Lean Tips Edition #169 (#2746 -2760)

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Lean Tips #2746 – Recognize What’s Going Well 

 

Coaching well requires a balance of criticism and praise. If your coaching conversations are completely focused on what’s not working and what the employee has to do to change, that’s not motivating, it’s demoralizing. 

 

Your recognition of the things your employee is doing well can be a springboard into how they can build from that to improve. Giving compliments that you don’t actually mean can have a worse effect than not giving any at all, so take the time to think about specific things that are going well, and let your employees know that you see and appreciate them! 

 

Lean Tips #2747 – Listen and Empower 

 

Coaching requires both encouragement and empowerment. As a manager and a leader, your job is to build one-on-one relationships with employees that result in improved performance. 

 

Your employees are likely to have a lot of input, questions, and feedback. It’s important for them to know you care enough to listen to what they have to say, so encourage them to share their opinions. 

 

Some employees will have no problem speaking their mind, while others will need a LOT of encouragement before they share an opinion with you openly. Once they do open up, be sure to respect those opinions by discussing them, rather than dismissing them. 

 

Lean Tips #2748 – Understand their Perspective 

 

When you’re coaching employees to improve performance and engagement, approaching things from their perspective, rather than your own, will help enormously with seeing the changes and results you want. 

 

Everyone has different motivations, preferences, and personalities, so if you ask questions to help you understand where their “why” comes from and what their preferred “how” looks like, then you can tailor your coaching conversations to align the way they work best with the improvements you’re both aiming for. 

 

Lean Tips #2749 – Coach in the Moment 

 

If an employee comes to you with a question about a process or protocol, use this opportunity to teach them something new. If you’re not able to stop what you’re doing right away, schedule time with them as soon as possible to go over it. 

 

Better yet, keep a weekly one-on-one meeting scheduled with each employee so you can go over questions and issues regularly, while maintaining productivity. Coaching employees with a goal of improving performance means making them a priority each week! 

 

Lean Tips #2750 - Commit to Continuous Learning 

 

Make a commitment to improve your own skills and competencies. If you’re not continuously learning, why should your employees? Lead by example and your team will follow. 

 

Show that you are interested in their success (why wouldn’t you be?). Ask questions about where they see their career going, or how they see their role evolving in the company. Even if they don’t have a plan laid out yet, these questions will make them think about their career and what they want to accomplish within the organization. 

 

Show your employees that you don’t just want them to do better so you look better, but that you’re actively interested in their career, accomplishments, and professional success. 

 

Lean Tip #2751 – Focus on Gradual Small Changes Instead of Major Shifts 

 

My advice is to focus on small gradual changes rather than large changes. Small changes can be made quickly, on a daily-basis, and are typically inexpensive. By focusing on small changes, you can remove barriers from just starting a continuous improvement process. This focus will allow your team to reap the benefits of their “small wins” right away. As more and more small changes are applied, your team will see an accumulation of benefits from them. This will give them more confidence to suggest more ideas. 

 

Lean Tip #2752 – Prioritize Ideas that are Inexpensive 

 

By going after the ideas that do not require a large amount of investment, you can remove the financial barriers of your continuous improvement efforts. This process can empower the line worker to suggest and implement ideas that can improve their working process because they know that their changes do not need upper management approval. Some ideas such as reducing waste, eliminating unnecessary steps, and re-organizing in the work processes fall into this category. 

 

Lean Tip #2753 – Gather Ideas From the People Doing the Work 

 

In a Lean and continuous improvement organization employees are your greatest asset and should also be the source of generating new ideas for improvement. No one knows the work better than the person who performs it everyday. No one has more “skin in the game” about the working process than that person. As a result, the best person to suggest ideas for improvement and to implement them is the line worker. 

 

Lean Tip #2754 – Empower Employees for Improvement 

 

Although employees play a vital part in the continuous improvement process, it is management’s role to train and empower them. Most workers are unaware of Lean principles and practices such as 5S, the 8 wastes, value stream mapping, visual management, Kaizen, etc. As a result, they may not realize that many of the processes that they perform everyday and the frustration that they feel at work are due to unnecessary waste. Additionally some workers are modest and reluctant to share ideas. It is management’s role to educate their staff on Lean tools and techniques that can be applied to the continuous improvement process and to help their employees overcome any personal or psychological barrier that prevents them from trying out new ideas. 

 

Lean Tip #2755 – Continuous Improvement Requires the Right Environment 

 

Applying continuous improvement requires participation from everyone in the organization. Upper management needs to invest time and money in employee training and empowerment. Managers need to foster an environment of trust, collaboration, open communication, and a willingness to experiment. And finally, workers need to be engaged in their work and be challenged to come up with small gradual improvements each and every day. By applying these principles, your company will be able to start and sustain your continuous improvement efforts. This will lead to a more economically competitive organization, more efficient work processes, and more satisfied employees. 

 

Lean Tip #2756 – Review Your Week Every Friday. 

 

Some people go to bed at night with a whirlwind of thoughts rushing through their mind. They hardly have any time to process what they have just done simply because they are so stressed out about what’s directly ahead. 

 

Elaborating on his productivity quote, Farquhar says he sets aside a block of time each week to sit down and go over the previous week so he can answer three crucial questions: 

 

1. Did I achieve what I wanted to achieve? 

2. Did I personally need to be there for everything I attended? 

3. Could I have achieved the same in a shorter timeframe? 

 

This is a powerful tactic for determining whether you are really managing and spending your time wisely. 

 

Lean Tip #2757 – Track Changes, Challenges and Breakthroughs 

 

Self-reflection can aid in tracking changes, challenges that you face and breakthroughs in your life. Daily self-reflection lets you look back on where you have come from and helps you map out where you want to go in the future.  

 

Even more, writing down a few thoughts each day will give you perspective. You may see that weeks, months, or years later, the things that you were so worried about didn’t have a long-term impact on your life. 

 

Lean Tip #2758 – Understand Top Company Objectives 

 

For effective priorities management, it's essential to practice upward alignment before attempting downward alignment. You could be managing the most unified, productive team on the planet, but if the goals they're achieving aren't furthering the objectives most valued by stakeholders, what will that get you? 

 

If you aren't clear about overall business goals, not to mention your boss's objectives for you and your team, it could be a failing on the part of upper management. But sitting back and waiting for clarity to float down from on high will hurt you more than it hurts them. 

 

So speak up. Be bold. Proactively manage your boss until you have the tools and information you need to succeed. 

 

Lean Tip #2759 – Encourage Team to Make Time for Important But Not Urgent Work 

 

Steven Covey's seven famous habits have now been in circulation for 27 years—an entire lifetime for many of today's enterprise workers. But it never hurts to be reminded of tried-and-true principles. 

 

Covey suggested dividing work into four quadrants: 

1. Important and Urgent 

2. Important and Not Urgent 

3. Not Important and Urgent 

4. Not Important and Not Urgent 

5.  

It's easy to find yourself spending too much time hanging out in quadrant three (Not Important and Urgent), and without a scorecard system to help you define universal standards of "importance," many of your team members will be. 

 

After all, "urgent" is one quality that's easy to identify, while other qualities can be more subjective. Make sure your priorities management system is designed to keep your team in quadrants one and two most of the time, with extremely rare forays into quadrant four. 

 

Lean Tip #2760 – Be Flexible Enough to Change Your Mind and Drop Priorities 

 

As you prioritize, it’s important to remember to be flexible. No one knows what the future holds. And ultimately, prioritizing and planning is really just guessing. 

 

Sometimes you might prioritize a task only to have expectations or deliverables change on you. At this point it’s hard not to be disappointed. But you can’t let that skew your judgment. 

 

Humans are especially susceptible to the “sunk cost fallacy”—a psychological effect where we feel compelled to continue doing something just because we’ve already put time and effort into it. 

 

But the reality is that no matter what you spend your time doing, you can never get that time back. And any time spent continuing to work towards the wrong priority is just wasted time. 

 

Sometimes our effort is better used switching boats than trying to fix a leak. 

 

Lean Quote: Good Trumps Bad - Finding the Positive in Every Situation

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.

"What is good about Good Friday? Why isn't it called Bad Friday? Because out of the appallingly bad came what was inexpressibly good. And the good trumps the bad, because though the bad was temporary, the good is eternal."   —  Randy Alcorn

Everyday we are faced with both good and bad situations. When things are going well, we rarely worry about what can happen next. We take things in stride and continue to move forward. We tend to take things for granted and begin to lose appreciation for the good things we have in our lives.

When something bad happens, stress immediately follows along with the litany of “Why me?” and “What am I going to do now?” Bad things rarely happen one at a time. Instead, they are grouped in clusters that can try the sanity of the most patient saint. It can be difficult to see the positive in anything.

It’s important to remember that no matter how bad a situation is, you will get through it. You can be stressed out and constantly worrying, or you can assess the situation and determine a plan of action. No matter how bad the situation is, there is something positive to be gained.

Your outlook on life will play a large role in how you see adverse situations. If you are depressed, angry and upset, your outlook will be one of pessimism and woe. If you have a cheerful disposition, you outlook will be much different. We all have good and bad days, so it stands to reason that every person will fall into one of these two categories at some point.

It is normal to be upset at hurt when bad things happen. It is human nature and a part of the healing process. What we do after the initial hurt, however, is what separates us. Instead of allowing ourselves to be drawn into a downward spiral of depression and anger, we need to look at each situation and find something we can learn from.

Using each situation as a teaching tool gives a positive resource of life lessons we can pass on to others. It is our chance to grow and be there for others who may be experiencing many of the same things we are. When we can learn to do this, we become positive role models for others who may be able to benefit from our experiences.

Lean Roundup #142 – March 2021

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of March 2021.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.

Better Lean Leadership through Novice Learning – Jon Miller explains that we can be better leaders by gaining empathy and learning insight into the common struggles of novice learners in our organizations. 

Coaches Have Obstacles Too – Steve Kane shares some concepts from Tony Robbins about breaking the mental state and allowing the opportunity to get out of his head shift into productive state of mind including five steps to overcome distraction. 

The Problem with Lean Thinking – Bob Emiliani says we fail to grasp the extent and effectiveness of tradition as a near-total replacement for our own thinking in our efforts to promote Lean. 

Jumping toSolutions: A Hard Habit to Break – Mark Graban shares an illustration on the dangers of jumping to solutions and how to break that problem. 

Learning From Customers – John Hunter talks about making sure customers can be heard and the ways to do that.

You Want to Get More Done? Do Less… - Pascal Dennis reiterates the impact of focusing on a few strategic activities instead of crowding you A3 with many countermeasures.

AccidentalExcellence – Bruce Hamilton illustrates the power of discovery from lucky chance events in his experience. 

Reflections and Lessons From 1997 – Mark Rosenthal talks about his kaizen experience to create a model line and how it forces you to fix your system. 

Back to Basics - What is Value? – Pascal Dennis says value is Lean’s guiding star, get close to your customer and ask them what they need from you.

What Does Lean Mean to Healthcare Professionals? What Should it Mean? – Mark Graban explains that Lean isn't just efficiency… it's safety, quality, delivery, cost, and morale which often misunderstood by many. 

From Thought Leadership to Banal Thoughts – Bob Emiliani s ays we have drifted from thought leadership to banal thoughts. The consequence of banality is a loss of creativity and innovation through the ceaseless repetition of common bromides which propel clumsy or ill-informed practice. 

Better Lean Leadership through Novice Learning – Jon Miller explains that we can be better leaders by gaining empathy and learning insight into the common struggles of novice learners in our organizations. 

How to Shape Lean Leadership Culture Through Daily Management – Jon Miller shares traits of a lean leadership culture and how a daily management system helps to reinforce them. 

Adopt a 5S Mindset to Sustain Your Lean Work – Andrew Quibell shares six takeaways to make housekeeping an ingrained habit as a means of respecting your team members and developing a culture of improvement.

Achieve Your Deeper Goals Through Daily Work With Hoshin Kanri – Jeffrey Liker says Hoshin kanri is a living process of planning, testing ideas, adapting, and learning in which people work towards clear targets addressing the next big obstacle. 

Real Respect Feels Like Knowing You've Been Heard - David Verble says showing respect by actively listening to others--being present in mind and body, consciously attending to what is said, connecting with the person not just the words--are all deeply anchored in core lean values.

Boost the Power of PDCA By Tackling the Challenge of Self-Awareness - Mike Orzen argues while PDCA is the engine of lean discovery, building self-awareness into this scientific method truly unlocks the power of lean.

The Foundation and Principles of Lean Thinking

Though there is no single definition of Lean thinking, these concepts will help any organization get started with Lean thinking. Lean thinking offers the agility to continuously deliver value in an ever-changing business environment. Implementing Lean thinking will guide your organization toward a stronger, more sustainable future.

3 Foundations of Lean Thinking

1) Purpose

Since the goal of Lean management is to deliver value to the customer, everyone needs a clear understanding of what that value is and how it is measured.

Once a value is defined, everyone can begin working together with the purpose of delivering that value as efficiently as possible. Uniting teams with a shared and clearly defined purpose is integral to leading a Lean organization.

2) Process

Lean methods focus tirelessly on process improvement to remove waste and create value.

Lean leaders believe that flawed processes reduce value and detract from their purpose, so they empower everyone to identify and work to correct problems and improve processes.

3) People

Lean organizations are not led from the top down. Leaders strive to create the conditions for employees to be their most successful and efficient, and actively observe, ask questions, and elicit input toward that goal.

They foster engagement and mentor employees toward continuous improvement. Lean companies are holistic, and success is the result of goals, attitudes, behaviors, and processes that are enacted by everyone, every day.

The Guiding Principles of Lean Leadership

The five Lean principles provide a framework for creating an efficient and effective organization. Lean allows managers to discover inefficiencies in their organization and deliver better value to customers. The principles encourage creating better flow in work processes and developing a continuous improvement culture. By practicing all 5 principles, an organization can remain competitive, increase the value delivered to the customers, decrease the cost of doing business, and increase their profitability.

The 5 principles of a Lean system guide the daily activities of every Lean leader. Those principles are:

1) Identify value

Value is defined by what the customer needs from a product and informed by their desires and expectations.

In an internal system, the “customer” can be another team or department that determines their requirements for value.

2) Map the value stream

Determine all the processes involved in delivering value to the customer from beginning to end.

At a high-level, mapping the value stream can be detailing the path of materials as they move through the design and are delivered in a product, identifying departments and processes.

Another way to look at the value stream is to map the flow of information through a department or organization. Mapping gives greater insight and understanding of business operations and is the first step in identifying waste.

3) Create flow

Work to move products, processes, or information through the value stream with no interruptions, delays, or bottlenecks.

Flow makes everything move in a tight sequence with high efficiency and little waste.

4) Establish pull

With a smooth flow, products can be delivered to the customer as needed. Using a “just in time” delivery model reduces excess inventory, over- or under-production, or unmet demand.

The benefit of pull is that everything is produced highly efficiently, exactly when needed, in the exact quantities required.

5) Seek perfection

Even with a very good process, further evaluation of the value stream always reveals waste or excess that could be eliminated, and flow can always be refined.

Lean systems are engaged in continuous process improvement, iterating these 5 principles over and over in the pursuit of perfection.

 

Four Lean Rules-in-Use

Rules create structure in our systems. Without rules there would be in chaos. Lean rules provide the guidance needed to implement improvement, explaining the “why” behind lean tools and the Six Sigma methodology. Lean rules also help develop new solutions to problems. For everyone in an organization, these rules help structure activities, connect customers and suppliers, specify and simplify flow paths, and bring improvement through experimentation at the right level.

The Principles of the Toyota Production System can be summarized into four basic rules.

Rule 1: “All work shall be highly specified as to content, sequence, timing, and outcome.

Thanks to specification in terms of sequence of steps, timing, outcome and content, people are able to address any deviations. This rule is a necessary step for people to know implicitly how to do their work.

Rule 2: Every customer-supplier connection must be direct, and there must be an unambiguous yes-or-no way to send requests and receive responses.

The path of communication must be described, shared, known and applied. Each collaborator so knows implicitly how to connect with each other.

Rule 3: The pathway for every product and service must be simple and direct.

Services don’t flow to the next available person—but to a “specific” person

Rule 4: Any improvement must be made in accordance with the scientific method, under the guidance of a teacher, at the lowest level in the organization.

Frontline workers make improvements to their own jobs and their supervisors provide direction and assistance. The purpose of the supervisor is to act on the process to continuously improve the performance of the process.

The impact of those rules on the System is important – “By making people capable of and responsible for doing and improving their own work, by standardizing connections between individual customers and suppliers, and by pushing the resolution of connection and flow problems to the lowest possible level, the rules create an organization with a nested modular structure”.

Toyota developed this set of Principles, Rules-in-Use, as the building blocks of a production system. They allow organizations to gain maximum efficiency so everyone can contribute at or near his or her potential. When the parts (activities, connections, and pathways) come together the whole is much, much greater than the sum of the parts.

Lean Quote: Now is the Time to Understand More, so we May Fear Less

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 in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."   —  Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity —her research papers are still radioactive more than 100 years later. Curie was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in France, and the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize. She's the only person to ever win two Nobel Prizes in (both) physics (1903) and chemistry (1911).

This quote, by Marie Curie, is about the relationship between fear and understanding.

Fear can be hard to get rid of when it sets in. When that happens, we can feel paralyzed and confused. Either we take no action or make unwise, irrational decisions.

But often, it turns out that it’s the unknown that gives us fear. The more unknown and uncertain things are the greater the fear. From a child being afraid of the dark to an adult being afraid of what the future might hold – it all has to do with the unknown.

The best way to have less fear in our lives is to understand more. Curiosity can help us learn about the things we don't know, so we can demystify them rather than fear them. “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas,” said Curie.

When fear sets in, consider how you can increase your understanding. The less we fear through understanding, the greater our resolve to take the most appropriate action.