A post by Jeff Roussel, read by Mark Graban

Every time we walk into a facility and see a Kaizen board, we are reminded about the excitement and sense of anticipation that most teams have when the Kaizen board is first introduced. But very often, when we ask front line employees about them the response is tepid at best.

There may still be huddle meetings where the progress of each improvement is discussed, and a card might get moved from one stage to another from time to time, but the initial excitement wanes quickly and the whole thing becomes a chore.

In many cases, we look a little closer and see that no new improvement work has been added for months or that work is stalled out with no movement in sight.