The process of Sustain involves maintaining the status quo. Once you have done all of the work to get your workplace into the well-oiled machine that you have developed, the last thing you want to have happen is for it to all fall apart. You need to work to maintain the current standard that the team has agreed upon.

So, how do you sustain your workplace organization? A quick audit can tell you. Are all items in their specified place? Do you have the tools to do your job? Are they easily located and put back in their place after use? Is your team following the standards they previously set? Most of these audit questions can be answered in your “Sweep” procedure that you have previously established. You don’t have to plan a big hairy project to see that you are sustaining your progress.

But what should you consider if your team is not sustaining this new workplace organization? Remember that this new way may be the result of a process improvement project. Perhaps not all staff may have taken part in that project and may have had this new system thrust upon them. This new system may be a culture change in process. Deep culture change is hard. It takes discipline. Behavioral changes are hard. New habits are hard.

So, how do you know when a culture change has occurred in your workplace? Culture change has occurred when employees are proud of the change. And how do you make that happen? Generally, it happens when employees feel part of the process and when the change of process is an improvement that makes their job easier and more efficient. When the change has been accepted, adopted and no one is grouchy about it, a new normal has been established.

That is not to say that you can’t ever improve on the current standards. If and when the standards change, you need to be able to respond to those changes. Also, if your team identifies a better way, then you need to be able to adopt that way into your process and system.