Author: Victoria Burns

An organizational chart is much more than a bunch of employee pictures and job titles. Most believe that an organizational chart is simply used for defining structure and power in the company; however, it has many more benefits that you may not have thought of.

WhiteWalls are the cornerstone of rooms where great ideas are hatched. They are a place where ideas and creativity come together among teams and businesses. Occasionally, I come across great ideas expressed in simple form on a whiteboard. Here’s one I’d like to share.

The Journal of Hospital Medicine’s, “Patient Whiteboards as a Communication Tool in the Hospital Setting: A Survey of Practices and Recommendations” is a very interesting study for anyone working or interested in the medical field. Communication is important in every field, but especially crucial in the medical field and that’s why I thought it was a significant study to share.

As an employer, you know how important it is to keep your employees engaged and motivated. Studies have shown implementing an incentive program motivates employees to stay at the company longer and encourages collaboration at work. A sales leaderboard can be one of the most effective sales motivation tools there is. Here are five reasons you should implement them in your sales office:

Often in the sales industry, it's a challenge to keep your employees motivated. As a manager, you can only do so much to keep your employees going. Have you tried an incentive program yet? Magnatag did some research and we found several reasons to adopt an incentive program! Check out the infographic below!

At the Safari Animal Care Center in Houston, Texas, internationally known veterinarian Dr. Steven Garner, with his exotic animals and furry things that bite runs his clinic a little bit differently. His 1.5 doctor clinic is the only one in Houston that treats exotic animals and is selling six times the average 1.5-doctor veterinary clinic. Garner’s practice is about building processes and he manages his grooming, boarding and veterinary services clinic using whiteboard systems.

When a production manager implements lean manufacturing on the production floor, the main goal is to improve the company and eliminate waste. On top of lean’s concepts and principles used to eliminate waste, there are 25 lean manufacturing tools that production managers can choose from to implement lean thinking. Some of the most popular ones include Kanban, JIT (Just in Time) and 5S, but there are others just as effective that you should consider utilizing:

With all of the recent changes in education relating to common core, there is constant pressure put on administrators and teachers to have students meet standards. To complement enterprise software, forms and charts to track student progress, some administrators, counselors and academic coaches use a whiteboard as a visual representation for tracking.

Good visuals that help plan, schedule, organize and communicate information are an essential part of a lean environment. Recent studies show that as high as 83% of human learning occurs visually.  Good visuals have a positive and sustainable impact on productivity, quality, equipment, reliability and employee engagement.

In the healthcare industry, employees are constantly seeking ways to continuously improve and increase the quality and safety of a facility. UNC Health Care, awarded 19 times for its leadership in quality and safety, came to Magnatag for products to implement its recent lean six-sigma projects in its OB/GYN department.

Magnatag Visible Systems is pleased to announce the launch of its completely redesigned website www.magnatag.com that is faster and easier to use. The website is redesigned with new and improved features. We would like to share a few words from our managing partner and some new features we think you will enjoy:

Microsoft recently released the iOS version of Office Lens, a mobile scanning app that allows users to take pictures of their documents, photos and whiteboards to save them for later. It’s like an on-the-go scanner. What is most exciting about the app for me is its whiteboard capabilities.  Often times our customers tell us they take photos of their whiteboard with their phones to save for later. The Office Lens app takes it to the next level and allows whiteboard notes to be converted into editable Word or PowerPoint presentations, saved as a PDF or onto OneNote or OneDrive. Here are five reasons I think it’s a great app for a whiteboard user:

Implementing and maintaining a safety program in your work environment can be a challenging task, but it is necessary for your company. These programs are designed to make employees aware of what is going on around them in their work environment to keep them safe and healthy. Magnatag has found that just using signs such as "caution" or "safety first!" are not enough to keep your employees' engaged and focused on improving safety - you have to get them involved in the safety program with visual aids that report safety records and promote safety awareness for the whole production floor. Check out our infographic to find out the shocking workplace injury statistics and how to prevent them by using visual aids!

After a disappointing 3-13 record last year, there was an immense importance for the Oakland Raiders to have a successful draft last weekend. With proper preparation and state of the art war room that included Magnatag Visible Systems’ WhiteWalls^® (magnetic whiteboard wall paneling), the Oakland Raiders were equipped to execute a successful draft.

History of Lean Principles and Lean Manufacturing
Lean is a method for eliminating waste in a manufacturing environment. It focuses on eliminating the 3Ms of waste: Mura, Muda and Muri. The lean manufacturing philosophy created mostly from the Toyota Production System.  John Krafick, a former quality engineer in the Toyota-GM NUMMI joint venture, brought the term “lean principles” to the United States from the Japanese manufacturing industry. There are now five lean principles that are used to guide lean techniques and make the lean manufacturing environment successful.

As the two year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings passes and the 119th Boston Marathon begins, emergency squads must take extra precautions, planning for months before marathons to make sure they run smoothly and everyone is safe. The Los Angeles Fire Department was eager to share their idea with other emergency preparedness teams in hopes of making their jobs easier.

There are three main areas of learning: visual learning, audio learning and kinesthetic learning. The Magnatag marketing team researched the benefits of visual learning to see how beneficial it was for these types of learners to learn through seeing - through pictures, diagrams, drawings, flowcharts and list making. We found that using visual aids in activities such as brainstorming in the office or learning a lesson on a whiteboard are very beneficial to the majority of individuals. Share with us some of the ways you learn and collaborate and check out our infographic on our findings below!

As another March Madness ends, coaches are naturally curious to learn how the top programs prepare for games.  How do coaches communicate strategies so players have a clear picture of what they need to do to win? Some university athletic programs such as Sacred Heart University come to Magnatag Visible Systems for help developing the visual tools they need. Interestingly enough, the current Sacred Heart coaches adopted the strategy of using a Magnatag custom whiteboard for their game preparation from former employer, Hofstra University.

Productivity is a challenge in the workplace, especially in today's society when we have technology to distract us. The lack of productivity costs companies thousands of dollars per year. Because of the lack of productivity among workers, it is now more important than ever to learn about what make us more productive. Check out Magnatag's infographic, "Productivity Land" to discover the tips and tricks that will keep you focused on your job throughout the day!

From computer programmers to software developers, the information technology industry is not only very logical, but visual as well. The information technology industry has to organize and visualize what a website will look like, the process of developing software, designing a website, troubleshooting, or wireframing. The industry has the constant pressure of keeping entire companies running, so organization and collaboration is key to keeping everything running smoothly. Surprising to many, the information technology industry relies on whiteboards as a key component of their daily routine. Here are six biggest reasons why whiteboards are a key player in the IT industry.

Albert Einstein once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” Whiteboard collaboration seems simple, but studies show it is also a sophisticated and effective tool, with learners retaining 90% of what they say and do.

One of Magnatag Visible Systems’ custom whiteboards can be seen weekly on “Orange Squeeze,” a 30-minute Syracuse basketball recap show on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.