5 Reasons why your team needs a visual management board

Have you ever wondered what difference a visual management board can bring into your daily management system? Then let's look at why you should opt for visual management boards to control the systems in your businesses.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Communication can be challenging within and between the teams. Visual management boards can help the team perform better by keeping the essential data and the statuses of the projects transparent and accessible to the entire team.

So what exactly is a visual management board, and what does it do?

 A visual management board is a communication tool that can provide real-time information about the current improvement work, displaying both the quantitative and qualitative data that help the teams monitor the ongoing projects. The board administers the team by tracking and keeping a measure of the different parameters in the board by visually displaying it. These tier boards form the crucial part of the daily huddles upon which the team discusses the status, progress and weak points which need extra aid.

Is the visual management board of a single category? No! Many visual management boards find effective usage in the lean daily management system. Kamishibai boards, SQCD, SQCDP, SQDCP, Hoshin Kanri, and Kaizen boards, to name a few. For instance, a hoshin kanri can effectively reduce the time you spend on ensuring the smooth running of the business from 80% to 20-30%.

So here are the five reasons we think you should start using the Visual Management boards for your business.

• Effective tracking of your work progress

The processes displayed on the boards are self-explanatory. By making the KPI targets, the boards display what is already achieved and what needs to be achieved. The most relevant updated information is communicated through the boards in the most transparent ways. Tracking the processes' progress and efficiency, made accessible to the entire team, drives the team to continuous improvement.

• Drive continuous improvement

A successful visual management board enables continuous improvement. The visual management board tracks, assesses, and improves the processes while making the targets visible. It shows how the processes are running right at the present stage, and finally, it also prompts actions to make progress. Above all, they also make ongoing incremental improvements. Without this approach, the organisations remain static, and they do not make any progress, and the progress becomes more expensive

. 

• Increases accountability and team alignment

Transparency brings in an increased level of accountability. A visual management board for a concerned department can act as a motivational force for all the team members to operate and own the outcomes as they can directly see their team target for the week and their shortcomings. In an organisation, the teams will be hit with many complex priorities. With the help of the visual management tool, it can get the different teams or the members within the same teams on the same page in less time. They can reflect the primary "focus of the day" or the major objectives of a given quarter. When this occurs, the teams can make decisions contributing to accomplishing the same outcomes.

• Managing processes using real-time facts

The processes are managed based on the most current facts. The visual boards update the data in real-time. In addition, the progress is shown using visual indicators, enabling progress related to the targets to be instantly visible. The team is armed with the observable facts in quick, accessible visual ways. Without access to current facts, the decisions can be made wrong, and it is nearly impossible to evaluate a process accurately without the relevant information.

• Risk Reduction

Another benefit that visual management can offer is the ability to help with risk management. When the work is visible and accessible easily, teams can try resolving issues early, and there is a reduced possibility of overlooking those errors and issues. A workflow board is a standard method for understanding the status or progress within teams and processes.

Going digital is the need of the hour. Digital visual management boards ensure the information is updated more precisely in real-time. Same materials can be used to present different points, providing details on indicators by moving to a more detailed screen and the customised data via the touch screens. Digital boards pave the way for more efficient, effective, accurate and automated internal operations.