The drive for process efficiencies in banking and insurance is a result of fierce competitive markets where cost efficiencies and operational effectiveness are fundamental to long-term success. Increasingly financial organisations are recognising that manufacturing methodologies can and do play a vital part in delivering the fundamentals of such improvements. In this short consulting intervention ISRU was invited to review the effectiveness of a visual management tool in a corporate IT support function. This particular corporate IT function supports the global voice and data communication requirements of the organisation’s top 800 executives; demanding service levels are set and on time delivery is expected. A visual management tool was introduced to share real time process information with operational staff, allowing them to align actions and decisions with the status of all on-going jobs with a view to optimising service delivery. Central to this was a large visual display board, divided into sections for each of the various operational sections, and each with 3 levels of service status for jobs. All enquiries coming into the service desk were allocated an individual job card and subsequently placed on the display board. As jobs move through the various process steps, the job cards should be moved simultaneously with the result that the board gives an instant visual “as is” map of all on-going jobs. The board was sparsely populated in several sections and there was little evidence that it was being used effectively. Face to face interviews were held with key operational staff and line managers better to understand their thinking on the tool, its uses and purpose. It was clear that there was a general lack of consensus in both the purpose of the display board and how to optimise or even track jobs using it. One of the underlying problems was that many of the processes were not standardised. Also essential elements such as the team goal, specific performance measures and obstacles to service delivery were not well understood. Had the board been fully populated there was insufficient knowledge of the individual processes or the goals to allow any individuals to effect the overall performance of the team. As a result it was decided that it was inappropriate to address the visual management tool directly, but that efforts should focus on developing and defining some of the basic ideas of process – mapping, standardisation, measures etc. A follow up to this short intervention is currently on-going and is focussing on 4 key processes over a 6 month period.