Working Naked

Here is a concise illustrated guide to the methods of visualising work that have been so successful for Teal Unicorn in improving how clients get the job done, especially Value Stream Mapping, Kanban, and Obeya, plus many others including some of our own.

Since the late 20th Century, there has been a sea-change in how societies think about work. Better ways of working are changing how people work. At Teal Unicorn, we coach, train, and consult on these - we call it Open Work - with many clients, bringing them success, productivity, and flourishing staff.

One aspect of these better ways of work deserves special attention: visualising work, putting information where everyone can see it. This is important to build communication, coordination, and collaboration. You get things done better, with less mistakes or confusion. Workers feel involved and committed, and can see what is fair. We focus on that one aspect in this book.

We look at the new ideas of visualisation, and what they look like in the workplace, with examples and discussion. This book will focus on a few techniques made as simple as possible from our experience, the ones we use the most:

• Kanban
• Obeya
• Value Stream Mapping

You will take away greater understanding, and some practical methods to try at work. We will give you tips on how to get started and how to improve.

Working transparently can be challenging. It can feel like working naked. We are not asking you to do that, but any change in how you dress can take time to get used to. This is the same: take the time to try visualising work, get the hang of it, get comfortable being seen, and see the benefits for yourself. You'll get used to it.