A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE

When it comes to good housekeeping, no one could have put it more aptly than Benjamin Franklin himself, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, in his famous quote: "A place for everything, everything in its place".

Housekeeping has evolved into a science and a form of discipline.  Whenever the word organization pops up, housekeeping is more than likely to pop up as well. The  Occupational Safety and Health Administration or (OSHA) outlined the benefits of  good housekeeping practices and continues to implement these guidelines to promote and sustain safe workplaces.

Housekeeping, according to Dictionary.com is management of household affairs.  It has been a household name for quite sometime now.  Its social significance dates back to the 1800's and was best described in Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, an extensive guide to running a household in Britain during the Victorian era.

Through the years, housekeeping has been regarded as more that than just a household name.  In the business perspective, housekeeping is about management, care, and servicing of property and equipment of an industrial or commercial building or organization.  It is a set of ongoing routine, procedures, operations, and management of business operations, may it be commercial, government, or non profit organizations.

What is good housekeeping or 5S?

Good housekeeping, for the purpose of this blog, is summed up with 5 words that begin with the letter S.  Hence, the term 5S.

The term comes from the five Japanese words: 

• SEIRI (Sort), 
• SEITON (Set in Order)
• SEISO (Shine)
• SEIKETSU (Standardize) 
• SHITSUKE (Sustain)

Each S-Word pertains to a part of a 5-Step process.  Let's go over them one by one.

SORT (Seiri)

Have you ever felt lost in the midst of a huge clutter, and asked yourself, HOW ON EARTH DID I END UP HERE?  The answer is you SHOULDN'T HAVE. To avoid getting lost in space, one needs to sort by following the simple rule of "Good In, Bad OuT"

or 

GIBOT

"Good In" - Retain; 

"Bad OuT" - Remove either for good or temporarily/tentatively.  

Just to clear the air, "Bad" in this rule is simply used in the context of housekeeping, which is the topic of discussion.

This phase of 5S is OBJECT-ORIENTED.  Sorting involves going through your tools, furniture, materials, equipment, etc., whatever and wherever they are, and DECIDE what to RETAIN and what to REMOVE.

Below are questions you need to ask when sorting:

1. What is the purpose of this item?
2. When was this item last used?
3. How frequently is it used?
4. Who uses it?
5. Does it really need to be here?

It all boils down to the VALUE of each item.  Ask yourself "Can this space be better off with or without this?" If you share the same space with someone else, you need to assess together and come up with the final answer.  Because, chances are, what you consider as TRASH is another man's TREASURE.  Yes, everyone has a say.  But, you need to arrive at a final decision and the guide questions above will certainly help you to get there.

Should you decide that an item is trash, you can:

• Give them to someone else who may have a need for it
• Recycle/throw away/sell the items or
• Put items into storage

If an item's value is uncertain, use the RED tag method.  You can come up with your own version of red tagging (cardboard, stickers, etc.)  as long as the tag bears the following information:

1. Location
2. Description
3. Name of person applying the tag
4. Date of application

All red tag items MUST to be stored in a RED tag area, a dedicated box or area for items with uncertain value.  If, after an agreed upon or designated amount of time the item remains unused, then it's time to remove it from that area since it is not worth hanging onto and it only takes up space.  

TIP:  Use your smartphone or your computer calendar to set a reminder to check your red tag area.

SET IN ORDER (Seiton)

Hooray! You finally got rid of the extra clutter, so give yourself a pat on the shoulder!  NOW, you can set things in order!

Things to consider when setting things in order:

1. Which people uses which items?
2. When are they used?
3. Which items are used most frequently?
4. Where and how would it be logical to place them?
5. Do you need more storage containers to keep things organized?

The Set phase of 5S is TASK-ORIENTED.  This is where you will think through tasks, the frequency of these tasks, and the path people take to accomplish these tasks.

Let's take for example your coffee station.  To make coffee, you need to place together the coffee maker/water percolator,  coffee mugs/cups, coffee, sugar, cream, and stirrer/teaspoons. The goal is for you to reach any of these items with an acceptable level of ease, comfort and safety you can RELY ON, REPEATEDLY.

TIP:  Consider and manage the layout of your space or area to increase mobility and decrease the time required to complete a task. 

SHINE (Seiso)

Housekeeping is a household name, everybody knows it, but not everybody loves it. Let's face it, most of us put it off especially when the work gets busy or when we just feel tired or just don't feel like doing it that "Heck! It can wait!".

The Shine phase of 5S is MAINTENANCE-ORIENTED, which means, you got it - CLEANING UP! As in sweeping, mopping, dusting, wiping down surfaces, storing tools and materials back to their original place, checking inventory, turning off what you turned on, etc. In addition to cleaning, Shine means performing REGULAR maintenance that requires planning ahead of time to catch potential problems and prevent breakdowns.  How important is this?  It means better use of your time, more savings and less chances of burnouts.

Let's take for example the coffee station again. If you love coffee the way I do, you most certainly need to check your consumables and restock if necessary.  You should also clean or descale your coffee maker every 3 months to remove hard water minerals that can build up over time, which could affect how well it works.  There should be a waste receptacle nearby to put away coffee pods and creamer or sugar sachets.  These are just sample maintenance checklists you may have for a coffee station.

Shining is important and it is EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY.

I cannot emphasize it enough - CLEAN AS YOU GO. 

TIP: Cleaning is important but doing it right is equally essential.  Use the right cleaners, mark where cleaning materials are stored, make sure to post "HOW TO's" of equipment cleaning, especially if such equipment are prone to damages due to improper use. 

STANDARDIZE (Seiketsu)

You've done sorting as well as setting the place in order and shining it.  Is the job done? NO.  So what's next?

Put your thinking hat on again and ask yourself: "How do I prevent things from sliding back to the way they were?  How do I prevent clutter from building up again?"

The Standard phase is PROCESS-ORIENTED.  Standardizing puts 5S a level higher from your usual spring-cleaning program.   A daily, weekly, or monthly CHECKLIST or chart will be useful.  Checklists serve as reminder of who does what and when.  Who takes out the garbage every Tuesday?  Who does the laundry this week? Who checks the pantry inventory this month?  So on and so forth.

Why do we need a checklist? Some people downplay the power of making and retaining checklists.  Some say it's all in their heads, they don't need to write it down.  But what does a checklist effectively provide as far as process is concerned? CONSISTENCY.  A process based on loose notes is not consistent.  It will not work.

Some organizations are using the chart called RACI, an acronym that stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed, to identify and delegate each task.

RACI follows these simple rules:

• Every task has at least one Responsible person.
• There’s one (and only one!) Accountable party assigned to each task to allow for clear decision-making.
• No member is overloaded with too many responsibilities.
• Everyone has a role on each task and, in most cases, most folks need to be Informed on most tasks.
• If one is assigned a lot of Consulted and Informed roles a chart, there should be a way to ensure that the information is easily relayed or delivered.

RACI is most useful for project management and business organizations but it can also be applied at the home front. (Check out YouTube:  RACI explained its simple yet powerful).

TIP:  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Make use of visuals such as labels, posters, floor markings, tool organizers, etc. to effectively provide directions and instructions to keep items in place.   

SUSTAIN (Shitsuke)

Once the process is standardized, how do we sustain it? Creating the ideal 5S household and/or workplace and launching it is half the success.   Keeping the boat afloat is the actual clincher.

The Sustain phase of 5S is BEHAVIOR-ORIENTED.  Which makes this phase very challenging to manage.  Why?  Because every person is unique, hence, everyone is motivated differently.  And honestly, 5S requires a huge dose of effective motivation and follow-through.

You could have have all these moving parts within a process to keep the system well-oiled but to sustain it requires a higher degree of commitment. And commitment is not a common attribute.  Bringing it on the table takes a lot of convincing power.

For the system to work and remain running smoothly, everyone in the household or workplace must be ENGAGED and  INVOLVED.  Everyone has to buy into it and own it.

5S is both a form of SCIENCE and a set of DISCIPLINE that begins as a HABIT and eventually becomes a CULTURE of responsibility and accountability.  The 5S mindset is not a one-shot deal - it is a long-term commitment that requires everyone's attention and dedication to actually WORK.

TIP:  Engagement is the key. Keep things interesting and rewarding. There is always something new about 5S that you can apply or reinforce to get people involved, sustain the system and promote continuous improvement. 

IN A NUTSHELL:

Good housekeeping or 5S is a cycle of success which is to:

SORT and DECIDE what to RETAIN and REMOVE

SET items IN a RELIABLE ORDER

SHINE by CLEANING UP as YOU GO

STANDARDIZE the PROCESS based on CONSISTENCY

SUSTAIN a CULTURE of DISCIPLINE and COMMITMENT

PROLOGUE:

Keeping everything in its place and having a place for everything is easier said than done, but, it's attainable and sustainable with the right mindset and motivation.

There is a vast inventory of online resources on 5S available for purposes of education. But, the success factors would still be its execution and implementation.  5S does work but its success relies on time, knowledge, commitment and good old-fashioned common sense. 

#APlaceForEverything
#EverythingInItsPlace
#HR
#HouR