Lean Training
- 3 Tips for Lean Research
|
 Hi there,
In this article I hope to help you free up
some of your valuable time by sharing with you three Tips for Lean Research.
I say “Lean” Research because as a Lean
consultant that is my main area of focus.
What I am about to show you will work for
any type of Research on any topic you choose.
I’m always amazed that most people that I
meet don’t know about these useful little methods. I guess it must be the company I
keep.
Pull up a chair, grab a coffee or a
beverage of your choice (as long as it is not alcohol because you need to concentrate) and
let’s get started.
I admit it. Many an hour I’ve spent
searching for something in particular, not finding the item I was looking for, and getting
distracted by an item that I was not looking for but may come in handy in the future. No harm
done then.
Sorry no harm done. Yes there is harm done.
Every time we search for something and don’t find it quickly we are wasting lots and lots of
our time. Do this several times over a day or a week and it soon mounts up.
So what if there was a way to get it right
first time.
The following three tips I hope will help you to reach “searching heaven” rather than the usual
“cannot find” it hell.
All of the tips I am going to share with
you involve Google
So if you do not like Google, tough. That
is where I use these tips and that is where these tips work.
In the interest of self promotion all of
the search terms that I will
be using are disgustingly self promoting but hopefully you will see that these techniques will
work with any search term of choice
Hang onto your seats as I am going to go through this quite quickly
so you will need to pay attention
 Use Google
Alerts
Basically Google Alerts are
updates that you get via e-mail of the newest, most relevant information about a topic based on
Google Search results.
This is a fabulous tool .Basically here is
the deal. If there is
a particular topic you are interested in rather than having to search
the net why not let the information come straight to you.
Once you know of the existence of Google
Alerts using it is fairly self explanatory
Just head over to Go Alerts
Add your search query
You can preview your results to check that you are getting the type
Of information that you were
after
Choose the information source
type
|
Get Graham Ross and
Barry Jeffrey's handy "wee" book :
Tools for Success
Here are some of the things that customers who have bought the book are saying about
it:
"This little
book does what it says on the tin - provides the tools for success in creating a Lean
organisation, and therefore the tools for success in the current lean economic times.
In a very portable and accessible format 'Tools for Success' places the most useful
tools for continuous improvement in your hand with simple and jargon-free
explanations of how and when to use them. And the style is also motivational into the
bargain. Just the job for the difficult but rewarding task of doing 'more for
less'.
Giles
Nightingale
I purchased this book a few
weeks ago and thought I would add some feedback. Personally I found it a great help
and guide in me being able to implement some lean tools and also understanding the
tools on a workforce that has never been exposed to this way of thinking and working.
One of the great things about this book is it does not go on and on about each tool
everything is explained in simple terms that are easy to understand and simple
examples are used to relate to each tool. If you are going to change the culture and
mindset of people they do not want to be blown away by all sorts of analytical
information in the early stages of implementing lean practices and this is where this
book excels. As a former employee of Toyota who worked on the coal face so to speak
it is also an excellent reminder/prompt to keep you on the right track. Its well
worth £8.50 of anyone's money.
Lee Cottam
Tools for
Success
|
You can choose
from Everything, News, Blogs, Updates, Video or Discussions
You then have to
say how often you would like the alert
You can choose
from: As it happens, once a day or once a week
You then you
enter the e-mail you would like the alert sent,
Hit the create
alert button and bam your done.
A summary email
will be sent to you with the latest information on your topic at the
intervals you requested
The information
you need comes to you. Fantastic
Use SITE:
I just love this
one.
Say you worked
in the public sector and you wanted to search
for a finance job
It could take
you hours
Well try this
one. It uses the word SITE
Say you wanted
to search many of the Public Sector
/Government web sites which usually end with .gov.uk
In Google type
in
Finance Jobs
site:.gov.uk
Or say you
wanted to search Finance jobs in the BBC
Finance Jobs
site:.bbc.co.uk
Or say you
wanted to find the excellent handy lean tools book called “Tools for Success”
by Graham Ross and Barry Jeffrey that is available through Lulu.com, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
You would just
type in to Google:
Lean Graham Ross
Tools for Success site:lulu.com
Sorry about
that.
In all seriousness this tool has saved me hours in search time
Search and a,b,c,
This is another
wee cracker. Try this in the normal Google
search box.
Say the main
thing we were looking for was on the subject “Lean”
Type Lean into
Google
Now add an a
onto the end
i.e. lean
a
A drop down
comes with other suggestions:
Now type in lean
b
Now type in lean
c
This can be a
great way to find information on your area of research
that you may have not previously considered
So that is it
for just now folks
As always hope
this helps you in your Lean education efforts
Best regards,
Graham
Ross
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