Free template
Idea suggestion form
An employee suggestion form is a short sheet on which anyone in the plant writes down a problem they see and their idea for fixing it, and on which a supervisor records the answer. It is the paper front end of a suggestion system, called kaizen teian in lean plants, where every idea gets a response. Page 1 of this template is the form: the problem, the idea, the expected benefit in safety, quality, delivery, cost or people, who could do it and a rough cost and time, then the supervisor's decision, the date it was put in place and a box for points or recognition. Page 2 is an idea log with days to answer. The Excel version is the log, with a status for each idea, a flag for ideas waiting past your response target, and counts.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use an idea suggestion form
- To start or restart a suggestion system in an area, with a box or a tray by the team board.
- Where people have no phone or computer at work, or would rather write an idea down.
- During an idea campaign on one problem, such as scrap or changeovers, so ideas arrive in the same format.
- Alongside a digital system, as the fallback for anyone who prefers paper.
How to fill it in
- 1
Put the forms where people work
Keep a stack by the team board or the idea box, with pens. Say who collects them and how often.
- 2
Write the problem first
Ask for what is wrong, where and how often before the idea. A clear problem makes a weak idea easy to improve.
- 3
Tick the benefit and a rough effort
Safety, quality, delivery, cost or people, and a guess at the cost and time. It helps the reviewer route the idea, and a guess is fine.
- 4
Answer every idea
The supervisor records the decision and the reason, and talks to the person. Agree a response time, for example a week, and keep to it.
- 5
Log it
Give each form a number and add it to the idea log. The Excel version works out the days to answer and flags ideas waiting too long.
- 6
Close the loop
When the idea is in place, write the date and the result, award the points and thank the person in front of the team.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: one month of ideas on the assembly lines of a small plant, with a response target of 7 days set by the plant manager.
- 31 ideas logged: 12 safety, 9 delivery, 6 quality and 4 cost.
- 26 answered within 7 days, 4 days on average. Five waited longer because the reviewer was away, and the log showed them as overdue.
- 18 approved, 3 approved with changes, 7 not approved with a reason given and 3 waiting for more information.
- One idea, a glove dispenser at each station instead of one at the far rack, was in place within two days.
The five overdue ideas went on the agenda for the weekly meeting, and the log gave the plant manager one number to watch: days to answer.
Common mistakes
No answer
An idea that disappears into a box teaches people to stop suggesting. A no with a reason is better than silence.
Asking for a business case
A long form puts people off. Keep it to one page and do the costing later, for the ideas that need it.
Judging the idea by its wording
A weak idea can point to a real problem. Read the problem box before you turn it down.
The supervisor does all the work
Where the person can put the idea in place themselves, let them. It is faster and they own the result.
Points without follow-through
Recognition matters, but people value seeing their idea used even more. Write the result on the form.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite operators submit an idea from a phone or a shared tablet, a reviewer approves it, rejects it with a reason or marks it as not a suggestion, and points, campaigns and a monthly leaderboard reward taking part.
In the lean glossary
Free tools
FAQ
Idea suggestion form: common questions
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A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.