Example

LeanTeam — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:03:00 GMT

In a previous post I talked about using a shared OneNote workbook as a way of making continuously updated customer follow-up information available to field solution specialists on their desktop.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to set this up.

Step 1:

Create a new shared notebook in your local copy of OneNote. I chose to use one of the included templates, the "Group Project" template.

Step 2:

Set up the notebook to be shared, on a server.

Step 3:

Enter the URL of the Sharepoint 2007 team site that you want to post the notebook on.

Step 4:

OneNote creates an Outlook invite with the location of the shared notebook that you can send to team members.

Step 5:

Your local copy of the notebook (as well as that of all team members) is can be automatically set up for synchronization with the server-based copy.

You can click on the "sync" icon (circle with arrows and a checkmark) in the notebook navigation bar to see current sync status.

Step 6:

Check the Sharepoint site – the shared notebook will have been created and you will see the notebook sections listed as separate files in the notebook's folder in Sharepoint.

Step 7:

Connect the shared notebook to Outlook in order to enable content to flow to team members' Outlook inboxes securely, even if they are using the web service access feature outside the firewall.

… the notebook appears automatically as a Sharepoint List in Outlook 2007, and is automatically synced so that the content appears as messages in Outlook.

… by clicking on one of these items (even offline), the notebook is opened on the local machine. And, when you make a change, OneNote automatically syncs back up to the server the next time you are connected.

Very useful for writing up meeting notes on the plane on your way home.

That's it – if anyone has questions please post a comment and I'll be happy to walk you through it.

-Marc from the Lean Team

Interesting post about kaizen for Windows

LeanTeam — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:21:00 GMT

...talking about designing the machine around the process and not vice versa, from Gemba Panta Rei at http://www.gembapantarei.com/2007/02/standard_work_needed_for_use_o.html.

I know there are numerous improvement efforts in the product groups at Microsoft focused on the type of improvements mentioned in this post, some of which, as mentioned, have come to light in Vista and Office 2007. Hopefully some of the posts in this blog will help elucidate some of the ways the new technology has improved, but comments and suggestions are always welcome.

- Marc from the Lean Team

5s for the Information Worker

LeanTeam — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:33:00 GMT

Over the recent holidays, I embarked on a backup, cleanup, and Office 2007 upgrade for my PC. As part of the process, I realized that it would be a good idea to take a look at the 5s concept from an information worker perpsective, since e-mail and spreadsheets are the "tools" and "dies" used by many in the corporate world today, including many lean practitioners.

Classic definition of 5s, quoted from the iSixSigma glossary at http://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/5S-486.htm

Seiri - Put things in order (remove what is not needed and keep what is needed)
Seiton - Proper Arrangement (Place things in such a way that they can be easily reached whenever they are needed)
Seiso - Clean (Keep things clean and polished; no trash or dirt in the workplace)
Seiketsu - Purity (Maintain cleanliness after cleaning - perpetual cleaning)
Shitsuke - Commitment (Actually this is not a part of '4S', but a typical teaching and attitude towards any undertaking to inspire pride and adherence to standards established for the four components)

I evaluated the relevance of these concepts for an information worker, and rated my own performance in some of these areas:

1. My laptop, combined with my smartphone and my corporate Exchange server, is essentially my "workspace." I have over 4 gigbytes of e-mail and documents just from the current fiscal year at Microsoft - is my workspace clean and "in order"? Can I find what I need even with a powerful tool such as Windows Desktop Search? How could I use the capabilities of Windows Vista to help find, use, and share information?

2. I am highly mobile and work both with internal Microsoft staff as well as with a variety of external partners and suppliers. Have I chosen the right way to organize, communicate, and publish key data so that the right data is accessible at the right time, online or offline, to the constituents who need it? Are the tools I need at my fingertips? Was I truly using the full capabilities of Outlook, Sharepoint, Groove, and Windows Mobile to make my life easier? I think this point has a lot of commonality with many lean leaders who manage or mentor a virtual team, and face the challenge of reporting data both at the shop floor or even PLC level and doing rollups for executive managment.

3. Have I set up standard processes to automate analysis and reporting, and establish workflows for my virtual team as much as possible?

4. Have I secured my data in such a way as to enable access for the right people while minimizing risk? In many ways this is part of the "sustain" tenet of 5s, and some companies have explicitly added safety and security as a "5s plus" concept.

In an ongoing series, I'll be jotting notes on ways I have found to create simple solutions to some of these challenges using the tools I already have on my desktop. I hope this will helpful for lean or six sigma professionals who face similar challenges.

- Marc from the Lean Team