The 3S Office Organisation Toolkit

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2 Introduction This 3S Office Organisation toolkit is designed to get you started in eliminating the wasted time associated with having to search for items in the office. Research shows that we waste up to an hour each day looking for items. It doesn t need to be this way. Try using the techniques described in your own office. It works. All the best Regards Graham Ross, Managing Director, Leankaizen Ltd

3 So what is 3S and what is it all about? Leankaizen developed the idea of 3S for Offices. (It is based on the 5S technique which works very well in Manufacturing environments) Simply put, the 3S technique is a great way to de-clutter your Office environment and improve your Workspace Organisation.This in turn leads to improved quality and productivity. The 3S technique is fundamental to creating a Continuous Improvement Culture 3S is if you like is the concrete that we build a Lean Organisation upon. 3S is a technique for creating a high performance workplace that is clutter free and has a place for everything and everything in its place. 3S is a structured way of implementing excellent office organisation. 3S helps you facilitate an efficient working environment that people in the organisation can be proud of. 3S is in not just about housekeeping and keeping the place tidy. 3s helps you determine what things in the office are needed and where they are needed. The 3S technique is intolerant of waste and helps you develop an environment where items are easier to find. It creates a physical orderliness that makes abnormality jump out and scream at you. Adopting 3S brings a neater, easier to understand office that has improved productivity, with fewer errors. It makes the processes of dealing with customer information more predictable. It creates a better working environment which is free of clutter leading to. Stress reduction

4 Examples of waste caused by poor workplace organisation Here are just a few examples of the types of thing we waste time on due to lack of Workplace Organisation. Are any of these true for your office? Only one person knows where stationery is kept You can t find a trolley to move files when we need one Searching for Missing keys for a room, cupboard or filing cabinet You cannot find a file on your computer system So what are the 3S? The 3S are as follows 1.Sort 2.Straighten 3.Sustain Let me take you through each S and what they are all about The first S - Sort Sort means, clearly distinguishing between: 1) What is needed in the office and should be kept. 2) What is not needed in the office and should be removed If in doubt move it out Take a walk through you own office. Many of the items you observe will no longer be required, or have never been required. Many will be broken and need fixed, or have been borrowed from a different department and never returned. Some will be simply in the wrong place or are poorly labelled and not well identified. The first S Sort (continued) In general all of this amounts to clutter How many pencils, pens, rubbers, envelopes, rolls of tape does

5 any one individual need? Often we hoard stationery much like pirates capturing treasure and woe betide anyone who tries to get if off us! The amusing thing is that although we all seem to hoard private collections we constantly run out of items as there is no real office system in place. Locked Filing cabinets with unknown contents are another good example! Oh that filing cabinet was used by Joe but he moved 3 months ago and I think there is still some of his paperwork in it People seem to leave their paperwork DNA all over offices. So by now hopefully you recognise that there are lots of items spread all over the office that have no clear function or purpose. How do we go about separating the clutter from the necessary items?

6 The first S - Sort - The Red Tagging Process One very practical way to sort out what we need from what we don t need is by conducting a red tagging process. This involves using conspicuous red tag labels to attach to objects that we don t think should be in the area or are not in good order. The Main steps are as follows:- Inform everyone ahead of time that a red tag process will be taking place in the office and that everyone s help will be needed Gather a small team from within the office (say 6-8 people).focus on doing a small area well rather than a large area superficially Make red tags Get a sheet to record the red tagged items Identify an area to store the red tagged items temporarily (near to the office) Identify red tag targets and criteria - Typically if something has not been used within a month then we may chose to red tag that item Attach red tags to targets, document the activity on the log sheet and then move them into the red tag area Review and disposition the red tag items in the red tag area

7 What are the typical types of red tag targets we go after in an Office? Desks Stationery Filling Cabinets Files and Folders Out of date documents Books Broken or unused Equipment (Telephone, Fax, P.C.) Correspondence Business Forms Paper Catalogues Shelves Chairs Please note - We must never red tag people it s not big or clever although often tempting! Once all items have been red tagged then the team should review each item in the red tag area to agree on the appropriate course of action Typical courses of action are as follows Re-organise storage of item Sell item Re-locate item Repair item Give away item Dispose of item Re- label item

8 So at the end of the first S stage, Sort, we should have separated those things we need from those things we don t need. By clearing away these red tagged items the office should already start to have some more space. It creates a better environment for the next S, Straighten. The Second S, Straighten Straighten means organising the way needed things are kept so that anyone can find them easily There must be a limit to how much of each item can be stored Make the items easy for anyone to find, use and return There must be a location for all needed things For every item we need to indicate: What it is Where it is stored The Amount there should be of that item When we straighten the office here are just a few of the things we are trying to achieve Eliminate searching time, for documents, staplers, markers etc Make things easier to get to and use - most frequently used items nearby Make things easy to put back - maintain the orderliness Make thing understandable at a glance - visual controls Avoid private collections - share equipment like staplers etc Orderliness is meaningless unless everyone knows where things are kept and where they should be returned to. A lot of time needs to be spent labelling and positioning items so that they can be understood at a glance as you walk through the office.

9 The Third S, Sustain The third S, Sustain means reviewing first 2S s regularly to identify sources of abnormality and make further improvements to the office organisation. It is concerned with making the first 2 S s unbreakable. If we have done a good job of sort and straighten then we don t want to creep back to our old ways. We need to audit the office on a daily basis to check we are sustaining the new organised environment. If as you walk through the office it is clear that the new organised environment is slipping ask why 5 times till you get to the route cause of the problem We then need to take action. For instance Sort use a few red tags every day and avoid clutter building up Straighten continually think of ways to make it impossible to put things in the wrong pace. Find the sources of clutter and develop counter measures. Audit - Audit the workplace on a regular basis.use Checklists and visually display the results. Train Train all new employees about the 3S We need to create an environment where the 3S has been adopted as a way of life around the office and people are continually thinking of ways to make things even better. Once you have created a fantastic workspace guess what, unless you maintain discipline then very quickly it will revert back to the old clutter and inefficiency that you had before.

10 This is the end of the 3S Toolkit I hope you found this short toolkit of use and that it will have given you an approach to tackle clutter in your office. If you have any feedback or questions for me, Graham Ross, please feel free to call me on or contact me via the website contact page at We wish you all the best in your 3S efforts. Graham Ross, Managing Director, Leankaizen Ltd