There are different types of management, specific for each manager. Authoritative, transversal, benevolent, positive, “laisser-faire”, each manager decides on the method that suits him and that seems – a priori – the most suitable for his team and the goals he wants to achieve.
But when you are faced with a team consisting of several collaborators, who differ in their skills, as well as in their personalities and feelings, it is sometimes difficult to apply the same rule to everyone.
Since then, the Anglo-Saxons invented a type of management based on the visualization of information: visual management, visibly adapted to the greatest number of people.
What kind of management is this? What does it consist of? What are the advantages? Explanations.
What is visual management?
Definition of visual management
Visual management, as the name suggests, characterizes transmission and perception of information, in visual form. Moreover, some experts call it “Management and organization through vision”. The goal of this method is based on three pillars. Restore data:
- concrete;
- visible;
- noticeable.
And that for all employees, regardless of hierarchical level. Visual management is integrated into the process lean management.
Definition of lean management
Lean management is a way of managing and organizing work, the primary goal of which is to improve the company’s performance. To achieve this, efforts will focus on quality, profitability of production.
Lean management is also known as “lean management”, “lean management” or “lean” management.
What does visual management look like?
Visual control is, for example:
- Make a schedule with colors (for each employee);
- Create an action plan in tabular form using collaboration tools highlighting goals, strategies and means to be achieved, fully interactive;
- Use Images before/after explain the benefits of the product, service or service and convince your teams;
- Create some diagrams, colorful diagrams evaluate a project or report results instead of producing a 2-page text report;
- Create some visual practice sheets explain the process in
- Use it visual marking in the company’s premises: the path to be taken, direction of traffic, quiet areas, etc.;
- Transform your offices: paper boards, large Velléda whiteboards, post-it notes are available, to invite employees to draw a diagram to immediately explain the concept;
- etc.
Photo credit: Istock-Catherine Falls Commercial
Why are visual elements effective?
Several studies have been conducted on the subject. Why do images and visuals have such an impact?
The SAGE Handbook of Political Communication, published in 2012, already discovered that they are individuals able to grasp the meaning of the visual in less than a tenth of a second only. Moreover, a visual display will be included 60,000 times faster than text ! Therefore, you save phenomenal time when transferring information.
In addition, images seem to be easier to remember than text. This is explained by the fact that images are stored by the brain in long-term memory, while words are stored in short-term memory. Some studies even point to a rather significant fact: the individual reads the text and looks at the picture. Two weeks later, he remembers Only 10 to 20% of what he read. On the other hand, he is able to at least remember 50% of observed vision!
What are the benefits of visual management for a company?
If visual perception is worth more than words, then the benefits for the company are significant.
Project management
Thanks to visual management, you succeed – especially as a project manager – yes highlight key information to take into account or not to forget.
You give teams the opportunity to better visualize project stages, process efficiency and the overall action plan to follow.
Thanks to the visuals, you facilitate decision-making because data speaks more and stands out faster.
Photo credit: iStock – courtneyk
Team management
Offer visual management to your team strengthens bonds, group cohesion and collective dynamics. That way it becomes a habit to centralize information. This sharing improves communication between each stakeholder, encourages cooperationand enables employees to be more involved thanks to the overall vision which gives meaning to their actions.
In addition, it requires little creativity from them, which by force of chance generates more ideas! They will need to use software to bring their ideas to life in visual form, etc.
Manager’s attitude
Working with a team made up of unique collaborators, all different, with different working methods and ways of communicating, requires a lot of effort.
As a leader, you are committed lead your team to success so everyone can thrive while achieving the company’s goals. Visual management aims simplify communication making it more explicit. Then it becomes accessible to everyone, easy to understand and limits interpretations or bad assumptions.
Indeed, explaining an idea can be complicated. You know what you’re talking about, it’s very clear in your head, you think you are, it’s just that the transmission of the message by your interlocutor is difficult. The message is then received according to the beliefs of your interlocutor, their analysis of your words, their personal perception, their background, their emotions. This is where visual management is effective: in just a few seconds, you get rid of – by itself – the verbal form that causes misunderstandings, for a more objective visual form.
It’s one thing to tell your employees that a strategy will increase revenue. But if you show it to them through a meaningful visual, it will have more of an impact on them!
Visual management is very effective in many ways. However, care should be taken use the right supports, adapted to all your employees, design visuals together to engage and involve all stakeholders. Don’t forget to make them develop according to your expectations, but also the needs of the team. This then requires transparent communication, where everyone feels comfortable proposing new ideas, new tools and asking for additional explanations. The notion of accessibility is also important if you have in your team people suffering from vision problems or dyslexia, for example.