Lean Quote: Change is Inevitable...Except From a Vending Machine

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.

"Change is inevitable… except from a vending machine." — Author Unknown

Change is inevitable. Adaptation to change is a necessary and critical component to survival. But mostly, change is a constant in business. And business seems to be where the adaptation to change -- or lack thereof -- seems to have some of the most significant impact.

In business, we must continually change, evolution is not an option. If we stand still in our businesses we go backwards. The day that we think we have our business model perfected is not the day to stop changing. The issue comes about when we try to make changes. With the evidence in existence related to the necessity of change in business, you would think every business would constantly be revising their model. But that is not the case.

Change is most often a difficult thing. The sooner we learn to embrace it and work within it, the easier it will be to begin the next challenge that comes along. We naturally gravitate toward the things that make us feel fulfilled, safe and happy. Therefore as we embrace change more often and see the good in it… the more we will gravitate toward it with enthusiasm!

If we accept change is inevitable, you will need a means to continually drive change throughout your business. You should have a change management process that involves every single employee in an organization. Change should be ongoing and employees should be a critical part of that process so there is not fear of change but a willingness to embrace it because it’s a part of the everyday process in the organization.

Change is necessary, resistance is futile. Prepare to be assimilated.

Guest Post: 5 Ways To Boost Team Morale

Your team feeling deflated and unmotivated? Not as enthusiastic and motivated as they used to be? You could be experiencing low team morale, and if morale suffers, your business could take a hit too. In this article, we highlight 5 ways to boost team morale to improve team spirit and boost company performance.

1. Give Recognition and Show Appreciation
One of the easiest ways you can boost team morale is to give recognition and show appreciation to your employees. Recognise and appreciate the hard work and effort your team puts into their work every day.

Morale is boosted when employees feel appreciated and valued and that they are making a difference through their work and contributing to the company’s success. Congratulate your employees personally and publicly in front of the whole team and celebrate their successes. Tell everyone when your employees are doing a great job and call out top performers at meetings.

Recognise achievements, tell them when you are impressed and show that you appreciate their work. This will raise morale and motivation and encourage employees to work even harder and go above and beyond for your business to continue to receive praise.

2. Encourage Learning and Personal Growth
Encouraging learning and personal growth will raise team morale and, in turn, benefit your business too. As your employees learn and grow, so too will your business.

Mastering new skills and advancing knowledge keeps employees engaged as they are always learning new things. Help them progress through investing in training and education, running courses, and attending conferences.

Develop the skills and talents that your business needs and help employees move towards their own career goals too. This constant growth, improvement, and achievement will keep your team motivated and improve morale.

3. Offer Rewards, Benefits, Perks, Incentives
Offering rewards, benefits, perks, and incentives is a highly effective way to boost morale.

You could offer extra holidays or give employees their birthday off to spend however they want. Or how about providing wage bonuses or a discount scheme. Or try subsidizing employee’s lunch, transport costs, and gym membership. You could even introduce a sabbatical programme that gives your team a year off to pursue their out-of-work passions.

There are a great number of rewards and perks that you can offer to your employees to help improve their working and home life and show that they are valued by your organisation, all of which help boost morale.

4. Have Fun
Injecting a bit of fun into the workplace is highly effective at improving company morale. Your team works hard, so they should be allowed to play hard too.

This could be as simple as a ping-pong table or games console in the break room. Or getting out of the office regularly for a team lunch or night out. Team building activities can be fun too, such as Cluego, which is an action-packed team treasure hunt experience. Throw a summer or Christmas party to celebrate together or take a yearly retreat with the whole team to explore a new place and try a new experience.

Anything that allows your team to blow off some steam and have fun will boost morale as well as build stronger team relationships.


5. Listen to Employee Feedback
Listening to employee feedback and implementing their suggestions boosts morale as it shows that your employees’ voices are being heard and respected and that you listen to and value their opinion.

Let employees have their say on how their job and the business in which they work can be improved. Let them contribute to the decision making process and direction that the company is heading in.

Employees have first-hand experience of working in your company and the way that it operates so their insights can be some of the most valuable. Listen to and act on these ideas - they may even be able to suggest why morale is so low.

Try implementing some of these methods to improve morale in your business today. They are all based on caring, recognition, rewards, appreciation and showing employees that they are a valuable and indispensable part of your organisation. If morale is low and your employees are unhappy, your business will suffer. The higher the morale and happier your employees are, the greater your business will benefit.

About the Author: This post was written by James Carruthers, a team-building expert who runs ClueGo, an events company providing exciting, action-packed team treasure hunt experiences for corporate groups in the UK and beyond.

Top Four Reasons Organizations Fail at Kaizen

An essential element in Lean thinking is Kaizen.  Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement or change for the better.  As no process can ever be declared perfect, there is always room for improvement.  Kaizen involves building on gains by continuing experimentation and innovation.

For businesses, the concept works to improve the performance of managers and employees, the interaction within a team, and the pursuit of better productivity. Since inception, Kaizen has been proven to help various organizations and has been long lauded as a success. However, certain conditions are needed in the corporate culture for this strategy to take effect in an organization. 

Here are four top reasons why organizations fail when implementing the concept of Kaizen.

Equates to Improved KPIs 
The over emphasis on the effect of Kaizen on KPIs would often overshadow the fact that improvements take time and are often incremental, and not revolutionary. Many cases, management write this strategy off as a failure when they do not see immediate results. Without a genuine desire to improve, the concept can not thrive within an organization. While it is crucial to tying Kaizen to KPIs, management has to understand that Kaizen is not magic, it is in fact like a snowball rolling down a gentle slope, gathering momentum and size as it comes down.

Missing Training
Kaizen will never work if people do not implement its full suite of tools and concepts, with sufficient training given to take advantage of them. All the tools, especially the 5-why analysis and the mindset that everything can be improved, is an essential part. Remember to always provide the training people need so you can not only help them become more engaged, but also improve the chances of a successful kaizen.

Lack of Management Support
The importance of support cannot be over emphasized: it is essential that management isn’t just fully on board, but essential that they want to fully embrace the long-term commitment of kaizen to the organization. They need to pass on their enthusiasm and demonstrate that even they are continually looking for new and better ways of doing things.

It’s Not Continuous
My sensei once told me: “Tim-san, improvement cannot be sustained, improvement should be non-stop”. Continuous improvement should be continuous. Never consider yourself to be finished. There will always be something new that you can learn or a skill that you can improve. There is an area for improvement in all businesses, no matter how successful they are. Improvement has no limits, and can be continued on an infinite level.

Kaizen is all about making things better in the long run, and improving your KPIs and processes gradually. It is a strategy that needs to be implemented now, for the future. However, before implementing this concept to any organization, one must evaluate and understand the organizational structure and processes, to implement Kaizen or any management strategies effectively. As I always say, there are no cookie-cutter solutions that can solve all problems.

Lean Quote: There is Always Room for Improvement

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.

"The largest room in the world is the room for improvement." — Author Unknown

This quote is quite appropriate given Toyota's depcition on their business improvement system as a house. 

I believe we can always find improvement in what we do.  For many it may not be easy to identify and eliminate wast because they haven't learned how.  These ten principles may help:

1.  Throw out all of your fixed ideas about how to do things.
2.  Think of how the new method will work - not how it won't.
3.  Don't accept excuses.  Totally deny the status quo.
4.  Don't seek perfection.  A 50 percent implementation rate is fine as long as it's done on the spot.
5.  Correct mistakes the moment they're found.
6.  Don't spend a lot of money on improvements.
7.  Problems give you a chance to use your brain.
8.  Ask "why?" at least five times until you find the root cause.
9.  Ten people's ideas are better than one person's.
10. Improvement knows no limit.

These principles will help you find waste.  The best way to learn them is to practice them.  And if your countermeasure doesn't improve the situation then just try another one.  Mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process in Lean.  A "can do" attitude makes a big difference when making improvment. Remember there is always room for improvement.

Guest Post: 7 Leadership Qualities of a Project Manager

Being a leader could be tough but with the right qualities and instinct of when to apply them, you’ll find leadership very easy. The success of every project depends on the management of the project. The management of every project depends on the leadership skills of the project manager. Behind every successful project are days and nights of effort of the project manager and his team members.

The project manager's ability to coordinate the members, no matter the number determines the work ethics and interest of the members of the team. More than work, the project manager must communicate his visions and plans to the members in order to encourage them to take the job as their project. How can you achieve this? Here are 7 qualities a project leader must have, in order to achieve the best.

1. Competence
An incompetent person cannot lead a team. For a person to emerge as a project manager, he must be competent. Competence is measured by the experience, the successful track record and the expertise of the person. No loafer or idler can be a good leader. For a project manager to be competent, he must be driven by some personal ideas that can be infused into others to drive a good project.

As a project manager, you must be committed to improving your knowledge and skills. You must always have an idea about the next step to take. Expertise is built by taking professional courses and attending job-related conferences. A competent leader will build competent members.  Also, a capable project manager must have several wins that can be pointed to as his achievement. Your actions should encourage, enable, inspire and challenge your team members.

2. Team Management
A project manager should be able to manage people of different characters and dispositions. You must understand both the operational and strategic perspectives of the project and the business at hand.

Team management skill includes the ability to resolve conflicts, proper communication, evaluation of members, the delegation of tasks, and the promotion of teamwork. You should have a good reward system in place to encourage the team.

No success can be recorded when the teamwork in place is not effective. Unity should be the watchword. The team-building skills of a leader ensure balance. The deficiency of a team member should be complemented by the proficiency of another. A proper team built guarantees good project work.

3. Communication
At every point, the mind, plans, and goals of a project manager must be communicated effectively to the team members. Communication is a key attribute of every project manager. It is very essential to the success of every project.

Through good communication, a project manager helps the members to understand the reason for a project and the vision behind his actions. He must master the art of communication; when to communicate and the medium to use to ensure effective communication. A project manager should develop multi-channel means of communication which will promote timely reception and delivery of information. A proactive communicating system ensures proper communication among team members.

4. Integrity
Integrity is the soul of every business. A project manager must always walk his talk. An honest leader is a successful leader. As a project manager, your honesty will enable your team members to trust your leadership. This will help them to carry out work delegated to them without complaining.

A project manager must display integrity in both action and words.  Creating a good standard of ethical behavior will reinforce the belief of the team in the project. If you re driven by self-interest as a leader, you won’t have a good team to work with. Leadership based on honesty represents behavior consistency and dedication to duty.

5. Enthusiasm 
Enthusiastic project managers are optimistic and positive. A project manager must possess positive vibes. Your optimism will enhance the positivity of the team. You cannot carry a negative mindset and expect wonderful project completion.

Enthusiasm must be backed up with positivity, commitment, persistence and consistency with project and project plan.

6. Delegation
As a project manager, you cannot do it all. You must possess the attribute of delegating duties to members of your team. A good project manager recognizes the ability of each member and delegates work based on this.

You must recognize how capable a member is and his area of expertise.  Knowing this will enable you to assign and delegate duties effectively. Effective delegation requires appropriate skill set. Your capacity to delegate work will enhance your ability to solve problems by identifying quickly, what ought to be done.

7. Creativity
You cannot achieve a lot without a touch of creativity. To make your work unique, you must be creative.  You should improvise and create when things are not working according to plan.
A project manager needs to think outside the box at every time. Such creativity is used to create a feedback and evaluation plan for the team. Team members are more effective when the project manager promotes an inclusive plan for the benefit of all. This creative skill will reinforce the team members to bring new ideas on how to execute difficult tasks.

Conclusion
A project leader must be strong and command the respect of the team members. You must have all these qualities and know when to use them. These qualities are not necessarily inherent but you must build them into your system to get more wins and achievement on your record as a project manager. 

About the Author: Becky Holton is a journalist and a blogger at dissertation writing services, best assignment writing service. She is interested in education technologies, professional writer service and is always ready to support informative speaking at essay writing services, dissertation writing services, easy essay. Follow her on Twitter.

Lean Tips Edition #143 (2356-2370)

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 #2356 - Be Enthusiastic
Your people will reflect the tone and demeanor that you display. If you are positive, energetic, and enthusiastic, then they will also adopt your demeanor. Don’t accept ongoing negativity. Help people to see the positive in the situation. Explain repeatedly why you are asking them to change some facet of their work, and then be patient.

Lean Tip #2357 - Offer Frequent Encouragement
I have been told repeatedly over the years that, “No news is good news.” In other words, the only time a person’s manager may speak to them is when they have messed up. Don’t let this be said of you. Try to catch people doing the right things, and then recognize and express appreciation for their efforts. When people don’t meet your expectations, take the time to encourage them and tell them that you know that they will do better next time. Help them with any deficiencies they may have and celebrate their efforts when they succeed.

Lean Tip #2358 - Help People to See Their Opportunity
Those who are consumed with negativity don’t often see their own opportunities.  Take the time to identify opportunities that are available to the people who work for you and find or create occasions to share them.  Helping people to understand that they have control over how they feel, how they see the situation, and their actions and reactions, can help them to be responsible for what they create for themselves.

Lean Tip #2359 - Hold People Accountable
If people are dragging their feet or are not embracing the required change, then you need to call them on their behavior. Hold the conversation to reinforce the importance of the needed change, be clear about your expectations, and then do all you can to help them succeed. Don’t let it be said of you that you didn’t provide them with what they needed to be successful. If they refuse to change, then that decision is theirs and not yours. Respectfully help them to see and take responsibility for their actions and attitude in the current situation.

Lean Tip #2360 - Identify The Needs Of The Individual
I think it is safe to assume that most people come to work looking to perform adequately and not intentionally mess something up. When things don’t go as planned, or you don’t get the results that you expected, take that as an opportunity to identify what that person needs to do to be more effective. Doing so reinforces to the individual that you really are committed to their success and development in light of all the new tasks that may be required of them.

Lean Tip #2361 – Facilitate Process-Centric Thinking.
Process-centric thinking does not have to be overly complex. Sometimes, all it takes is a thoughtful examination to uncover significant areas for improvement. Rather than tolerating mistakes and repeat errors, facilitate process-centric thinking to continually improve, correct, and overcome execution difficulties.

Lean Tip #2362 – Educate Your Workplace.
Like any other business strategy, ongoing education of the workplace is critical in establishing awareness, developing skills, and institutionalizing the needed mindset and behaviors to bring about effective change. It is no different with Continuous Improvement. Expect and overcome resistance to change with ongoing training, reinforcement of expected behaviors, and recognition of those who are learning and doing.

Lean Tip #2363 – Ensure a Penalty-free Exchange of Ideas. 
In many organizations, expressing one's opinion on how to do things better may not necessarily be a welcomed activity. Management can feel threatened or pressured to act resulting in immediate resistances. And, those expressing ideas may be viewed as complainers or trouble makers. In such an environment, it doesn't take long for the potential risks of making a suggestion to stifle enthusiasm and participation in improvement oriented thinking. Ensuring a penalty-free exchange of ideas is beneficial to both the giver and the receiver of new ideas and approaches and will ensure a safe two way exchange of thoughts and ideas.

Lean Tip #2364 – Think Kaizen and Cross the Chasm.
Many people advocate Kaizen oriented thinking and behavior where continual small, incremental improvements provide tremendous benefits in performance and end results achieved over time. Others advocate a Crossing the Chasm mind set where drastic change is introduced completely replacing inefficient execution rather than slightly improving upon it. In a continuous improvement culture, there is room for both approaches. And often, after achieving the mega change that is made possible when Crossing the Chasm improvement initiatives are implemented, a Kaizen mind set is required to refine, sustain, and continually improve upon such change.

Lean Tip #2365 – Establish an Enduring Culture.
For continuous improvement to work, there must be a relentless focus on and commitment to getting things right. Adaptability and an action oriented leadership team are inherent components of a continuous improvement culture. Resistance to change exists in all organizations to a degree and it must be recognized for what it is, an impediment to improvement.

Lean Tip #2366 - Get Organizational Buy-in for Kaizen
Make sure your organization understands the importance of the Kaizen event to your business’s bottom line. Gaining buy-in is crucial to the success of your kaizen initiatives. If your organization’s leaders are committed to sustaining a culture of continuous improvement, they will set the tone for the rest of the company.

Further, it’s important that your employees have the support that they need from leadership in order to implement improvements. Otherwise, the team will be operating on a series of isolated efforts.

Lean Tip #2367 - Empower Your Employees With Kaizen
Employees who are closest to the problems on your shop floor are the best-equipped to solve them. They are your greatest assets in your kaizen efforts, so give them the support they need to implement improvements. Developing your team’s abilities through training and support should be as much a part of your continuous improvement program as making improvements to manufacturing processes.

Additionally, engaging team members to identify problems and suggest improvements in their work areas encourages a sense of ownership over their work, which can improve overall motivation, morale, and productivity.

Lean Tip #2368 - Create Your Own Kaizen Guidelines
While there are many resources available to guide you through your kaizen efforts, it’s important to personally understand your company’s kaizen journey. Reflecting on your kaizen efforts after improvements have been implemented is an important part of the continuous improvement cycle.

As you reflect on your efforts, develop your own kaizen guidelines. Start by creating guidelines based on your own experiences improving the workplace. Keep in mind that these guidelines should be for your colleagues, your successors, and yourself to understand the problems you have overcome. These guidelines will ultimately help you as you approach your next challenge.


Lean Tip #2369 - Standardize Your Kaizen Improvement
In order for improvements to last, they must be standardized and repeatable. Standardizing work is crucial to kaizen because it creates a baseline for improvement. When you make improvements to a process, it’s essential to document the new standard work in order to sustain the improvements and create a new baseline. Standard work also reduces variability in processes and promotes discipline, which is essential for continuous improvement efforts to take root.

Lean Tip #2370 - Enforce Kaizen Improvements
It’s easy for employees to regress to their old ways. Enforcing the changes you’ve made to your processes is important for the improvements you’ve made to last, and it’s key to sustaining continuous improvement in the long term.

Documenting improvements, making sure standard work is up-to-date, and training employees on new procedures can help sustain the progress you’ve made in your continuous improvement efforts.

Lean Quote: Knowledge Workers - Work With Their Heads, Not Their Hands

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 man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them." — Elbert Hubbard

Coined by management expert Peter Drucker in 1959, the term knowledge workers refers to people whose main capital is to think for a living. They work with their heads, not their hands, to plan, analyze, organize, test, program, distribute, search, market, or otherwise generally contribute to the transformation of information in the knowledge economy.

Drucker asserted quite prophetically before his death in 2005 that increasing the productivity of knowledge workers was the most important contribution managers needed to make in the 21st century.

That leads to the million-dollar question: How do you manage them? How do you manage highly paid, independent thinkers who like to control the process of their own work and don't like to be managed, and who own their organization's means of innovating, developing, and producing?

The same way as everyone else. You treat them as valued human beings.


This obviously will require strong leadership. The good news is that to lead the smartest people in the building, you don't need to be smarter than them.

If you find yourself managing the smartest people in the room, remember this: The universal human need of every knowledge worker is not unlike that of the rest of us. It's to perform meaningful work, be respected, collaborate in a tight-knit community of excellence and shared values, and ultimately make an impact for good in the world. And the biggest aspiration for their leaders is a matter of the heart: to make their people better workers and better human beings.