How can Lean contribute to create effective meetings? : A case study at Ericsson in Borås

Abstract: Lean is a philosophy that has been studied extensively in recent years, and it has been successfully implemented in a number of different processes and businesses. This study aims to examine how Lean can contribute to create effective meetings, which is a topic that has received limited attention in today’s research. Firstly, a situation analysis is done in order to identify common meeting problems at Ericsson Borås. Secondly, a comprehensive analysis is conducted concerning whether Lean is applicable on meeting processes or not. This analysis is mainly based on the five principles of Lean Thinking. Thirdly, the study investigates the potential effect of an implementation of Lean, as well as how Lean principles can be applied in order to reduce or eliminate wastes. The result of the analysis formed the base for the development of the action plan. Subsequently, the action plan is implemented on the meeting processes by pilot testing it on three different meetings. This analysis is mainly focusing on whether the meeting problems have been eliminated or not. Based on our research, we have perceived that almost every meeting is unique and all meeting problems we have identified do not occur at all meetings. Majority of the meeting problems were eliminated by applying Lean principles. Moreover, several respondents also expressed that Lean is a good way to give more structure to meetings, and therefore contributes to more effective meetings. However, we have noticed that principles of Lean cannot eliminate all meeting problems at Ericsson. This can be seen as minor criticism when organizations use Lean as the only solution to improve meeting processes.