I recently visited the UK and had a wonderful Christmas present, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds immersive experience. This experience had a unique mix of live action, multisensory effects and virtual reality bring the Martian adventure to life and all set to Jeff Wayne’s iconic score.

Like any “Process Improvement Nerd” I observed the whole experience from the check-in process through to the customer feedback loop and what impressed me the most was the use of Visual Management.

Lean can be an effective tool to increase efficiency and productivity, but visual management plays a crucial role in its implementation. Visual reminders of goals and progress can help employees stay on track and build momentum towards success.

So how did this weave its way into the War of the Worlds? Well right from the start we were given colour bands to represent out timed allocation for starting the two-hour experience. The Martian’s eyes in the bar would light up to indicate your groups session was about to begin. Throughout the experience as we transitioned through the 24 different scenes, and I observed lots of visual cues that the cast used to keep the flow of the adventure.

Lean can often be misunderstood, but Visual Management is key to making sure it succeeds. Employers need to have systems in place that use visuals or symbols to help people remember and understand goals, tasks and processes for their employees to successfully implement Lean. What strategies have you used for visual management in your organisation?

#visualmanagement #lean