There are a lot of books written on eliminating mistakes and rework on the shopfloor by implementing JIT, LEAN manufacturing and Six Sigma. The same principles have been successfully applied in several Office Setups. This blog is about applying it in a virtual office setup with data and communications as seen in MS Office or similar such applications.
The large cost of mistakes in a virtual office 🤯💥
In the corporate world mistakes in virtual office can be horribly expensive and embarrassing. It means that the manager and his team quickly lose credibility for a lot of good work done. In a worse case scenario, some people could lose jobs or business.
Along with indicating what type of errors happen, we have listed techniques and practices that we have successfully applied to eliminate different types of errors. These would eliminate a majority of the most frequent mistakes usually done by people.
We hope this blog will be of use to professionals in eliminating errors.
Important points to note:-
LEAN Approach ✔✔
It is to be understood that these are not one-off tricks for troubleshooting problems. We are recommending here a LEAN approach where we try to identify and eliminate root causes. Altogether these form a system of working somewhat like a LEAN culture where it becomes effective only if the individual or team adapts the entire set of techniques & practices as a way of everyday working in the virtual office.
Individual Centric 👨👩
The errors covered here are centered around systems that are individual centric and hence do not require cooperation from other people. They can be eliminated by people on their own by following good practices and having systematic work methods. Process related errors require the cooperation of other people as well and are harder to fix. This requires a separate writeup and is not covered in this blog.
Eliminating Calculation Errors 🧮
Calculation errors in today’s world of AI / ML appear strange, but occur all the time. Calculation errors happen where a total or average or some such statistic is displayed. Such errors are harder to detect visually because unless one actually does the calculation, the error does not become apparent. These are hence more dangerous. As a result these occur more frequently especially in spreadsheets and presentations giving them a bad name.
Insert rows tactfully
Very frequently, a table total or similar such operation is incorrect because some rows have got excluded from the calculation. These are eliminated by adopting good working practices such as always inserting rows in the middle of a table in a spreadsheet. Using formulae using bands along with keeping data within descriptive start and end rows is also effective.
Use Embedded Tables in decks
When tabular data is shown in slides, it is a good practice to use embedded spreadsheet tables with formulae in a deck so that even when the numbers change, the totals always add up or the statistic is always accurate.
Eliminating Logic Errors 🎌
Logical errors happen when the expected output is either an error or is incorrect in an obvious way. For example, the sum of positive numbers comes to zero or the maximum of a set of numbers throws up a number in between other numbers or the system throws an error. The system appears to behave in a weird manner. Here are some practices to eliminate logic errors.
Keep logics simple
A practice that is worth following is to keep the logics short and understandable with plenty of intermediate results. The issue here is not with the software or processor, but with human capability. The more complicated and lengthy a logic is, the harder it is to make out what is happening. Software programmers hence break the logic, by storing the code in modules and submodules. This is well established in software and is applicable to all areas where logics and calculations are to be applied.
Have Intermediate Checks
Secondly, break the flow into intermediate steps. Do not try to do and check everything at once. Check each step for correctness. That way we can trace the source of the error and eliminate it for good. Even while running a program in steady state after deployment, if the program is complex, breaking it down and running it step by step with a check after every step is the way to go. If it is Excel, break the logic down with short formulae in separate columns
Follow a Checklist
Finally, follow a checklist. Remember the checks they do before an airplane or rocket takeoff. When the system is complicated, an error can be costly in terms of time and efforts. Imagine just running through a routine of 50 steps to later discover an error at step 3. Taking a shortcut is just not worth it. Meticulously follow the checklist to get thighs right first time (RFT in LEAN terminology).
Eliminating Data Transfer Errors 🔁
When data transfers happen between two or more systems or databases, data managers use a few techniques for eliminating possibility of losing data
Keep a Totals Check
If one of the data transferred involves numbers, a totals check is a very effective check. if the numbers are classified, though a more thorough check would involve a sub totals check as well at a classification level.
Keep a Records Check
A next obvious thing to do is check the number of records in the source and target systems. But just checking the total number of records is not enough. A thorough check involves checking the presence of each record using a unique key. This procedure needs to be done both ways. In other words, we need to find out which records are in the source system which are not present in the target system. Vice versa, we need to also find out the presence of extra records in the target system which are not there in the source system.
Eliminating Communication Errors 📢
Communication errors are those that happen in presentations, newsletters or websites. The errors caused here are largely human and hence difficult to entirely eliminate. A few practices help
Predefined Formats
If there are multiple sources of information, asking sources to send data in predefined formats ensures that reformatting activity is kept to a minimum. This enables the coordinator to conserve energy for looking out for errors in content.
Multiple Proof Reads
If proofreading is done by oneself, it has been done with a fresh mind preferably with several hours or a few day’s gap in between. Merely reading a document multiple times in a time crunch does not solve the problem. If this is not possible, proofreading needs to be done by another person who has not worked on the document. If this is done multiple times, it has to be with a time gap. Also the more people are involved in proofreading, the lesser the mistakes in the document. Authors need to be careful here. Preferably, the proofreading should be done by people genuinely interested and affected by the subject who can contribute.
Format Checklist
Each type of deck has its own unique challenges and demands a separate checklist. This does not always work. One problem is that each time the document is modified in a major way, one has to go through the entire checklist. Simple rules used for formatting and for presenting can also be captured in the checklist such as font sizes at different places, abbreviations, table headings, uniformity of currencies, etc.
Tally Checklist
A separate tally checklist is required to be maintained for figures. In case of figures, there is the problem of interrelationships that needs to be maintained manually. For example if a profit figure is given in one place, it needs to tally with the figure mentioned for profit in another place. Again foolproofing the document is a result of good planning with sufficient time.
Reduce Major Changes at the last minute
Plan beforehand so that major changes in a document are avoided at the last minute. Major changes when done just before a deadline do not get the benefit of time required for a thorough proofreading. Also they may affect other parts of the document linked with the contents of the changed section.
Comments