Visual management systems are the product of visual management that helps to improve organizations’ operations by tracking performance, schedule, and status of projects. By using visual tools to communicate to the audience, they ensure that project’s milestones are started and finished in a timely manner. Although specialists explain that it is relatively easy to launch such systems, the problem of their maintenance is often a very challenging task. In order to sustain positive results, it is of paramount importance to measure outcomes, train staff, and use the instrument of standardization (Productivity Press 21).
The implementation of visual management systems occurs in five consequent stages: project identification, workplace organization, visual display, visual metrics, and visual control (Productivity Press 18). There are a lot of different types of visual management, such as glass wall metrics, shadow boards, and production metrics. Therefore, it seems justified to claim that visual management systems can be used for monitoring different aspects of organizations’ functionality. Despite certain differences, all of them employ the instruments of visualization to track various processes.
If a visual management system is used correctly, it can lead to increased efficiency of operations. Employees spend less time on conducting routine activities, the number of confusions and misunderstandings at the workplace is minimized, and it ensures the continuity of operations. As a result, a significant amount of costs are saved, which leads to the increased performance parameters of organizations. With the help of such systems, every employee can see whether the operation is being carried out in accordance with the standards and expectations.
Visual management is also an essential source of information for management; through viewing metrics and charts, managers can quickly locate the problem and take appropriate measures to solve it. Liff and Posey (37) explain that visual management provides stakeholders with the improved information sharing, which eventually leads to enhanced organizational performance. In light of the arguments laid out above, it seems justified to claim that the use of visual management in modern organizations is an important factor that positively affects the productivity of employees and decreases operational costs.
- Liff, Stewart and Pamela Ashley Posey. Seeing Is Believing: How the New Art of Visual Management Can Boost Performance Throughout Your Organization. New York: AMACOM, 2004.
