Coach your teams to become expert problem solvers
Practicing kata (patterns) consistently and deliberately forms a habit. Forming a habit develops new skills. With new skills comes increased confidence in one’s abilities to recognize and make small improvements that keep a person (or a process) in top form continuously.
WHAT IS KATA?
The word ‘Kata’ is actually borrowed from the martial arts, and describes a standard way of doing things, a training method or drill, if you like. These disciplines are frequently used by sports coaches to teach developing players the basic principles of their chosen sport (if you’ve ever had a golf or tennis lesson you will recognise the approach). It’s often a skill-set passed from trainer to trainee, an important concept in the nature of how Toyota trains staff in solving problems and improving processes.
Lean Kata (also known as Toyota Kata) is based around two Kata, the Improvement Kata and the Coaching Kata. When practised they form a powerful method of problem-solving and improvement that can be applied in many situations, and at any level of an organisation.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
We will provide for you a tailored programme of support that links your lean activity to the strategic aims of your business and develops tactical plans to ensure that the efforts you and your team make yield the results the business requires.
We act as your ‘Trusted Partner’ – there’s no ‘hard sell’, we don’t push, you pull our support when you are ready
We are pragmatic – Developing a lean culture should not be an academic or theoretical exercise, so we get to ‘gemba’ as much as possible
We aim to ‘Coach’ – it’s you and your team’s learning; so we aim to develop your internal capability through open knowledge transfer and coaching you to use these new skills
We are experienced – none of our team has less than 15 years direct experience of lean and CI implementation, their knowledge and approach is second to none
Our overheads are kept deliberately low – you’re not paying for fancy corporate offices and slick marketing campaigns, so we can offer very competitive rates
SECTORS WE SERVE:
Our Services
We offer a full range of support for your Lean and Continuous Improvement activity. We coach and develop your leaders and teams in key elements of ‘lean thinking’; but vitally we develop people’s thinking skills, by knowledge transfer, deliberate practice and encouraging critical thinking.
LEAN IMPACT PROGRAMME
Mentoring you and your CI Resource to boost Business Performance
Lean FSL Associates are delighted to announce the launch of a new product designed specifically to help Senior Leaders and their Continuous Improvement / Lean Teams to achieve maximum effectiveness during these most challenging of environments.
LEAN CONSULTANCY
We work with many organisations, across numerous sectors, to link the application of Lean with delivering critical Strategic imperatives. We have a tremendous track-record in translating strategy into tactical improvement, through use of Value Stream Mapping, TPM, Lean Factory Design and Quick Response Manufacturing. See examples of the recent work we’ve done by clicking below.
TOYOTA KATA COACHING
We specialise in training & coaching leaders and their teams to use Scientific Thinking – through Toyota Kata routines – to help solve problems, stabilise processes and make real breakthrough improvements. This much under-utilised element of the Toyota Production System focuses leaders on developing.
IN-HOUSE TRAINING
Our partner business, People Centred Excellence, provides a range of innovative and differentiated training course and workshops to the public. Click the button below to see a full range of our upcoming courses. If you require in-company support for similar training, or a tailored training package to meet your specific requirements, contact us for a ‘no obligation’ discussion
Latest News
Save hours of research with practical insights from our Leaders.
Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen! My Reflections on the recent Katacon Europe Kata Geek Meet-up.
Hello everyone, Graham here. Can you remember when we used to send postcards to friends and family from our lovely [...]
How Toyota Kata Helped Me Improve my Guitar Playing – and What I Learned!
Hello everyone, Graham here again. So, what have you been doing during the pandemic, that you always wished you had [...]
Out of The New Crisis – The Time for Scientific Thinking and Kata is Now.
Hello Everyone. It’s my sincere hope that this article finds you well in this current time of crisis for us [...]
Can We Keep You Posted?
Sign up to our newsletter, exclusive content and special offers