Just in Time Management (JIT): Minimising Mistakes to Enhance Safety and Performance

Just in Time Management: A Definition

First developed by Toyota, the ‘Just-In-Time’ (JIT) management approach is all about getting what you need exactly when you need it – and not before or after.  

According to Investopedia, “The just-in-time (JIT) inventory system is a management strategy that aligns raw-material orders from suppliers directly with production schedules.”

It’s like having an organised and tidy workbench with tools and materials reaching you as required.

But did you know that the same ‘just-in-time’ thinking that has revolutionised industry can also be used to reduce unintentional errors?

To understand how, it helps to know that just four (yes four!) particular states of mind and body lead to the vast majority of unintentional errors.

The Four States that lead to Human Errors

Rushing, Frustration, Fatigue, and Complacency quickly lead to us taking our minds and/or eyes off the task in hand – and that’s where the trouble starts: these states, without us really realising it, pave the way for incidents large or small to emerge.  

Too often we assume that a high rate of errors is ‘just life’, even though not taking care of it leads to a damaging waste of time and energy.

But this ‘State-to-Error’ insight, based on analysing thousands of incident reports over many decades, can give us the edge we need to minimise error and maximise performance.

Let’s connect the dots: we can counter the tendency of the four states to cause errors if we intervene at the key moment before eyes and mind go off task: in other words, just in time!

That’s the clear solution, but timely intervention is a challenge in real life because prompting ourselves to refocus is not easy when we are tired, frustrated, in a hurry or feeling complacent!  

How Digital Nudging can help

That’s where your digital nudge companion can make the difference. This is basically a virtual helper and skills-building coach that uses gentle reminders and targeted insights to keep you on track with goals that can easily be forgotten in the blizzard of everyday life.  

Think of it as a friendly and rational assistant that is laser-focused on your best interests. A nudge app can be set so that we get the refreshers and/or notifications we need just at the right time. It won’t forget or get distracted!

Your digital nudge companion can be set so that, just before you are likely to be in a rush you are helpfully prompted to pause and ‘rate your state’: the YOUFactors app has a set of simple sliders on a single screen to give you a forensic picture.

That little prompt, delivered just in time, could save you a lot of waste or even pain.  

Think back to the most consequential incidents you have experienced: if you had a little nudge five minute before to check your state of mind and body, could things have turned out differently?

In most cases, yes, they really could have.

The takeaways of the Just in Time Strategy...

• The four error-producing states – frustration, complacency, fatigue, and rushing – can all be pre-empted, slashing your error rate.

• Just-in-time (JIT) interventions offer a targeted solution: checking your state can stop the domino effect that leads to consequential error.  

• But that is hard for us to action on our own: a digital nudge companion is therefore perfectly placed to help.

• Mid-afternoon Friday for example, as you try to get everything off your plate before the weekend, YOUFactors can nudge you to check your state.

• Ever tried to think rationally when, say, you were scrambling to get to the airport? You can set your digital companion to refresh your memory about potential hazards and arrange a reminder to keep your rationality high when you need it.

• You can apply the same JIT philosophy to human behaviour not only for yourself but across your team! For growth as a group or company, consider implementing YOUFactors.

Thanks for reading. Check out YOUFactors, the digital companion that uses brain science for end users to optimise safety and performance. It does this through customisable prompts and timely nudges, rating systems, interactive videos, analytical tools and social sharing that leverages group support. Whatever level of interaction you need, the YOUFactors digital companion app, developed out of decades of research and workplace experience, can provide it.

‍