Servant Leader as Change Agents

I was recently asked if employees are more accepting of change and improvements when they have a leader who is being a servant leader. I’ll share my thoughts here.

Servant leadership is about inspiring people to do noble work that calls forth the very best they have to offer. They see their responsibility as a leader to increase the confidence, capability, ownership, autonomy, and responsibility of their people. The goal is to bring the best out of others and help them work at a higher level.

In a team led by a servant leader, the leader is one part of the team, and their role isn’t necessarily more important than the role of any other member. Being a servant leader means accepting responsibility for the team—its members, objectives, reputation, morale, and more. The servant leader recognizes that they are responsible to the team, not the other way around, and they act accordingly. Servant leaders lead teams that people want to join.

Servant leaders understand what success looks like, not just for the team as a whole but also for each member. A servant leader enables the success of those they lead, removing barriers and creating an environment for the team to succeed. To be a servant leader to a high-performing team, you’ll need to listen carefully, be attuned to the people around you, and empathically understand what they’re thinking. The servant leader knows their team’s capabilities and desires.

Often the best way for leaders to serve employees is to create a low-risk space for them to experiment with their ideas. For example, a servant leader encourages people to use time management, accelerate development, and remove hassle for customers. Then a servant leader celebrates when employees try innovative approaches to make improvements. These small, fast, and cheap experiments minimize risk and encourage people to access their knowledge and skills for other areas of their life. The key is to learn from the success or failure of each experiment.

Effective servant leaders care about others and about helping them succeed as individuals and as a group. Group members can see when a leader cares about their needs and is focused on their success. That service earns him the group’s respect. When a person has that respect, they have earned the title and role of leader.

Servant leaders are teachers, not micro managers. They teach by carefully and comprehensively explaining the “why” behind changes, strategies, projects, and priorities. They carefully avoid weighing in on the “how.” They understand that the people closest to the work have the insights, creativity, and judgment to best solve the most critical problems and find opportunities. People are most engaged when they get a chance to solve the most pressing problems of the organization. Alternatively, an authoritative leader often skips the “why” and simply tells people the “what” and scripts the “how” for them.

The “tell and sell” approach to leadership is not only outdated, but, more importantly, it is counterproductive. Leaders make it almost impossible to achieve desired outcomes when they focus primarily on control and end goals or targets, not the people. The servant leader sets the direction on customer experience, safety, operating excellence, and organic growth. Then a servant leader asks, “How can I help you achieve what we care about?” This question highlights the best in others, which will create far better results than if the leader dictated directions from their removed perspective. Servant leaders believe this approach reveals the untapped creative and performance capabilities of people, especially your people.

Servant leadership entails a deep belief that people are the greatest asset any organization has, and to nurture their individual growth becomes the basis for all organizational development. That growth goes far beyond the limited dimension of financial benefit -- it dives into our core motivations as people.

People want to be engaged and also have some level of control over their environment. A servant leader recognizes that the people doing the work generally have the best ideas about how to improve the processes they participate in. 

Lean Quote: April Showers Bring May Flowers

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.

"If April showers should come your way, they bring the flowers that bloom in May."   —  Buddy de Sylva

Almost everyone has heard the saying, “April Showers bring May Flowers”. The saying can be traced back to England from the 1500s poet Thomas Tusser. Back then, he wrote “Sweet April showers do spring May Flowers”.

 "April showers bring May flowers" is a reminder that even the most unpleasant of things, in this case the heavy rains of April, can bring about very enjoyable things indeed -- even an abundance of flowers in May.

Many of life's greatest things come only to those who wait, and by patiently and happily enduring the clouds and damp of April, you can find yourself more easily able to take in the sights and smells of May. After all, it's easier to love something if you begin with an optimistic outlook.

Have you had a season of setbacks, disappointments or hindrances? Do not be dismayed. Remember these things: there has never been a wind that did not change directions, clouds do not hang forever and April showers bring May flowers.

Those “April showers” are another way of saying today begins growing tomorrow. The habits I’m building right now, even if I’m not aware I’m building them, will be the color of my life in the future. Check your routine. Check your habits. Are you creating the “May flowers” you want?

Employee Reflection: A Method to Increase Employee Happiness

In today’s business world, successful companies don’t earn their reputation just by building a good general corporate brand or value proposition to customers. A big part of proving their competence is good employer branding which describes an employer’s reputation as a place to work and their employee value proposition.

The crux is that if your employees are unhappy or dissatisfied, your skills and business plans won’t matter at the end of the day.

Employer branding can be improved by keeping employees happy, and employee reflection is a specific case where their thoughts on leadership can be valuable in figuring out how to mend the workplace.

The Psychology of An Employee

There is a reason why 'culture management' and 'experiential learning' are given so much importance in a workplace. An employee learns the most subconsciously by observing the behavior of their immediate managers. That is how employees form their own perception of what is acceptable in the organization and what is not. Therefore, managers need to create a positive influence on their team or juniors. Whereas, employee reflection should be encouraged so that the insights can be used to make the workplace a happy space to be in.

How To Have a Positive Influence on Employees:

When employees stop and reflect on these positive influences created by their managers, their happiness and satisfaction may automatically increase.

1. Inspire Them to Learn

Go above and beyond your assigned tasks to learn more, like through newsletters, trend reports, or books. Moreover, you can share your learnings with your team and ask them their opinions too, thus creating a learning culture. It could also encourage your team to go beyond their comfort zone and take ownership of something more than what gets assigned to them.

2. Promote a Positive Environment

A positive work environment is the number one quality desired by any existing or potential employee. To create a positive work environment, prioritize onboarding and training, create comfortable working conditions, conduct regular check-ins, foster collaboration, develop a strong workplace culture, and facilitate learning opportunities.

3. Take Action On Employee Feedback

Employees want to feel that their opinions matter too. So, be a good listener and ask for feedback after every meeting. You can also send anonymous surveys to support open and honest feedback. This in turn will encourage your team to ask for your feedback too.

Some great employee feedback examples would be –

“I think you did a great job when you…”

“I would love to see you do more of X as it relates to Y.”

4. Encourage Open Communication

Having open lines of communication in the workplace fosters more contentment at work as no employee feels hesitant to speak their mind or express themselves. Moreover, giving and receiving feedback becomes easy. 

It is always important to implement necessary changes to show that you run a culture of action in the organization and not just words.

5. Allow Flexibility and Freedom

With the growing importance of work-life balance, a flexible work schedule is highly appreciated by employees as it allows them to pursue their hobbies and family time. It has been proved that 85% of companies that offer work-life balance programs for their employees report an increase in productivity.

Freedom of working style can also leave a positive influence on employee happiness as people admire and value creativity and thinking freedom at work.

6. Create Safe Spaces for Reflection

The best way to foster a more positive culture is to look inward.

Employee reflection requires a safe space where they feel protected to express their opinions on the leadership, company culture, teams, project results, etc. This exercise can give better outcomes than trying to create own conclusions, which is inarguably necessary for long-term business success.

7. Be Open to Change

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill

In every business's lifecycle, there comes a time when it has to undergo a significant number of changes. For example, change in office location, work from home policy, salary structure, leave policy, appraisal cycle, etc.

While adapting to changes is not easy for anyone, you need to be aware that your team will be observing you on how you react to these changes. And your response to a change will also influence the response and mindset of others in the team. So, be mindful and optimistic of any new change coming your way to set a good example.

Being in a position of power further highlights the importance of acting appropriately to strengthen the inner fabric of your company. So, take every opportunity at hand to make your employees happy. This will not only increase productivity but also improve the company’s employer branding!

Author Bio: Kelly Barcelos is a progressive digital marketing manager for Jobsoid – Applicant Tracking System. She is responsible for leading the content and social media teams at work. Her expertise and experience in the field of HR enable her to create value-driven content for her readers – both on Jobsoid’s blog and other guest blogs where she publishes content regularly.

The Six Steps of Value Engineering

Value engineering refers to the systematic method of improving the value of a product that a project produces. It is used to analyze a service, system, or product to determine the best way to manage the important functions while reducing the cost.

Value is calculated as a ratio of function to cost. A business can add value to a product by either cutting down on cost or improving the function. Most companies use value engineering as a cost-cutting strategy, where the basic function of a product is preserved – not sacrificed – in the process of pursuing value improvement.

Value engineering can be broken down into the following phases:

1. Information

The information phase involves gathering project information and refining the goals of the project. They obtain project data, present the original design or product concepts, and understand the project scope. Schedule, costs, budget, risk, and other non-monetary issues are studied until the team is comfortable with the concept of the project, what it is to produce, and who its end users are. Data is collected and analyzed, and the information obtained is used to finalize the priorities of the project and areas of improvement.

2. Function Analysis

The function analysis phase involves determining the functions of the project and identifying them with a verb/noun combination for every element under evaluation.

Functions come in four forms:

• Basic function is the specific purpose for which the items exists, answers the “how” question.
• Higher order function is the specific need for which the basic functions exist, answers the “why” question and is outside the scope of the subject.
• Primary functions are those that represent the reason for the project’s existence.
• Secondary functions are those that the project serves without being core to the project.

There can also be all-the-time functions, one-time functions, unwanted functions, and lower order functions.

Each of the identified functions is analyzed to determine if there are improvements to be made and if a new function is required. An example of a function can be “disinfect water.”

The function should be as non-specific as possible, to leave room for multiple options that perform the function presented by the project. A cost is assigned to each identified function.

3. Creative

The creative phase follows the function analysis phase, and it involves exploring the various ways to perform the function(s) identified in the function analysis phase. This allows team members to brainstorm alternatives to existing systems or methods that are in use.

Brainstorming forces people to be creative and allows team members to speculate on all possible solutions to the problems presented, or alternatives to the function. The team is required to develop a list of potential solutions to the function formulated by the verb/noun combination.

4. Evaluation

In the evaluation phase, the merits and demerits of each of the suggested solutions and alternatives from the creative phase are listed. The team should describe each advantage and disadvantage in general terms.

When the disadvantages exceed the advantages, the alternative is dropped in favor of other solid alternatives. The team performs a weighted matrix analysis to group and rank the alternatives, and the best alternatives are selected for consideration in the next phase.

 5. Development

Once the value improvement options have been whittled down to the ones that make sense, the value engineering team conduct an in-depth analysis of each best alternative to determine how it can be implemented and the cost involved. The examination of each alternative may involve creating sketches, cost estimates, and other technical analysis. They must be clearly written and explained so that the project owner and stakeholders can understand how it benefits the project and act on it. Any potential negative factors are identified. Potential costs and cost savings are itemized. Team members formulate an implementation plan for the project, which describes the process to be followed in implementing the final recommendations.

6. Presentation

The presentation phase is where the team meets with the management and other stakeholders to present their final report. The team is required to present their findings to the decision-makers using reports, flow charts, and other presentation materials to convince them that the final ideas from the development phase should be implemented.

The ideas should be described in detail, including associated costs, benefits, and potential challenges. The final report acts as a record of the team’s accomplishments during the study and a summary of the team’s deliberations and findings. It can also act as a reference tool for the company in future projects.

Implementation of the project begins after the management’s approval of the team recommendations. If there are changes requested by the management or other decision-makers, these changes should be incorporated into the implementation plan before the implementation begins.

When implementing the project, the team should ensure that the primary goal of increasing value is achieved. The actual cost savings of the project should be determined based on the implementation of the recommendations.

Lean Quote: April Fool’s Day

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 is human nature to think wisely and act foolishly."   —  Anatole France

‘April Fool was a great leader. She took care of her people, she was a great listener and she was empathetic. She was excellent at developing her team and helping them get promoted. Her character was impeccable and she was also great at getting results.

She was a great leader on every day of the year except the first day of April. On April 1st, she turned wicked and played tricks on her team. She thought they were funny, but her team was annoyed and often fearful of her shenanigans. No one was safe on April 1st when April Fool was around.

The tomfooleries turned tragic when April died trying pull of a dangerous, over-the-top prank. Her team wanted to honor her, so they started the tradition of April Fool’s Day and it eventually expanded nationally. Very few people know the true origin of the day.

This teaches us a great lesson about using humor in the workplace. Leaders can use emotional intelligence and humor to reduce anxiety as well as improve performance and motivation. They can also help develop or reinforce a positive culture. Leaders shouldn’t be afraid to introduce appropriate jokes and wit into the workplace.

Of course, the story of April Fool is completely fake — but feel free to spread the hoax as you see fit. Just for today.

Lean Roundup #154 – March 2022

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of March 2022.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.

Do Your Job – Bruce Hamilton shares a story regarding CNC set-up reduction involving the need for a repeatable lathe process.

Strategy and the Worlds of Thought & Experience – Pascal Dennis says the movement between thought & experience is central to strategy and problem solving in general.

5 Ways to Be More Grateful and Why Lean Thinkers Should Care – Ron Pereira talks about how to deliberately practice gratitude.

Top 8 Reasons Teams Abandon Their Visuals – Jon Miller explains failure to maintain visual process standards is about “people” and shares the top eight reasons teams abandon their visuals.

Developing Leadership Through Tours – John Knotts discusses how you can use field trips to develop leaders in your organization.

If You’re Going to Visit the Gemba, Your Mindsets and Behaviors Matter… A Lot – Mark Graban says the behaviors of a leader in the gemba matter greatly and explains how to make them impactful.

A Lesson for Enabling Leaders and Systems – Josh Howell says an executive's gemba visit reveals the value of engaging value-creating frontline workers in improving their work processes  and talks about how you can create systems and adopt behaviors that help them do so.

How the Toyota Way and Toyota Kata Fit Together – Jeffrey Liker the author of The Toyota Way explains where Toyota Kata fits with Toyota’s broader management principles — and how each enhances the other to help you build more effective organizations.

Ask Art: How Does Lean Apply to Every Company? – Art Byrne shares a back-to-basics explanation of why — and how — lean thinking and practices can improve the performance of any company or organization.

Lean Tips Edition #185 (#2986-#3000)

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 #2986 – Watch Your Key Performance Measures

Your strategic plan should include key performance indicators (KPIs) for each initiative. These may be measures for individual employees, departments and the business as a whole.

You must keep a constant eye on the KPIs, reviewing them at meetings and in between. This can be monitored by a suitable KPI dashboard.

Remember that what gets measured gets done. This is a fundamental principle of behavior and organizational change. You have to have the right metrics; otherwise nothing will happen. The right metrics are critical for driving the desired actions, behavior and results.

Lean Tip #2987 – Be Agile and Ready to Adjust

No plan survives the first contact with reality. It’s important for your implementation plan to be agile and flexible.

You can’t predict the future exactly, so be prepared to adapt and adjust the plan as conditions change internally and externally. You have to recognize that executing the plan is interactive and requires continuous adaptation, all focused on moving the needle toward your desired future state. A strategic plan is a living, breathing document.

Lean Tip #2988 – Engage Your Team

To implement your strategy both effectively and efficiently, you need to create focus and drive accountability. There are a few ways in which you can keep your team engaged throughout the implementation process:

·        Determine roles and responsibilities early on. Use a RACI matrix to clarify your teammate’s roles and ensure that there are no responsibility gaps.

·        Delegate work effectively. While it can be tempting to have your eyes on everything, micromanagement will only hold you back. Once you’ve defined everyone’s roles and responsibilities, trust that your team will execute their tasks according to the implementation plan.

·        Communicate with your team and ensure that everyone knows how their individual work contributes to the project. This will keep everyone motivated and on track.

Lean Tip #2989 – Get Closure on Implementation

Once you implement the strategy, connect with everyone involved to confirm that their work feels complete. Implementing a strategy isn’t like a puzzle that’s finished when the last piece is set. It’s like planting a garden that continues to grow and change even when you think you’re done with your work.

Getting closure from your team will be the second to last milestone of your strategy implementation and is a crucial step toward completion.

Lean Tip #2990 – Reflect on the Implemented Strategy

Conduct a post-mortem or retrospective to reflect on the implemented strategy, as well as evaluate the success of the implementation process and the strategy itself. This step is a chance to uncover lessons learned for upcoming projects and strategies which will allow you to avoid potential pitfalls and embrace new opportunities in the future.

Lean Tip #2991 – Develop Metrics for Every Project

Developing performance metrics for individual projects enables you to examine your team's efficiency on the project. If they aren't fulfilling the metrics, you can tell right away that they are underperforming.

Some team members like to hide under the shadows of others and do nothing. For individual accountability, apply the metrics to each of them.

Lean Tip #2992 – Set the Right Targets to Challenge Your Team

Your team members may not be as unmotivated as you think; they probably don't have the right targets to challenge them.

When tasks are too easy, employees become complacent because they know they'll be fine with the barest minimum. Don't give them impossible tasks just because you want to challenge them. You'll end up killing their morale.

Aim for a balance. The idea is to make them stretch themselves beyond their comfort zones to get the job done. The outcome might surprise you.

Lean Tip #2993 – Establish Your Success Measures

Once you are clear of the goals of your performance management system, the next step is to establish what success should look like for each one. In addition to agreeing on success measures related to specific performance goals, it is important to define some measures for your performance management processes (i.e. the actual mechanics). You’ll want to know how easy your employees and managers find the processes and tools they use, how time consuming they are, how well they are implemented, what proportion of people are following the processes and whether people are demonstrating the necessary performance management skills.

Lean Tip #2994 – Align Your Performance Measurement Strategies With Your Organizational Objectives

When any team is developing a performance measurement framework, they must make sure they have clear, defined goals across the organization. Plan out what you want to accomplish before you decide what individual performance goals you will measure.

It's also important to measure factors outside of financial objectives. Make sure to incorporate internal, operational processes into your performance measurement system.

Lean Tip #2995 – Focus on a Few Key Metrics, Rather Than a Slew of Data.

As you begin to identify KPIs for your business, less is worth more. Rather than choosing dozens of metrics to measure and report on you should focus on just a few key ones.

If you track too many KPIs, you might become overwhelmed with the data and lose focus.

As you can imagine, every company, industry, and business model is different so it is difficult to pinpoint an exact number for the amount of KPIs you should have. However, a good number to aim for is somewhere between two to four KPIs per goal. Enough to get a good sense of where you stand but not too many where there's no priority.

Lean Tip #2996 – Offer a Growth Mindset

Managers must offer their employees a continuous learning environment – nurturing, growing and developing them to be better. For example, create career paths for their best people so they grow as workers to benefit their organizations and people to benefit their careers, even if it means that you may lose that person because heart-based leaders want the best for their people.

Lean Tip #2997 – Managers Must be Humble

While it’s hard to measure, it’s the striving to be humble that matters. New managers have to be humble enough to put other people ahead of themselves, not taking credit for organizational accomplishments (since they recognize that the people in the trenches are the ones that “make things happen”). Humble leaders gladly accept the role of learners because they know it will make them better.

Lean Tip #2998 – Communicate Openly and Authentically

This is how managers win the hearts of their people – by being open and sharing plans for the future, communicating important things to their people, and fostering a transparent culture. The last thing you’ll see in a Servant Leader someone that hides behind closed doors. They’re constantly communicating. Giving and receiving feedback on no less than a weekly basis.

Lean Tip #2999 – Allow for Risks to be Taken

Servant Leaders are known for creating an environment in which risks are taken, allowing those around them to feel safe to exercise their creativity, communicate their ideas openly and provide input to major decisions. Because there’s trust there not fear. It communicates to employees of a sense of – “hey we are all in this together.”

Lean Tip #3000 – Listen to Your People!

Not just listening, but active listening. That takes SKILL! They must be open to feedback, and be willing and agile to change when they make mistakes (as a result of listening to constructive feedback that will help them grow as leaders). This is essential in building credibility with followers. When you listen well, you earn respect.