Lean Meetings: A Better Way

Have you been to a meeting lately that seemed to take forever, drifted off the original objectives and agenda, and left you none the wiser of what was really achieved? By applying Lean thinking you will never have to have that experience again. Lean meetings give Structure, visibility and with a little discipline have the ability to drive improvement. 


Here is a great video from The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Western Australian Region explaining the improvement of meetings using Lean.



My friend Matthew E. May just posted an article where he explains how to hold Lean meetings.  He says Lean meetings has two key differentiators from traditional meetings:
First, meetings aren't necessarily scheduled.
Second, very little discussion occurs.

Matt, shares a method of transforming your meetings with 3P's:

Purpose: Determine why you're meeting, define the purpose.
Process: Determine the best way t accomplish the goals from above, create a plan.
People: Determine the participants and the roles required for a successful meeting.

So now that you have seen a better way to meet this advice will make it easier for you to start transforming meetings in your organization.

4 Essential Green Gadgets for Your Lean Kaizen

Green and Lean should be synergistic not just additive or complementary concepts. The integrated whole of both methodologies is often greater than the sum of the impacts from each approach. The tools in the toolkit for Green and Lean improvements are one in the same. They include techniques like value stream mapping, workplace organization and standardization with 6S, spaghetti chart, waste walk or treasure hunt, kaizen activities, and standardized checklists. As in Lean these tools are used to visualize and identify the wastes in our processes so we can eliminate or reduce them.

There are four tools or gadgets that will make finding your green wastes easier.

1. Kill-A-Watt Device

This is used to determine the electrical cost of a machine.  Simply connect a machine with a plug to the Kill-A-Watt, and it will assess how efficient they really are. You can calculate your electrical expenses by the day, week, month, even an entire year.  As you turn off equipment or replace order equipment you can calculate the cost savings.

2. Infrared Digital Thermometer 

Infrared digital thermometers are a quick, simple and effective way of obtaining temperature information. The gadget measures temperature without having to come into contact with the target.  You can use it to detect is a motor is running efficiently by it's temperature.  If it is too hot then it is over working and consuming more energy and will likely fail early.  These devices can also be used to find hot and cold spots in your facility that may need some attention to reduce your heating and cooling bills.

3. Ultrasonic Detector 

An ultrasonic detector can measure the sound wave of tiny noises, like that of air leaking from a pipe. They can be used for almost any plant application from simple leak inspection to ultrasound assisted lubrication programs.  It can be very effective in detecting wearing bearings before they fail savings your equipment and process.  One of the reasons Ultrasound technology has become widely used is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to increase your production value, asset availability, and overall reliability.


4. Light Meter

A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light.  Light meters can be used to both measure the amount of light in a room and also measure how much energy a light bulb uses. Many areas in your building many be over-lighted, and measuring the excess illumination allows you to reduce lighting or use energy efficient light bulbs.

These gadgets are relatively inexpensive.  You can probably outfit yourself with all of these for about $1000.  There are a number of other gadgets that can be helpful in the energy reduction programs like infrared camera, voltmeter, ammeter, airflow measuring device, and vibration analysis equipment for example.  But these can be more expensive.  The basic tools with little training will allow you measure and make improvements immediately.  Get started today on Lean and Green improvements.

Lean Quote: Fear as a Motivator

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Only positive consequences encourage good future performance." — Kenneth Blanchard and Robert Lorber in Putting the One Minute Manager to Work

Managers have long used fear as a basic motivator.  The obvious problem with using fear as a "motivator" is that workers eventually begin to loathe the object of their fear - the manager - and productivity levels begin to deteriorate rather than to increase.  In the long run, workers who are afraid of the negative consequences a manager heaps upon them are likely to hate the supervisor and do little, if anything to follow the supervisor's directions.  Using fear to start people on the road toward better behavior may work initially, but a wise manager will positively reinforce each improvement.

Certainly, fear can't be considered a long-term motivator. That's why a lot of yelling from the boss won't seem to "light a spark under employees" for a very long time. With the slightest opening, the employee will fight, rebel or run away because it's not with the spirit of humans to be dictated. When your primary tool is to elicit fear, you're trying to control and the subjects will ultimately resist. Nobody wants to be controlled—that's a truth in life. Not even a two year-old wants that, and fear is a controlling principle. By putting people in harnesses and standing over them, you'll get what you want immediately—but in the long term, you'll build no capacity in them.

I think the fear of failure can be a good motivator for people to succeed. Perhaps the thought of failing will help you become motivated to succeed. The motivation to succeed is a positive outlook on life that will really help you succeed. The fear of failure is a wonderful way to help people get motivated so they will get the desire to want to succeed.

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Free Lean, a site worth visiting

What do you get when you combine free and Lean?  Well, the FreeLeanSite.com.

Jay Watson is the Lean thinker behind this site. It grew from a passion of implementing Lean on the shop floor at companies like Motorola, Honeywell, and General Electric. He started the site to make "lean thinking" concepts of continuous improvement highly accessible for practitioners in North America.

Our primary focus is on accelerating the developmental process, sustaining the effort, and most importantly - driving for results.

The majority of the training modules are absolutely free to download and modify as needed. A management improvement process focused on elements of Safety, Quality, and Speed of Execution provides a framework for action.


The site has four major sections to aid in finding the right resource:

Jay also provides some advice on implementing Lean by defining a Lean Roadmap.The roadmap consists of the following three phases:

PHASE 1 (GET READY): PLANNING FOR IMPROVEMENT
PHASE II (GET SET): CONDUCTING A PILOT PROGRAM
PHASE III (GO!): TEAM PROBLEM SOLVING/ SKILLS DEVELOPMENT


I have been truly amazed by the sheer amount of Lean related material that Jay has compiled.  This is a great resource for learning on your own or sharing with your team.

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Daily Lean Tips Edition #12

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #166 - Employees should use a standard format to ask problem-solving questions.

Employees should use a standard format to ask problem-solving questions. Try this format below to ensure the quickest response and the most learning.

1. Describe the problem in a sentence or two.
2. Where is the problem located?
3. What may have caused the problem?
4. How long has the been going on?
5. How have you tried to fix it?
6. Who else is working on it and what are they doing?
7. What do you suggest?

Lean Tip#167 - Use a demonstration worksheet when you want to show someone how to do something.

A demonstration worksheet will force you to spend a little more time in the demonstration, but it'll guarantee more predictable results. Use this technique for your demonstration:

• Provide a reason for the demonstration.
• Talk through the steps.
• Demonstrate at a normal pace.
• Demonstrate again and explain the logic behind each step.
• Have your apprentice talk you through the steps.
• Provide a practice.

I suggest that you let your apprentice know that you're going to use this technique so they don't get nervous along the way.

Lean Tip #168 - Don't trust body language when transferring knowledge, use open-ended questions.

Instead of trusting body language, trust something much more predictable. Use open-ended assessment questions. Ask questions at the:

• Beginining: What do you already know about the topic?
• Middle: What did your hear me say?
• End: What are you going to do when you leave my side?

Lean Tip #169 - Teach what you know in 5 simple steps.

Teach people what you know with these 5 methodical steps:

1. Start with a time-bound learning goal and a warning to your apprentice as such, " By the end of the shift you're going to be able to ..."
2. Deliver content for no more than 10 minutes.
3. Stop and ask your question, like "Why don't you tell me what you heard me say?"
4. Listen to the answer and offer suggestions if there is anything missing or incorrectly stated.
5. Repeat Steps 2, 3, and 4 three times.

Lean Tip #170 - When teaching people it is important to define the big picture.

Defining the big picture will help provide your apprentices with a context through which they can find their own way, and make good choices as they progress on learning. Take a little time to ask and answer these questions:

1. What is your team's mission or purpose?
2. How does our work fit with the organization's mission?
3. Who are our internal and external customers? How do we prioritize our work for them?
4. Who are our competitors?
5. What are the specific products or services we provide?
6. Where are we in the product or service value stream?
7. How does the work flow for your job?

Lean Tip #171 - Keep papers from accumulating with clutter questions.

When you find paper cluttering your desk, hold the paper in your hand and ask the paper clutter questions:

C Copy or original?

L Likely I'll need it?

U Understandable and/or quotable?

T Timely, timeless, or dated?

T Time to read it?

E Elsewhere available?

R Relevant to my work or life?

Lean Tip #172 - Find a balance between personalizing your work area and minimizing distractions.

Personalizing your work space is nothing more than making the space look like you work there. Distractions can increase exponentially according to the number of doodads sitting around in you work area.

To find out whether you've struck a balance between personalizing your work area and minimizing diestractions, examine each item on or in your work area and ask yourself these questions:

• Is it too large or does it take up too much space?
• Is it so small it gets lost or swept off surfaces?
• Is it too fragile? Are you afraid it might get broken?
• Is it distracting? Do you find yourself playing with it, working around it, or otherwise fussing with it?
• Am I happier if I have this item near me?

Lean Tip #173 - Take Control of your time by knowing when to stop working on a task.

Know when to stop working on a task. Sometime good is good enough. When you feel yourself in a "perfectionistic" mood, ask yourself these questions:

• Will the results be substantially better if I put in more effort?
• Will I get paid more?
• Would anyone else notice the improvements? (Or would anyone else care?)
• Have I gone as far as I can without getting help?
• Have I already done more than is expected of me?

Your answer is the key to whether you should keep at the task, or just STOP!

Lean Tip #174 - Increase your productivity by budgeting time the way you budget your money.

Allow a certain amount of time for completing each task. Set a timer when you start. The alarm saves you from tasks you don't like to do and pulls you from jobs you like and would spend too much time on.

Lean Tip #175 - Don't contribute to e-mail clutter yourself.

Sometimes it's just too easy to send a message on e-mail, so people send and send and send some more. That results in e-mail clutter for your friends, colleagues, and others. Here are some general guidelines for keeping e-mail simple:

• Keep each message to one topic.
• Keep your message brief, but do include all the details necessary for the recipient to properly respond.
• Clearly define the topic in the message header or subject line. Don't leave blank.
• Stifle the desire to send everyone you know a copy.
• Avoid the one word reply and the unnecessary reply to all.

Lean Tip #176 - Improve your meetings with the seven step process called "RE-7"

These measures can be summarized in the seven step "RE-7" approach to meetings. Followed carefully, it will facilitate your meeting planning and help you measure the effectiveness of your meetings. The mnemonic device will help you to better remember each measure.

1. Required?
2. Readiness
3. Restraints
4. Record
5. Regulate
6. Review
7. Results

Lean Tip #177 - Efficient meetings are the result of careful planning by the meeting planner.

The meeting planner must attend to these details to ensure the meeting will be effecient including:

• Defining the meeting's purpose
• Selecting the participants
• Appointing monitors
• Choosing a time and place
• Preparing an agenda
• Rehearsing
• Attending to physical arrangements
• Sending out notices

Lean Tip #178 - Thinking about how to resolve restraints before a meeting will make the outcome successful.

Before the meeting begins, consider and find solutions to restraints that might prevent a successful outcome:

• Time
• Money
• Self-restraint
• Room size
• Materials

A good meeting organizer will be prepared to deal with these before they become a barrier in the meeting.

Lean Tip #179 - Use a checklist to standardize the meeting process for effective and efficient meetings.

Meetings are part of business in most organizations. Common complaints about meetings center around their ineffective and inefficient process. That is right the meeting is a process and can be improved as such. Creating a standard format and checklist for meeting preparation can aid in making your meetings add value to the organization and the participants.

Lean Tip #180 - Appointing monitors for your meeting can ensure everyone stays on topic within the time frame.

As long as people attend meetings, there will be temptation to disregard topics and times and get caught up in a particular point of contention or special interest. Select a person to monitor the time and another person as the topic monitor. There two individuals will be responsible for ensuring that everyone adheres to the topics on the agenda within the recommended time frames.

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The Stages of High Performance Teams

Teams have become an essential part of work in organizations, but as you'll know from the teams you have led or belonged to, you can't expect a new team to perform exceptionally from the very outset. Team formation takes time, and usually follows some easily recognizable stages, as the team journeys from being a group of strangers to becoming a united team with a common goal.

Psychologist Bruce Tuckman first came up with the memorable phrase "forming, storming, norming and performing" back in 1965. He used it to describe the path to high-performance that most teams follow. Later, he added a fifth stage that he called "adjourning".

The first stage, forming, is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership. Members are testing the waters to determine what types of behaviors are acceptable. This stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of a team.

The storming stage is one of intragroup conflict. Members accept the existence of the team but resist the control that the group imposes on individuality. Further, there is conflict over who will control the team. When the storming stage is complete, there will be relatively clear leadership within the team.

The third stage is one in which close relationships develop and members begin to demonstrate cohesiveness. There is now a stronger sense of team identity and camaraderie. This norming stage is complete when the team structure solidifies and members have assimilated a common set of expectations of appropriate work behavior.

Performing is the fourth stage. The structure is fully functional and accepted by team members. Their energy is diverted from getting to know and understand each other to performing the necessary tasks.

For permanent teams, performing is the last stage of their development. For temporary teams – those who have a limited task to perform – there is an adjourning stage. In this stage the team prepares for its disbandment. A high level of task performance is no longer the members’ top priority. Instead, their attention is directed toward wrapping-up activities.

Tuckman's model explains that as the team develops maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style. Beginning with a directing style, moving through coaching, then participating, finishing delegating and almost detached.

Lean Quote: Common Complaints About Meetings

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"A manager spending more than 25 percent of time in meetings is a sign of malorganization." — Peter Drucker

Some of the most common complaints about meetings as well as some of the major reasons for their costliness revolve around the meeting process itself - it is a process, after all, one that can be examined and improved. Below are some common complaints about meetings:

• Leader too conciliatory
•  My presence not needed
• Held just because it's the usual time
• No advance notice: could not prepare
• Too long
• Side conversations going on
• Too many people
• Purpose of meeting not clear
• Too much on agenda
• No visuals
• Women always assigned to take notes
• Leader had predetermined solution
• Room too hot or too cold
• Trivial matters discussed: irrelevant digressions
• No priority regarding how to spend time
• Leader defensive
• No tangible outcome
• Not everyone was committed
• No time for brainstorming
• Don't know other participants: no introductions
• Leader read to us (from visuals or from materials)

If complaints can be identified and reduced or eliminated, then it naturally follows that your meetings will be less costly.  A successful and efficiently conducted meeting can produce measurable, as well as immeasurable, savings in terms of improved morale and motivation.  The goal of all meetings is to ensure that all who attend feel their time is well spent.

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