Daily Lean Tips Edition #53

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 #781 - Follow Through– Don’t Stop at the Vision.

Casting the vision is not enough.  Starting out is always the most difficult part, but do not let the vision fall flat.  Revisit, reinvent, and restrategize until the flow becomes natural.  Get advice by networking with other Lean companies, and do not give up.

Lean Tip #782 - Be Flexible, but Committed.

This is absolutely a must.  The very nature of change is enough to generate discord and frustration.  It instantly pushes some people out.  Although those voices are sometimes the loudest, they are almost never the majority.  Be flexible in implementation, but committed to the goal.  Those who remain typically show higher productivity, and a stronger commitment to the company and to the vision.

Lean Tip #783 - Foster Excitement, Motivation, and Engagement Around The Vision By Articulating The WIFM (What’s In It For Me) Factor.

Let your employees know how they will benefit from embracing the vision. Explain and reinforce the financial rewards when the goals of the vision have been achieved, such as bonuses, recognition, and career development. Share the vision frequently through staff meetings, outings, newsletters, emails, posters and employee campaigns. Develop visuals, such as tables, charts and photos, which highlight milestone accomplishments of the vision.

Create and align company goals with the vision, and align individual and team goals with company goals.

Lean Tip #784 - Create A Workplace Culture That Values Real People Relationships.

For many employees, workgroup relationships and relationships between managers and workers drive engagement and loyalty more effectively than foosball machines, logo T-shirts, and Thirsty Thursday gatherings.

Lean Tip #785 - Model The Behaviors You Seek From Employees.

Just as the principle at the high school did, accept your responsibility as a leader and act with engagement, commitment and responsibility. Do this every day.

Each of us possesses skills, strengths, talents and flaws. Each of us seeks to belong, to be engaged, to relate to those around us. Loyalty is built on relationships, shared understanding and trust. Engagement and commitment require loyalty, shared goals and fair treatment. Don’t take loyalty and engagement for granted – create a remarkable culture where there are possible and rewarding outcomes of the workplace.

We are only human after all – Every one of us. Every leader. Every brand. Every workplace. Every person.

Lean Tip #786 – Create A Good Climate For Problem Solving

The success of a company can depend to a large extent on the ability of its staff to solve problems effectively, both in their day-to-day work and through innovation. This applies not only to senior management, but at all levels in an organization.

It's not enough simply to teach effective problem solving techniques. The working environment has a very powerful influence on the individual's ability to solve problems effectively and it needs to be supportive and stimulating.

To be truly effective in your work and to contribute to the success of your organization, you need to be aware of the influence of the working environment on problem solving.

Lean Tip #787 - Effective Problem Solving Requires a Controlled Mixture of Analytical and Creative Thinking.

Problem solving requires two distinct types of mental skill, analytical and creative.

Analytical or logical thinking includes skills such as ordering, comparing, contrasting, evaluating and selecting. It provides a logical framework for problem solving and helps to select the best alternative from those available by narrowing down the range of possibilities (a convergent process).

           

Creative thinking is a divergent process, using the imagination to create a large range of ideas for solutions. It requires us to look beyond the obvious, creating ideas which may, at first, seem unrealistic or have no logical connection with the problem.

Effective problem solving requires a controlled mixture of analytical and creative thinking.

Lean Tip #788 – The Way or Style of Management Within an Organization Has a Very Big Effect on the Ability of People to Effectively Solve Problems. 

Often managers are not even aware that their actions and behaviors are contributing to the problem. People who have responsibility for and control over the work feel a greater commitment to ensuring that they work efficiently. Staff should be given the freedom to make decisions and to tackle problems without constantly having to get agreement from their manager. Some managers feel that this lessens their control over staff and their work. In fact, because people are more committed to their work, there is less need for control.

Lean Tip #789 - Planning and Preparation is the Key to Successful Implementation.

The more important the problem, or the more complex the actions required to solve it, the more thorough your planning and preparation needs to be to ensure success.

These questions highlight the main features of planning and preparation, which involve:

• constructing a plan of action
• the actions required
• scheduling the actions
• the resources required
• measures to counter adverse consequences
• management of the action
• reviewing the plan
• selecting, briefing and training those involved.

Action must be monitored to ensure that it is being carried out effectively and having the desired effects; if not, corrective action must be taken. Once the action is completed, the outcome must be measured to check that it has provided an effective solution; if not, further action may be required.

Lean Tip #790 - Company Policies and Procedures Effect on Problem Solving

Possessing good problem solving skills does not make people automatically use them to the benefit of the organization. They need encouragement, support and guidance in applying them to the organization’s problems. This can be achieved through:

• Commitment to Innovation
• Systems and procedures
• Reward
• Good communications

The most effective system is where all staff are informed of specific problems which the company faces in reaching its business objectives, and are notified of the results of evaluation of the ideas that have been submitted.

Lean Tip #791 - Make Sure Everyone Understands the Need for Change.

There are no mind readers in the enterprise - make sure you communicate why you need to change. So when you’re responsible for making process improvement happen make sure that before you even begin that you’ve clearly communicated to others about the need for change: what is the situation we’re facing? why is it serious or important? what do we believe we need to do to start addressing the situation?

Finally, don’t forget to listen to others' interpretations – they may be able to see something that you can’t.

Lean Tip #792 - Ensure Your Approach is Suited to the Problem You Face.

Just because you’ve got a hammer, doesn’t mean every problem’s a nail!

We’re often tempted to apply the tools that we know in order to solve the problems that are in front of us. But just because you’ve got a tool doesn’t mean it’s the most appropriate one to use. Always ask, is this the most appropriate method to tackle this problem? Would a more simple “Just Do It” approach be adequate or do we require more robust data analysis in order to get to the heart of the issue? A pragmatic approach is better than one that attempts to pigeon-hole everything into the same approach. 

Lean Tip #793 - Get Your Senior Managers Out of Their Offices.

The more senior you are in an organization, the more that problems - and even customers for that matter - can appear like just a series of numbers on a spreadsheet in a management report. It’s easy to theorize about numbers as they appear abstract.

The Lean management principle of going to where work gets done ("going to the gemba") is critical to ensure that managers really understand what’s going on. Get your senior staff out of their office and to see what's really going on. Even better than “management by walking around” is “management by doing and understanding.” Get your CEO manning the phones in the “customer contact center” for a few hours a couple of times a year or on frontline service. The amount they’ll learn in those few hours will beat any amount of staring at spreadsheets trying to solve the company’s problems.

Lean Tip #794 - The Best Way to Build Commitment is by Involving People.

Outside help is legitimate if you are to build the skills and behaviors you don’t currently have. But outside consultants can never be the change agents. The teams themselves and the leadership must own their own projects, from choosing what to work on, through to implementation, as well as enjoying the credit for outcomes.

The best way to build commitment is by involving people. This way they will have a sense of ownership. By involving your frontline teams in selecting the project that they believe will make a difference, you’ll build ownership, engagement, and have their commitment.

Lean Tip #795 - Communicate 'Why Are We Doing What We Are Doing'

Do not launch an improvement program without a purpose. Bereft of a purpose there is no framework for establishing priorities, aligning efforts or judging success. Many improvement processes fail because the effort is squandered in improving unimportant processes.

MFG Day Dispels Common Manufacturing Misconceptions

The second annual MFG Day event, is just around the corner.  Scheduled for October 4, 2013, the event aims to address common misconceptions about manufacturing through coordinated open houses across the United States. MFG Day is designed to address the skilled labor shortage and connect with future generations while simultaneously improving the public image of manufacturing.

Recent global surveys reflect the widespread industry challenge. A 2012 McKinsey & Company report revealed that while most of the young people surveyed (70 percent), admitted that they believe vocational schools are more helpful in getting a job than an academic track, two-thirds also said that vocational education is “less valued” in society than other academic paths. And only 30 percent of parents encourage their children to consider manufacturing careers.

MFG Day is an important part of efforts to support the future of manufacturing here in the US. As manufacturers today, we know that negative, untrue stereotypes plague our sector and drive young people away.  We know that we have to overcome the perception that manufacturing jobs are dirty, dangerous dead ends.  We know that we must spread the word that manufacturing has gone high tech, with modern, clean facilities, computers, robot, and automation.  We know that counteracting outdated, negative images with current, positive ones is the best way to fight problems like the skills gap that threaten the American manufacturing sector's recent boom.

And MFG Day is just the way to do what we know we must. MFG Day gives manufacturers around the country the opportunity to open their doors to local school kids, parents, community college students,  job seekers and members of the media so that they can see firsthand the safe, high-tech and innovative work environments that await the best and brightest who pursue careers in manufacturing.

To learn more about how you can get involved, visit the Manufacturing Day website.

Lean Quote: The Only Cure for Inactivity is Action

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.

"Regret for wasted time is more wasted time." — Mason Cooley, O Magazine, April 2004

Often managers spot a chance to do something valuable for their company, but for some reason, they cannot get started. Even if they begin the project, they give up when they see the first big hurdle. The inability to take purposeful action seems to be pervasive across companies. Managers tend to ignore or postpone dealing with crucial issues which require reflection, systematic planning, creative thinking, and above all, time.

If you do nothing, nothing changes. Things at rest have a tendency to remain at rest. Be aware of items that stall your action. It's better to have a 50-percent improvement right away than it is to take no action and hope for a 100-percent improvement sometime in the future.

The above quote comes from aphorist Mason Cooley, who reminds us that the only cure for inactivity is action. That’s why the first step in creating a successful culture of execution is creating a bias toward action. People who make things happen need to be praised and rewarded. People who don’t should be coached to change, or weeded out. Failure cannot be unduly punished. Unless people feel free to make mistakes, they will not feel free to take bold actions.

A key to creating a bias for action is to encourage relentless experimentation. Rather than analyze a new product or service to death, look for ways to test it at relatively low cost. Learn from your tries.

 

What is Culture and Why Is It Important?

Corporate culture, safety culture, quality culture, lean culture, … We talk about culture all the time but what is it?

Culture is the environment in which you work all of the time. Culture is a powerful element that shapes your work enjoyment, your work relationships, and your work processes. But, culture is something that you cannot actually see, except through its physical manifestations in your work place.

Culture is like personality. In a person, the personality is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, interests, experiences, upbringing, and habits that create a person's behavior.

Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a group of people. Culture is the behavior that results when a group arrives at a set of - generally unspoken and unwritten - rules for working together.

In a healthy business culture, what's good for the company and for customers comes together and becomes the driving force behind what everyone does. Culture determines what is acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, right or wrong, workable or unworkable. It encompasses all learned and shared, explicit or tacit, assumptions, beliefs, knowledge, norms, and values, as well as attitudes, behavior, dress, and language.

An organizations culture shown in

(1) the ways the organization conducts its business, treats its employees, customers, and the wider community,

(2) the extent to which freedom is allowed in decision making, developing new ideas, and personal expression,

(3) how power and information flow through its hierarchy, and

(4) how committed employees are towards collective objectives.

Company culture is important because it can make or break your company. Companies with an adaptive culture that is aligned to their business goals routinely outperform their competitors.

It affects the organization's productivity and performance, and provides guidelines on customer care and service, product quality and safety, attendance and punctuality, and concern for the environment. It also extends to production-methods, marketing and advertising practices, and to new product creation. Organizational culture is unique for every organization and one of the hardest things to change.

No two organizations can have the same work culture. It is the culture of an organization which makes it distinct from others. The work culture goes a long way in creating the brand image of the organization. The work culture gives an identity to the organization. In other words, an organization is known by its culture.

Teamwork Breeds Successful Improvement

We all have roles in our organizations but it is the power of teamwork that makes our endeavors successful. It takes everyone working together on a common goal to be successful in Lean.

A team of people can achieve far more than the sum of the total of the individuals skills alone. In business teams can achieve:

They can generate a wider range of ideas and innovation than individuals;

They are able to motivate themselves;

They can bounce ideas off each team member;

They often take more risks than individuals;

They have a range of personalities such as workers, thinkers, leaders who contribute the right balance of skills necessary to achieve high performance;

They support each other and are not just task-orientated;

They can be a support mechanism which provide mentoring and allow others to grow in self-confidence.

Teamwork is important to the success of an organization, but as the saying goes: “it’s like getting rich or falling in love, you cannot simply will it to happen.” Teamwork is a practice. Teamwork is an outcome. And teamwork leverages the individual skills of every team member.

To create effective teamwork across your organization, you need to break down any departmental barriers to collaboration so that you can draw on the best people. You need to set clear objectives and define working relationships so that members can work as a cohesive team, and you must provide tools that support efficient collaboration.

Most people respond well to being a valued member of a team by putting forth their best efforts. Human beings are hard wired to work cooperatively with one another to achieve common goals, so remember that not all performance rewards need to go to individuals. Incentives can be provided to the team as a whole for working efficiently together to reach goals.

Collaboration and team work create an environment that allows the collective knowledge, resources and skills of each team member to flourish. When people work together they can complete tasks faster by dividing the work to people of different abilities and knowledge. Teamwork can lead to better decisions, products, or services.

Do you agree that teamwork breed successful improvement?

Lean Quote: Focus Drives Performance

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.

"Nothing is Less Productive Than Doing What Should Not Be Done at All." — Peter Drucker

It's easy to get bogged down in doing things faster, better, and more efficiently. However, it's all for nothing if the thing we're trying to accomplish isn't going to provide any real benefit in the long run.

People often confuse efficiency and effectiveness, two very different concepts. Efficiency commonly means doing a job quickly. Effectiveness means doing the right tasks and doing them in priority order. Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.

Most people manage time by looking for more time. This is not possible. The only way to make more time is to manage what we do with the time we have.

The 80/20 principle is key to increased productivity. 80% of our results are typically achieved from 20% of our activities. These high payoff activities have the most impact on our success now and in the future. The other 20% of our results, our low payoff activities, come from 80% of our work effort.

Many of us work in what I call “crisis management”. We are always doing. We manage second and communicate third. If we have time, we may plan and set goals. What does crisis management accomplish? People don't work together. Tasks don't get accomplished on time. Quality may be compromised. People get stressed and harried. The list goes on.

What if we could work in proactive way where we plan and set goals first, where we communicate and schedule priorities then track and measure results? Our results would be very different. Tasks would be finished on time with less waste, turnover and better quality, creating a positive work environment.

The key to increasing productivity while not working harder is to work on the right things.

High payoff activities drives focus. Focus drives performance. Performance drives results. Focus is key to developing success. Unified focus across an organization is one key to developing competitive advantage in your marketplace.

 

Visual Management, A Status At A Glance

In the game of baseball why do fans repeatedly look at the scoreboard when the action is clearly on the field? The scoreboard answers important questions about the status of the game. It tells us how our team is doing in relation to the goal, to win the game! Visual management is the scoreboard for our business.

Visual management provides a clear and common understanding of goals and measures of the business. With this information employees are able to align their actions and decisions with the overall strategic direction of the company. It is also an open window to factory performance, and it provides the same unbiased information to everyone, whether owner, manager, operator, or visitor.

The goal in Visual management is to create a “status at a glance” in the workplace. This refers to an operating environment where anyone can enter the workplace and:

See the current situation (Self-explaining)

See the work process (Self-ordering)

See if you are ahead, behind or on schedule (Self-regulating) and

See when there is an abnormality (Self-improving)

Visual management is the language of the Lean production system. The Gemba is about observation and our observation is greatly enhanced by the ability to see the “status at a glance.” Without it we can’t see the wastes in our factory, which are the greatest source of potential improvements in customer service and business performance. Visuals ensure that what is supposed to happen happens on time, every time by everyone involved.

The key objectives of visual management are:

Give the status (Indicator Lights)

Direct and locate things (Road signs)

Indicate actions (Traffic Lights)

Show what is right or wrong (Lines in parking lots)

Although each tool has a different objective, the goal of all visual management tools is the same:  Status at a Glance.  For a leader, especially a leader in an organization that is on the pathway to a Lean transformation, visual management is one of the most fundamental and necessary elements to success. 

There is irrefutable evidence that a “shared vision” is critical to the success of today’s businesses. Visual management communicates the “shared vision” along with an understanding of how each individual should contribute toward that success. It’s a company-wide “nervous system” that allows all employees to understand how they affect the factory’s overall performance.