In its simplest form, STATIK is the process of mapping out everything that needs to happen to allow a business to do its thing. There is a process to follow, which may, however, unlock some initial discomfort. Stick with it though, and you’ll soon start to see the value it can bring.
Step 1: Understand your customer
Why do you do what it is that you do? What do you do that helps your customer get value in the first place? If you don’t have a clear ‘why’, then the work done might be valuable, but you have no way to see that value or how it could be improved. By mapping out the customer proposition, and what the value drivers are, you’ll have a great baseline to start from.
Step 2: Start with the bad
What sources of dissatisfaction do you have? Too much Work in Progress (WIP)? What about the customer? What do they not like about the current way things are done? By focusing on the bad and being honest about it you can start to build a compelling reason to change.
Step 3: Who needs the work done, and by when?
Who expects to receive something and when do they need it, both internally and externally? Listing out key stakeholders, teams and indicative timescales can start to clearly identify who needs what and by when so you can start to understand how those demands connect with how the work is done now.
Step 4: Who does the work and how busy are they?
You can only improve things if you have a clear understanding of how things are now. Who does what and what timescales do they have in place? Does that match the customer or stakeholders’ expectations? What lead times do they have? Are there any dependencies? How does the workflow through the stages? By asking and answering these you can start to paint the picture of how the work is done, and how that might develop into a future world.
Step 5: Map the new flow
How does the workflow, end to end, deliver that value to the customer? Who does what and could it be simplified further? Simply map out each stage using post-its or a digital whiteboard and see if there is any scope for grouping or simplification. By doing this you can start to see the future state.
Step 6: Agree on how you’ll work together
How will you organise the work into categories (e.g., urgent, standard)? What criteria would you consider for it to be done at each stage? How will you agree on what makes an item expedited? Agreeing with these now means you can start to build your kanban board to help you focus on delivering value.
Step 7: Build a board
Build a kanban visualisation board with the key stages to allow work to flow through delivery and into the customers’ hands. Use the flow stages identified previously as column headings and place the work into the different flow stages. Agree WIP limits for each stage to allow work to flow smoothly across the new process, committing to reviewing them regularly. Whether this is a digital or physical board is up to you, but it must be transparent & readily inspectable by all people involved, including stakeholders.
Step 8: See the new value, but commit to regular review
Great work. By now you should have a leaner, easier process which helps deliver value to the customer sooner. How do we ensure we retain the added value? After all, without regular inspection & adaptation, it’s possible we might lose any benefits gained. Commit to continually improving and retaining simplicity as a default, not as an afterthought.
