What is Hoshin Kanri and why should I know about it?

Hoshin/X-Matrix….what?

So Hoshin Kanri and X-matrix’s (matrices?) are the same thing. It is essentially an effective method of aligning high-level strategic goals to the actual work being done on a daily basis and using data to measure it effectively. It is something that is often missing from even the most mature businesses working through their Lean journey. Often leaders are adept at recognising market trends and planning a future state aiming at growth whether that be across 3, 5 or 10 years. As clear as the image may be among the executives around what the future company will look like, what industries they operate in or what products and services they will offer this can often be lost or misconstrued in translation and communication. Leading to poorly performing projects or general people disengagement.

Why that is an issue…

Whether you are a relatively new organisation or expanding going from strength to strength, communication can be a major issue and significantly impact business productivity, efficiency and utilisation. Waste is apparent and can be found in any business, but the most frustrating thing is when a lot of work is done to not have the impact you thought it was going to have. Developing a strategic plan that links strategic goals, annual objectives, projects, actions and KPIs gives clarity and assurance that you are engaging everyone in your business effectively and that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Aside from the general benefits of planning ahead, Hoshin has more specific benefits that may be overlooked by the more old-school business planning techniques. 

It drives engagement, by showcasing and highlighting the direction the company is moving and how everyone is impacted, and how they are specifically adding value by being involved in their initiative. While connecting different teams that otherwise wouldn’t necessarily realise how their projects or tasks overlap, it effectively sets priorities when there is a decision to be made and allows the business to move strategically with insight and data rather than as the wind blows.

But a key aspect of Hoshin Kanri is that it is a live document, it is meant for change. As a project closes or market forces shift so can business priorities. Hopefully, you are not the same business at the end of the year that started it, so why would you stick to the exact same tasks if they are no longer applicable or need to change to reflect? Hoshin Kanri is a method of ensuring the business maintains the path toward its strategic goals and clearly communicates it with those that matter. 

What does Hoshin deliver?:

• Provides clarity and a visible link to objectives
• Makes projects and objectives highly visible to all in the organisation
• Provides accountability and individual responsibility
• Showcases successes
• Improves communication and understanding
• Stops people from working on the wrong things wasting effort, stops two people working on the same thing in different ways and treading on each other’s toes

I could go on…

How do I start Hoshin Kanri?

The way to start is by reflecting on your business’s current state, understanding what you are good at, not so good at, where you have opportunities and where there are threats. From there decide where you want to be, and set a goal of when you want to achieve it. 

As an organisation leader select a number of strategic objectives, then with your team decide on annual objectives that directly influence the success or failure of the strategic goals. Define what you need to do throughout the year to achieve those strategic goals in 3/5/10 years. 

Then develop a number of tasks/activities or projects that will drive the success of the annual objectives, not forgetting to include accountable owners, sponsors and target completion dates. This is the “how we get there part”, so make sure no details are spared and everyone is clear about what and why the decisions have been made. 

Finally, decide what metrics to measure and define KPIs that will showcase the progress of the project(s) and highlight whether the tasks are supporting the link back to the strategic goals or not. 

Contact us

Starting Hoshin Kanri can be a daunting task that often can leave you feeling like a rabbit in the headlights. But once the document is set up and everyone is aligned and bought into the principles, you will wonder how you operated without it. There is never a better time to start than right now, so if you feel like better strategic alignment with project deployment would benefit your business, then contact us here or alternatively leave a comment about your experiences below!