IMCG

Not a carpenter, but works with tools and toolbox? This is what you should think about!

February 21, 2019

 "It is not unusual for tools and toolboxes to be used in a company's change process. In which case, it is particularly important for everybody involved to understand what is intended with these tools and where they can be found," Ulrika Wahlström, Innovation Project Manager, IMCG, says. 

By definition, tools should be utensils that are used to make work easier. A toolbox is a portable box to put tools in. However, as we know, it is not just building sites, Handy Manny and Bob the Builder, that have toolboxes nowadays. Toolboxes should act as a store for methods and solve various problems.

7 steps for clearer tools

In order for a tool to be meaningful, there are a number of criteria that should be met. Here, we recommend seven steps for clarifying the tools that are used at or in your work. For the sake of simplicity, we use a simple hammer as an example – a tool that most of us have a clear picture of. By documenting and spreading the answers to the following recommendations, you will be guaranteed to attract more followers to your tools and your toolbox and, thus, find it easier to get the change work done.

  1. Give the tool a name – it is difficult to ask someone to fetch a hammer if no one knows that it is a hammer that we have to look for
  2. Describe the appearance of the tool – It is easier to use the hammer if you understand that it is equipped with a convenient handle
  3. Say when the tool should be used – By saying in which context the hammer should be used, we understand that it is when a nail needs knocking in
  4. Explain the benefit from using the tool – By understanding the effect the hammer has, you understand that it will help to get the planks in place
  5. Say who should use the tool – It is easier to understand your role, if we know who should use the hammer
  6. State where the tool can be found – One condition for being able to use the hammer is knowing where it can be found. If it is attributed to a toolbox, you must state where it can be found.
  7. Give the tool a context – The whole picture becomes clearer if we know that the hammer can be used to build a house and can be used together with a nailing machine.