Standardized Work: What Is It and Where Is It Used?

Standardized work (SW) is a methodology built on established consistencies within work processes, and is the cornerstone of all continuous improvement programs. Standardized work creates stability, cuts down on waste, increases uptime and efficiency and can result in more job satisfaction among workers and supervisors.

This methodology seeks to define standards for any given type of work or procedure for that type of work. Rather than static, set-in-stone mandates, standardized work methods should adapt to changes within an organization and allow for continuous improvements and adjustments as needed.

“Without standards, there can be no improvement.” – Taiichi Ohno, Founder of the Toyota Production System

Before we proceed, we need to define some key terms and the important distinctions between them.

Rather than taking a subjective or biased approach to improvement, the standardized work method serves to distinguish between normal and abnormal when judging quality.

Standard work methods can be applied to:

• Operating procedures
• Work locations
• Machinery or technology used
• Production sequencing
• Safety measures
• Quality checks
• Worker-supervisor communications
• Training and onboarding
• Customer service interactions
• And much more

The benefits of standardizing work processes are many and varied, and each organization will experience its own unique positive results. In general, standardized work delivers the following benefits:

Increased Efficiency

• Increases worker productivity
• Provides structure
• Saves time
• Makes waste more visible
• Cuts down on waste
• Establishes predictability
• Matches output with customer demand
• Makes issues easier to identify
• Allows workers to identify more areas for improvement
• Simplifies the employee onboarding process
• Flattens the learning curve
• Allows supervisors to focus on higher priorities

Improved Safety Measures

• Ensures best practices are followed
• Mitigates worker burnout
• Reduces workplace stress
• Establishes consistent safety protocols

Better Communication

• Makes workplace knowledge accessible to all
• Supports employee ownership and engagement
• Enables problem solving at all levels
• Gives workers tools to resolve issues
• Increases employee satisfaction and morale

Improved Financials

• Increases uptime and revenue
• Cuts down on operational costs
• Helps with budget planning
• Increases product quality and customer satisfaction

By design, all parties related to an organization benefit from standardized work — from the CEO to the frontline leader to the consumer. More specifically:

Employees

Workers who follow standard work procedures experience more job satisfaction and a lower rate of burnout, since there is a far lower chance of making mistakes or experiencing miscommunication with coworkers or supervisors. Standardized work can also empower employees to identify areas for improvement, which can result in a sense of ownership and competency within their profession.

Supervisors

Whether they oversee a plant, department or frontline workers, supervisors who help to implement standardized work processes find that communication becomes easier and onboarding becomes less of a hassle. When workers know exactly what to do during their shift, supervisors can find more time to address higher-priority issues that will help the organization as a whole.

Executives

If operations within an organization become more streamlined, it can help cut down on waste, increase output and free up budgetary resources for allocation elsewhere. Improved productivity is good news for executives, as are better worker communication and improved safety measures.

Customers

When organizations have standards in place to address production, quality, customer service, order fulfillment and interdepartmental communication, customers are almost always guaranteed high-quality products, efficient and effective customer service and decreased wait times. When an organization can meet (or exceed) the customer’s expectations, customer loyalty and satisfaction increases.

Standardized work can also be an answer to systemic issues organizations have struggled with in the past, including:

• Failure to sustain the results from past improvement strategies
• Problems keeping or training new employees
• Inability to guarantee or work within consistent timeframes
• Inability to keep up with demand OR overproduction when demand falls

Standardized work is not meant to be a rigid set of standard operating procedures. While work standards are established to simplify and define processes so that everyone across the workplace spectrum knows their responsibilities, the right standardized work training and coaching programs leave room for continuous improvement. It helps to think of standardized work procedures as the most current best practices, rather than rules carved in stone.

Standardized work as a methodology was developed by Mr. Isao Kato for the Toyota Motor Corporation as part of his decades-long commitment to improving production at the company’s facilities, both in Japan and overseas. Kato based his standardization framework on the ancient philosophy of kaizen — literally, “small change.” Kaizen emphasizes that large problems can be solved by addressing issues on a much smaller scale and making incremental changes over a period of time. Work standards act as anchor points for a thousand small issues which, if addressed using the kaizen principle, can result in positive change across an entire organization.

As Dr. Robert Maurer, author of The Spirit of Kaizen, says, “Standardization allows everyone to look for incremental ways to make improvements, even as you formalize the process.” In a way, we can consider standardized work to be “structured creativity,” as it leaves room for workers to identify areas for improvement and gives supervisors the tools to adapt strategies to suit multiple applications.

Any element of work that occurs more than once and follows a regular process can be standardized.

Clear examples include machine or equipment operations, cleaning procedures, safety measures and packing protocols; less obvious examples can include customer service scripts, design processes and teaching (or training) frameworks. If supervisors or executives are wondering whether a process should be standardized, they can ask themselves or their employees what, if any, steps in a process could benefit from greater consistency. Chances are good that opportunities for standardization will be quickly identified.

When standardizing work, one needs to clearly define the content, sequence, timing and desired outcomes of the work. While it may be simple to imagine this process in a manufacturing context, for instance, let’s use a slightly less intuitive example: a barber shop. But how can you standardize a haircut?

Every barber shop or hair salon has a process for booking appointments, shampooing and preparing clients’ hair, cleansing tools and stations, assessing client needs, completing transactions and communicating aftercare instructions. While individual haircuts and client requests vary greatly, standardizing the basic procedures involved can promote efficiency, clear communication, cleanliness and overall customer satisfaction with the outcome.

Even with such variable content as a haircut, organizations can average the amount of time it takes to complete an entire process, and therefore can establish an effective daily schedule and even predict revenue for any given timeframe.

Of course, any task that requires employees to use individual discretion or has no consistent process cannot be standardized. However, the framework around these variabilities can be standardized — even the process an artist uses to prepare can follow a set pattern of conceptualizing, sketching and gathering supplies. And every artist, whether they are painting a picture, writing a novel or playing jazz, employs basic patterns and skills they have learned and practiced even as they create their unique artistic contribution.

It takes time to identify how best to standardize procedures, so brand-new processes often pose a challenge. An excellent (and timely) example of this is the mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign that began in the U.S. in December 2020. Our country’s health infrastructure had never experienced a campaign on such a massive scale, so a standard procedure needed to be established in order to vaccinate the most people in the shortest amount of time. By the time the general population was eligible for the vaccine — a mere four months later — most of the nation’s 316 million-plus recipients experienced an orderly, efficient and quick procedure. Patient registration, check-in, shot administration, wait times and follow-up booking procedures were all standardized, so that people from San Diego to Boston shared very similar experiences. This was an unusual but crucial example of a rapid standardization that worked.

Every organization, big or small, has a standardized procedure for something. In order for this standard procedure to work, however, it needs to be used consistently. If a standard doesn’t seem to be working for a particular application, chances are it has more to do with the implementation process, rather than the application’s fitness for standardization. A certified trainer can help identify necessary changes, whether that means better training or slight adjustments to the standard.

When an organization identifies the need for standardized work processes, it can be helpful to have the objective input of outside instructors. While these instructors may not be experts in your workers’ specific fields, they will be able to spot excess waste (of time, energy, materials, etc.) and address areas that would benefit from standardization.

Standardized work principles can often be applied following this process:

1. Observe and collect data on your current operations and analyze your current output, internal interactions, costs and revenue, etc.
2. Take note of variations and issues in your processes or product quality.
3. Find the most efficient way to run your operations — this can be identified and developed with the help of a certified trainer.
4. Document everything along the way!
5. Improve your training and onboarding programs to lock in standards and break down knowledge silos.
6. Continue to improve the standards you develop.

During the instruction and implementation process, trainers will suggest using your organization’s mission statement as a conceptual touchstone. A company’s culture should be fully aligned with the development of its people, no matter their position, and should support continuous improvement.

An example of this is the Toyota Motor Corporation’s motto: “Making things means making people.” As the crucible for modern standardized work methods, Toyota upholds its mission by fostering a company-wide culture of continuous improvement. As long as workers and supervisors understand how standardization can support and further the organization’s larger mission (and vice versa), they see the value of standardized work training.

Though most people within an organization can see the benefit of standardized work, it’s not unusual for some members to express resistance. Some workers, especially those who have been doing their jobs for many years, don’t see the value of standardization when they’ve been perfectly successful doing things their way. Supervisors, too, may take issue with being told by outside instructors how to manage their own departments.

This is where the Job Relations (JR) portion of a SW course comes into play. JR instruction — a component of TWI integration — teaches supervisors how to handle problems, enables positive interactions between coworkers and management and emphasizes teamwork as the bedrock for workplace success. Once they understand the outcomes of better communication and collaboration, many of those who are resistant to workplace change will agree that standardization will improve and not undermine their efficacy.

No matter the industry they’re addressing, effective standardized work trainers know to keep an open mind in the classroom and will emphasize that their input is meant to help your organization’s subject matter experts perform their jobs with fewer challenges. Rather than turning people into machines — or replacing them with automation — standardized work training aims to make workers’ relationship to their work more meaningful, successful and satisfying.

For more information about how a standardized work course can help bring out the best in your people, start a conversation with the TWI Institute.