What is a Lean Organization?

Lean refers to a set of tools, practices and methods that help improve the efficiency of processes. It focuses on increasing customer value through efficiency optimization and decreasing waste.

Every functional area in an organization can be applied to Lean principles. You can either use a top-down or bottom-up approach to implement Lean principles. Lean principles are a philosophy that pervades all divisions and departments, becoming part of the core work-culture of an organization.

Lean organizations are those that follow the Lean principles of continuous improvement in daily operations. Lean is about creating a productive work environment. It is crucial that employees feel empowered and know their opinions/ suggestions will be heard regardless of their rank within the organization. This is how Lean can help increase Organizational Effectiveness.

Lean organizations recognize the importance of customer value and focus their main processes toward continuously improving customer satisfaction.

Ultimately Lean Organizations are able to deliver maximum value and benefits to customers by using efficient processes with minimal (ideally zero) waste.