Three Reasons You Need a Lean Coach

Lean manufacturing is a very broad philosophy for business improvement that has many tools/techniques to aid you in making your production or service more efficient and better at offering your customer a great value. Being able to successfully implement Lean across a company is not something that you can pick up from reading a few Lean implementation books, nor is it something that you can learn from a training course in your local hotel, to truly be able to implement Lean you have to have lived and breathed it for several years to gain enough experience.

The focus of a Lean coach is to provide coaching on the principles and practices of Lean Thinking to individuals and groups of employees within manufacturing and service industries. A Lean coach can be advantage because of the following reasons:

1. Knowledge

A Lean coach brings a range of experiences from previous Implementations that can help you to ensure that your implementation will be smooth and efficient. They also have the experience of implementing the various lean tools in different situations so they will understand how to involve your people and guide them in achieving the best possible results. Most Lean coaches will also have people and organizations that they can go to gain additional expert advice and help, contacts in other industries and companies with whom you can share experiences and view successes.

2. Perspective

A Lean coach that is independent from your organization and not burdened by the internal politics or any pre-conceived ideas of how the place should work has a clear mind with a bias for action. They can challenge status quo and ask those hard questions to get you out of your comfort zone and to think of those out-of-the-box ideas you need.

3. Pressure

A good Lean coach should be continuously pushing your company. They will be able to focus on the specifics of the implementation and not be distracted by the other things that may be going on within your company. A Lean coach can apply the constant gentle pressure required for transformation to take hold.

Choosing the right Lean coach to help you make the move from traditional manufacturing to Lean manufacturing is very important. A successful Lean coach must have the ability to convince people at all levels of the organization. No matter whether you are using a Lean consultant or someone on staff, full company-wide support is imperative in making the changes work. Management will have to fully support the Lean coach in Lean projects, and employees will have to be convinced to implement the changes wholeheartedly.

Lean Quote: Finding Better Ways To Do Things Is Lean

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.

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." — Maya Angelou

This quote pretty much sums up the aim of Lean. The lean approach to managing operations is really about:

• Doing the simple things well
• Doing things better
• Involving employees in the continuous process of improvement
• …and as a result, avoiding waste, providing value

Good is the enemy of great. Good gets in the way of doing our best. Good holds us back from tapping into our true potential. Many people accept the status quo and misguidedly believe that thinking, creativity and innovation is someone else’s job. Some people have literally turned off their curiosity. They have become apathetic, hopeless and indifferent.

Finding a better way does not necessarily mean making enormous changes. You can make huge leaps through small steps. Small improvements made repeatedly lead to great discoveries and successes. Getting into a continual improvement mode requires a different mindset, which for some, may be difficult. I believe that anything worth having is worth working for. Just remember experience is a tough teacher! Make learning the job. You can’t separate learning from innovation. Learning triggers creativity.

The focus of Lean Thinking is to foster an organization that is committed to finding better ways to serve its customers. Lean is all about finding better ways to do things, so that they require less effort, less time and fewer resources. It is not about cost reduction – penny-pinching, cutting investment, taking out people – it is about finding better ways to get work done. It is about developing a mindset, methods and tools to identify and eliminate waste in all its forms at every opportunity. It is about freeing-up resources because you no longer need to use them.

 

Managers Must Be Teachers

In Paul Borawski’s post this month on The View from the Q Blog he asks about our experience with training.  He shared some results regarding the matter from ASQ’s Global State of Quality research. (Remember, you can download the entire report for free at the above link.)

From the research:  “Organizations that govern quality with a centralized group are roughly 30 percent more likely to provide quality training to staff than organizations where a senior executive governs the quality process” (page 6).

I continue to find this an interesting differential in successful businesses. Training plays an important role in the success of your business. A manager should provide the tools, the opportunities and the skills to assist staff to grow and develop.

Managerial training responsibilities extend far beyond simply going over work procedures and sending employees to classes when they need to master a new skill. Effective workforce training is an ongoing process that requires supervisors to engage in ongoing skill development with their employees. Managers must engage in informal training needs assessment on an ongoing basis, paying attention to employees' strengths and weaknesses and identifying gaps that can be overcome through training opportunities.

According to a 2011 report from Accenture, 55% of workers in the U.S. say they are under pressure to develop new skills, but only 21% say their companies have provided training to learn those new skills within the last five years. Training is a lever that changes the rate of improvement you can achieve.

Proper training should not be reserved for new employees. In order to maintain a staff of trained and well-integrated employees, it's critical to promote continuous learning throughout their careers. There are always new things for employees to learn and the rate of change in the business world demands new skills, fresh perspectives and new ideas. Training should be utilized to ensure that your employees are continually learning and improving.

Regular, effective and relevant training is massively important and a great motivator. If you want them to perform properly and consistently then you have to give them the tools to do so. Training is always good, it keeps people up to date and focused on the job at hand, it keeps their skills at the forefront and it will show them that management are obviously concerned with how well they do their job, etc. If they are given good quality training that covers the topics and issues they are faced with then they will respond and to a certain extent motivate themselves to stick with what they learn.

Creating a positive learning environment will encourage development and help your employees gain confidence in their position. Trainers should be relaxed and clearly explain the reasoning behind every new exercise and lesson. Negativity will only inhibit the learning process, so it's important to be patient, allow for mistakes, and always reward new achievements. This positive feedback will reinforce and affirm the efforts of your new recruits, and encourage them to continue learning.

It is important for employees to be challenged or learning new things in their job.  Too often managers don’t allow their employees to expand beyond their areas of expertise.  Managers are fearful that they will need to expend too much energy on training or reviewing work, that there will be too many mistakes, or that the employees don’t want to have to learn more.  Job sharing, job rotations, special projects, strategic offsites, or even including employees in on key decisions can have a significant and positive impact on long term motivation.

If you think of training as a business expense, that's what it becomes. However, if you think of training as an investment, that's what it becomes. What would you rather do, pay bills or invest in your team? By thinking of training as an investment, you will also expect a return. This focus guides you in everything from selecting the right training to evaluating its results.

It is a proven that companies that invest in the continued training and proficiency of their employees enjoy improved performance, lower attrition rates and a greater overall return on their investment. Intellectual capital is now a critical factor for competitive advantage in today's global world. The organizations that recognize the benefits and value of providing continuing training opportunities to employees will be better able to compete in a rapidly changing world.

Leaders play a critical role in changing the thinking of the members of the organization. This responsibility cannot be passed on or delegated. By delegating these activities you are sending the message that this is not important. Company leaders must understand that development cannot be delegated away.

I’m part of the ASQ Influential Voices program. While I receive an honorarium from ASQ for my commitment, the thoughts and opinions expressed on my blog are my own. 

Some Things You Can't Delegate If Your Transformation Is To Be Successful

Lean requires changing systems, organizational structures, processes, acquiring new technologies/machines, and even altering layout of the workplace. And although all of these components are important, the most important area of focus for Lean leaders are the people.

Implementing Lean is a journey and has a huge impact on employees because Lean changes the way that everyone operates. Since Lean impacts a business as a whole, it is critical that the vision and strategy has complete buy in and participation of top leadership. This is something that cannot be delegated and the direct involvement and participation of leadership teams is a must.

Never Delegate Leadership

Leadership is looking into the future, seeing what’s coming, telling your team about it, making sure everyone is going in the right direction, and keeping ALIGNMENT in your business.

Management is making sure that everything gets done when and how it’s supposed to get done, that projects are being reported on and updated regularly, and that

everyone knows what’s going on.

Once you start delegating the management of projects and tasks, it’s very easy to get lazy and want to delegate everything.

Leadership isn’t something that takes a lot of time, but it’s something that, if you don’t do it yourself, will cause a loss of confidence in you, and a loss of focus in your business.

Remember, delegate management, but don’t delegate leadership.

Never Delegate “Culture”

The “culture” of your business is the combination of values, attitude, and “vibe” of your team.

It’s important that you always stay involved, and keep making sure that everyone knows that you care, that you’re committed to delivering high-quality products and services, and that you stand for integrity.

Never Delegate Development

When these people come to work with you, you’re going to need to both train them and develop them.

Training is teaching them what they need to learn in order to work the systems in your business.

Development is what they need to evolve themselves on a personal and professional level, so that they can do the next level job later on.

It doesn’t matter who trains them (as long as the training is good, of course).

But your employees want development feedback from leaders personally. They want to know what you think of their work, their style, their strengths, their weaknesses, and everything else.

Leaders play a critical role in changing the thinking of the members of the organization so Lean can take root and grow.  The ultimate responsibility for Lean cannot be passed on or delegated; it must be held, discussed, and practiced by top management, whose responsibility is to foster an operational philosophy and culture that embraces Lean in all aspects of the business. By delegating these activities you are sending the message that you have much more important things to work on and this is just something on the side.

Company leaders must understand that transformation cannot be delegated away. Their vision must become the organization’s vision, and the entire workforce must own and value the change together.

The Worst Waste of All: Lack of Employee Involvement

Taiichi Ohno (considered by many to be the father of Lean) highlighted overproduction as the worst of all the 7 Wastes. Overproduction includes in essence all others wastes so it could be considered the most problematic. However, many have missed one of the biggest opportunities for quick improvement by overlooking one of the deadliest wastes, right under their noses.

The worst kind of waste is the lack of employee involvement and creativity. Lean doesn’t work unless everyone is involved and has input. We must involve employees in the continuous improvement process because the people actually carrying out the job know how to do that job better. The best companies in the world tap the creativity and talent of the whole organization and not just a select few.

The lack of ongoing employee involvement at the shop-floor level has been identified as a major reason for the non-sustainability of Lean in the organization. When there is a lack of staff involvement, and management fails to seek employee input on critical decisions, employees may feel dejected and detached from the organization.

The worst part of this form of Muda is “thinking you can't.” This of course guarantees you can't. Henry Ford probably said it best when he noted, "You can think you can achieve something or you can think you can't and you will be right." Thinking you can't is the worst form of waste because it thwarts your tackling the other, more-familiar forms of waste.

Employee engagement also affects the mindset of people. Engaged employees believe that they can make a difference in the organizations they work for. Confidence in the knowledge, skills, and abilities that people possess – in both themselves and others – is a powerful predictor of behavior and subsequent performance.

If you never try, you can not fail, except fail to try. However, if you never try, you can never succeed.

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Employee involvement cultivates an atmosphere of collaboration, increases retention of talented staff, and intensifies dedication and commitment. Employees develop a sense of ownership over proposed changes when they are involved.  Employee engagement can not only make a real difference, it can set the great organizations apart from the merely good ones.

Lean Quote: A Leader Must Be A Good Teacher

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.

"It has been well said that the effective leader must know the meaning and master the technique of the educator." — Philip Selznick

A leader must be a good teacher. Leaders must be able to be good teachers to share insights and experiences. Leaders can inspire, motivate, and influence subordinates at various levels through the use of teaching ability. Obviously, one must be a good communicator in order to be an effective teacher. Without the ability to clearly and effectively communicate a message, goal, story, or philosophy, it is impossible to lead.

In a Lean organization, learning is critical, and line management's direct responsibility. Lean is based on how people think; simply defined, Lean is shared thinking. Management and employees need common philosophy, ideas, and principles. Leaders can't just put workers into situations, and hope they learn the right things. They should take responsibility for the message, combining real-life experience with direct coaching. An organization's principles should become guideposts to help people make tough decisions.

Lean Leaders must not only be teachers, they must also preach and promote teaching at all levels. Lean Leaders make sure that all of their direct reports are good teachers. In classical leadership, the role of teaching is frequently delegated – not so with the Lean Leaders.

The Lean Leader must teach leadership. This is the real key to sustaining the gains. Teach them to keep a focus, teach them how to get their resources aligned and teach them how not to “de-motivate” their subordinates and peers and you will have gone a long way toward teaching leadership.

To teach, a leader has to learn, and learning Lean is more than a cerebral exercise By applying Lean to everything, a leader becomes a more effective teacher. Remember what leadership is really about: It's not a job; it's an act. Leaders have to learn how to teach, build creative tension, and eliminate fear and comfort. Leaders need to actively participate in the transformation of the business, and apply Lean to their own jobs.

 

Establishing Smart Goals Ensures Clarity

Performance goal setting is an important activity that is closely related to quality improvement. The process of setting goals can serve as a road map to your success. Goals set for departments, teams, or individuals should be linked to the organization’s mission, purpose, and strategic plans.

One process for helping you set clear, achievable goals is S.M.A.R.T., which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, results-orientated and time bound. Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals can help keep you motivated and provide a way to measure your progress during your journey.

To be meaningful, goals must be SMART.

S Specific

M Measurable

A Attainable

R Results-Oriented

T Time-Oriented

Goals can be broken down into sub-goals or objectives. Attainment of individual objectives will lead to accomplishment of the overall goal. Specific goals state exactly what the organization intends to accomplish.

The following is an example of a non-specific goal:

Non-Specific: We will improve customer service.

This could be better written as:

Specific: We will increase our customer service scores by 5% over the next 12 months by increasing training for front-line staff and monitoring performance via customer satisfaction surveys.

Each specific goal must be evaluated to determine if it is measurable. The above example is a measurable goal since the organization can track it. The following is a non-measurable goal:

Non-Measurable: We should talk to the employees about reducing expenses.

It could be better written as:

Measurable: We will reduce expenses by 10% by January 1^st.

Goals must be attainable and realistic. Employees will lose their motivation in attempting to attain goals that are set too high. On the other hand, goals set too low will not provide a challenge. The following is an example of a non-attainable goal:

Non-Attainable: We will improve our Employee Satisfaction Survey to 100% for all questions.

A related and attainable goal would be:

Attainable: We will increase our Employee Satisfaction Survey scores to 5% above the present organization average.

Goals that are result-oriented will create standards of performance for each job that impact the overall business objective. An example of a non-result oriented goal would be:

Non-Results Oriented: We will improve our leadership ability.

A results-oriented goal would be:

Results Oriented: We will conduct leadership training two hours per month until we raise our Employee Satisfaction Survey scores above the existing organization average.

In addition, goals must be time-oriented to keep employees focused and avoid procrastination. An ineffective time-oriented goal would be:

Not-Time Oriented: We will try to conduct safety training in the fall.

A better goal would be:

Time-Oriented: We will complete safety training of all employees by November 1^{st .}

T can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing.

When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

Remember the S.M.A.R.T. acronym when establishing goals and objectives. This formula for goal setting helps ensure that both supervisors and staff members share the same understanding and clarity on goals set.

Progress toward the goals should be monitored constantly. The responsibility of achieving the goals belongs to both the supervisor and the employee.  It’s a team effort. It’s a company wide effort.