Leader standard work poster

Leader standard work is the routine a leader follows every day to keep the process healthy: walking the area at set times, checking the visual boards, following up open actions, auditing a standard and coaching people. The closer a leader is to the work, the more of the day it fills. David Mann puts it at about 80% for team leaders, 50% for supervisors and 25% for value stream managers. This poster draws that pyramid and lists what goes in the routine.

Download the poster

The PNG is free to download now. The print-ready vector PDFs open after a short form, once.

Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 348 KB · no form

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The words on the poster

Leader standard work

The closer to the work, the more of the day is routine.

Less of the day is routine to more of the day is routine

25% Value stream manager
50% Supervisor
80% Team leader

What the routine holds

Walk the area at set times
Check the visual boards
Follow up open actions
Audit one standard
Coach one person
Lead the team meeting

Checked like any standard: the next leader up looks at it, every day.

Typical shares of the day, after David Mann, Creating a Lean Culture (Productivity Press, 2005). Guides, not rules.

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the Leader standard work poster to work

1
Put it in the team leaders' office or by the leader standard work boards.
2
Use it when writing leader standard work for a new role: how much of the day should be fixed?
3
Check it in a review: is the routine done, and is it checked by the next leader up?
4
Pair it with the free leader standard work templates for each level.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.

Sources and notes

The shares are guides from one widely used book, not rules. Plants set their own, and senior managers have a smaller share still.

David Mann, Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions (Productivity Press, 2005): leader standard work and the share of the day it takes at each level.