insight : welton hong
Your Virtual Online Marketing Workroom Guide
How a Japanese business methodology can be used to shine up your online marketing efforts
BY WELTON HONG
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n the middle of the 20th century, leaders at Toyota Industries in Japan developed a series of efficiency and quality methodologies that would later become popular in a wide range of industries. They were the root of popular methods such as Six Sigma and Lean Process Management, which help businesses of all types and sizes do more with less, increase customer satisfaction and decrease error rates.
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One of the methodologies developed by Toyota was 5S. In English, the Ss stand for Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. It’s a visual management concept that focuses on organizing, cleaning and maximizing efficiency within any type of work space. You might be using it in your workrooms, warehouses or office spaces—or even leaning on some of the fundamentals without being aware they come from 5S.
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NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2020 | wf-vision.com
The principles of 5S apply to virtual work spaces and processes as well. Anytime you’re involved in a virtual process—such as online marketing—that involves disparate resources, people and workflows, it can be a good idea to use 5S to streamline things and ensure everyone has what they need to get the job done. Here’s what 5S might look like in your online marketing process.
SORT
In a physical situation, sort involves going through all the inventory, supplies or tools in the space, keeping only the ones you need to get the job related to that space done. In an online marketing situation, sort can take on several meanings: •
Reviewing all the pages on your site to find ones that are no longer relevant or performing. Do you have a landing page for a product you no longer offer? Is one of your blog posts drawing little or no traffic? Identifying these pages helps you know where work is needed on your website.
