is a strategic planning tool used to connect company-wide objectives to specific projects that individuals are working onworks as a continuous cycle of planning and improvement

The Hoshin Kanri method

Japanese “hoshin” = “policy” or “direction”“kanri” = “management”The phrase all together roughly = “How do we manage our direction?”

origins

The goal of Hoshin Kanri is for everyone in the company to push towards the same goal at the same time. This happens through a flow of feedback called the Hoshin Kanri Catchball<ol><li>strategic team pushes strategy down to the individuals for their daily work</li><li>individuals follow that</li><li>the rate at which individual contributors produce is provided back up to the strategic team to help them analyze and adjust strategy</li></ol>

how it works

five main sections in compass pattern:<ul><li>Long-term strategic objectives go in the southern section.</li><li>Annual objectives go in the western section.</li><li>Improvement initiatives go in the northern section.</li><li>Improvement targets or KPIs go in the eastern section.</li><li>Resources go in the far east section.</li></ul>When reading a Hoshin Kanri matrix, start at the bottom and work your way clockwise.

the five main sections 

small dots in the corners represent how each initiative or objective connects back to each otherThe resources on the far right identify which team member is responsible for which improvement initiative and KPI.

the dots

Strategic objectives—sometimes called breakthrough objectives—are the changes your organization needs to make in order to achieve the vision aim for about three or four that are longer-term and take three to five years to achievefar bottom of the chart

strategic objectives 

annual goals / objectives breaking strategic objective down into smaller short-term goals makes the large goal feel more manageableAim to set anywhere from two to 10 annual goalsmake then SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound)decide on kpis for each objective this is the section on the left-hand side of the chart.

annual goals

Kpis tracks your team’s progress towards annual goalsKpis = key business success metric

kpis 

<ol><li>make vision statement </li><li>make strategic objectives </li><li>make annual goals & kpis </li><li>make improvement Initiatives</li><li>execute plan</li><li>do annual review </li><li>do monthly review </li></ol>

The 7 steps of Hoshin Kanri planning

break down your annual goals even further into actionable tasks that are specific to each team or department that they will work towards in order to help the company hit its larger goals(different teams will have different strategiesteam will begin to understand the work necessary to accomplish your yearly objectivesthe top section of a Hoshin Kanri matrix

improvement Initiative 

can use continuous improvement strategies such as the Six Sigma DMAIC model, the Kaizen methodology, or the PDCA cycleproduction begins and feedback goes from production up to strategy

execute  

Check in on your goals and the work being done towards them to ensure the two are alignedUsing feedback from production team, take a step back from the day-to-day work and look at how you’re currently maintaining progress. What’s going well? What can be improved?

monthly reviews 

<ul><li>asanalets lets you create and track goals in the same place your team stores and tracks their day-to-day work</li><li>automated reminders that prompt you to update and review your goals on a monthly basis</li></ul>

project management tools examples

after a year, you do annul review What are things you learned this year that you can implement for the next project cycle? start the process over and set new goals for the coming year

annual review 

<ul><li>easy to read</li><li>clearly breaks down a big-picture strategy</li><li>quickly know who is responsible for what</li></ul>

pros of Hoshin Kanri 

<ul><li>might not be easy to read if you have long dependencies (try the critical path method / cpm)</li><li>can only break it down 4 ways (try the waterfall methodology)</li><li>doesn’t work well with quick changes (try the waterfall methodology)</li></ul>

cons of 

Identify your organization’s key mission, vision, and values. This is commonly done in the form of a vision statement. A vision statement should support your team’s long-term goals and connect them back to your company’s mission statement.

vision statement 

a visual representation of the Hoshin Kanri planning processindividuals can understand how their specific work relates back up to longer-term objectives

The Hoshin Kanri matrix (or X-matrix)

Hoshin Kanri is a planning tool that connects company-wide objectives to an individual’s work. Learn more about how this tool can help your team.