For the first time in history, the coronavirus outbreak has led to a majority of workers becoming remote employees. For millions of workers this happened almost overnight and is the first time they have worked from home.

It’s an unsettling time. While no one has control over how fast or far the virus will spread, everyone does have control over their remote work environment. Fortunately, Lean and Six Sigma provide methods to make the adjustment successful, including the 5S method, the 5 Whys and DMAIC methodology.

Even Before the Pandemic, Remote Work Was Popular

Don’t expect remote work to end for everyone once COVID-19 is defeated. For years, companies have turned to using more remote workers. For example, Cisco reported saving $277 million annually by allowing employees to work from home. Those remote employees reported that they became more productive, enjoyed more work-life flexibility and experienced a higher level of job satisfaction.

Additionally, a Gallup survey found 20% of employees already work remotely full-time, while 43% work remotely some of the time.

The current situation is likely a glimpse, at least for some workers, into a future where home offices will become the usual, not an aberration.

Challenges of Working at Home

For those working at home for the first time, certain issues may arise that are new to them. Most fall within these categories.

Technical issues: Remote workers may experience issues in areas such as signing into the company computer system, videoconferencing, uploading documents, and moving files from a remote computer. Ask your company to have a central place where they have listed contact information for IT people, as well as solutions for frequent technical problems.

Training: Some people simply are not familiar with using internet-based communication tools. Rather than stress over it, ask for a training session on how to use all the tools you will need (such as Zoom or Slack).

Discipline: This falls on every employee. While managers can set daily and weekly goals, it’s up to employees to meet them. Doing so will require staying disciplined, because working at home provides plenty of distractions (kids, pets, Netflix). Set aside a part of your home to use only for work during the working hours of the day. Make sure everyone in the house understands that when you are in that area, you are not available for anything other than work.

That last part brings us to Lean Six Sigma, which provides tools and techniques that can help you set up a workspace that works best for you.

The 5S Method

The 5S method focuses on setting up an efficient workspace. Some companies have employees do it at their work stations in the office. It works for a home office, as well, especially since you likely will work in a smaller, confined space.

The 5S method works as follows.

  • Sort: Eliminate everything from your work area other than the items you need to do your job.
  • Set in order: As you move through the workday, place things where it is easier to find and reach them. In the area of “finding things”, you might want to consider using color-coding or labels as part of visual management.
  • Shine: Clean the work area, keeping it neat and tidy.
  • Standardize: Now that you have everything in order, set standards that will maintain that order (such as a cleaning schedule) so you don’t lose the progress you’ve achieved.
  • Sustain: Make a commitment to adhere to those standards, keep the gains you’ve made and adjust the first three steps as needed.

Using DMAIC for Time Management

Time management is always important, but never more so than when you work from home. The Six Sigma technique known as DMAIC can help in this area. DMAIC is an acronym for define, measure, analyze, improve and control.

In the define phase, you define the problem. In this situation, it’s typically “leaks” of time spent in non-work related activities. This expands the total time it takes to complete your daily job duties. It also reduces the amount of free time you enjoy each day.

In the measure phase, it’s time for honest evaluation. For example, are you spending two hours on lunch, therefore squeezing the time you have in the afternoon for work? Are you interrupting work to text with friends and family about virus updates? Or – and this is a very frequent issue – are you clicking away from work to read something on the internet? Determine how many total hours it is taking you to complete work each day and determine the goal you want to achieve.

In the analyze phase, look at your daily routine and find what is causing the defects – this is where the Five Whys tool could come into play.

In the improve phase, eliminate the root causes of your issues. For example, are lunches long because you cook from scratch each day and watch television while you eat? Would cooking meals in advance on the weekends or in the evening help? Would strict rules about having the television on during the workday solve that issue?

In the control phase, commit to doing things differently to avoid wasting time and help you complete your work more efficiently. Modify your new plan as needed.

Consider Using the Five Whys Method

The Five Whys is an ingenious invention that takes the childlike wonder of always asking “why” and turns it into a way to get to the root cause of a problem. You first state the problem, then ask a series of questions that peel away the layers of the problem until you arrive at the root cause of why something keeps happening. It usually takes just five questions. For examples, read this.

These Lean and Six Sigma methods can help you successfully set up a home office. As millions have found, you can become more productive working at home. It just takes planning, discipline and effort to accomplish.