Exposing The Common Myths of Standardized Work

A couple days ago I posted an article on standard work as a mechanism for facilitating and empowering improvement. By documenting the current best practice, standardized work forms the baseline for kaizen or continuous improvement. As the standard is improved, the new standard becomes the baseline for further improvements, and so on. Improving standardized work is a never-ending process. Standardized work is one of the most powerful but least used lean tools.

Unfortunately, there are many myths regarding standardized work that if followed create a flawed system. To prevent you from falling into this trap I will attempt to debunk several of these myths.

Standard Work Is Permanent

A common misconception is that ‘standardized’ is assumed to be permanent. This is not the case. It’s just the best way we know how to do the work today. Continuous improvement is always encouraged, once the current best method is understood and practiced in order to establish a stable foundation for further improvement.

Standard Work is Self-Created

Some think employees develop their own standardized work. The initial work standard should be developed by engineers (process owners) working with operators who are part of a team. Group leaders and team leaders then have responsibility for training employees on the standard work and soliciting their input. Once the process is operating at some level of stability, employees are challenged to develop better methods, but the methods are always reviewed by others, including management.

Standard Work is a Rigid Framework

Another common myth about standardized work is that many think of a rigid work environment where workers aren’t required to think. This is totally the opposite as I said above. Operators are part of the creation of the work standard and then are challenged to improve these methods. The standard creates a baseline by which improvement can be measured. Ideas should be discussed with group leaders and considered depending upon the consensus and buy-in from other members and shifts. Once consensus is reached then experimentation can be done to determine the effectiveness of the improvement. If it is deemed an effective change then the standardized work can modified and everyone trained in the new method.

Standard Work Reduces Training Needs

It is also believed that with standard work you will know everything about the job and therefore be able to train anyone to do the job. Standardized work is the process used by operators to define their work method through documentation and visual postings. This is often misinterpreted as a fully detailed description of the work and associated standards. Anyone who has read the standard work sheets would see that the work description explains the work elements in basic terms - not nearly enough information to read and fully understand the job. Job Instruction Training (JIT) is the method commonly used in Lean to transfer complete knowledge of a job to a team member. In my experience anyone who believes that a job is simple enough to distill down to a few sheets of paper underestimates the competency level necessary of their employees.

Standard Work Prevents Deviations

Another myth is that with standard work and visual postings employees will not deviate from the standard. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There is nothing in standardized work that will prevent deviation by the operator except the visual awareness of others. The visual reference is utilized by management for monitoring adherence to the standard which is done through periodic and regular audits of the standardized work. To ensure compliance to the standard, it’s necessary to poka-yoke or mistake proof the process to prevent deviation and make excursions highly visible.

Standard Work Only Applies to Shop Floor

Lastly, there are those that believe standard work is only for the shop floor. Standard work has been proven effective in many industries from the military to healthcare and everything in between. In particular, I think this is a technique that management teams must adopt. How we run the business should not be any different than how we do business. In my experience, those organizations that use standard work at the management level are more productive and effective.

Standardizing the work adds discipline to the culture, an element that is frequently neglected but essential for Lean to take root. Standardized work is also a learning tool that supports audits, promotes problem solving, and involves team members in developing poka-yokes. While standard work can be an effective foundation for continuous improvement it is important to recognize that it is not a one-stop shop for all that ails you.

Standard Work Enables and Facilitates

Standard work is a written description of how a process should be done. It guides consistent execution. At its best, it documents a current "best practice" and ensures that it is implemented throughout a company. At a minimum, it provides a baseline from which a better approach can be developed.

The definition of standard work is "the most effective combination of manpower, materials and machinery". Standard work is the method, and thereby you have the four Ms of manufacturing (manpower, material, machinery, methods). Standard Work is only "the most effective" until the standard is improved.

Standards to a company are like scales and sheet music to a musician. Our team members help develop and maintain standards, which are not static. Standards change as we get better, just as a good band will incorporate chord and melodic variations if they sound good. Thus, standards do not constrain creativity – they enable it, by providing a basis for comparison, and by providing stability, so we have the time and energy to improve.

Standardized work comprises:

• Content
• Sequence
• Timing
• Expected outcome

It should also contain tests, or red flags, which tell you when there’s a problem. That way, you won’t ship junk. The tests could be physical, such as a torque check on a bolt, or it could be administrative, like a blacked-out template that fits over a standard form and highlights the critical information.

Standard work enables and facilitates:

• Avoidance of errors, assuring that lessons learned are utilized and not forgotten
• Team learning and training
• Improvements to make the work more effective
• Reduction in variability
• Creation of meaningful job descriptions
• Greater innovation by reducing the mental and physical overhead of repetitive or standardized work

Standard work does not preclude flexibility. You can still do a lot of different jobs, and be able to address new problems. Standard work just takes the things you do repeatedly and makes them routine, so you don’t waste time thinking about them.

Standards are an essential requirement for any company seeking to continuously improve. All continuous improvement methods leverage learning to get better results from their business efforts. Standards provide the baseline references that are necessary for learning. A standard operating procedure supplies a stable platform for collecting performance measurements. The standard and its profile of performance yields the information people need to uncover improvement opportunities, make and measure improvements, and extract learning.

Lean Quote: Employee Appreciation 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 literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed."   —  Napolean Hill

Today, March 1, marks annual Employee Appreciation Day, which has taken place on the first Friday of every March since 1995. Employee Appreciation Day encourages managers of all levels to support and reward their employees, and to show their appreciation!

Employee Appreciation Day is all about your employees. Celebrating the value they bring to your organization as individuals is a great way to increase employee engagement, commitment, and motivation. It's important to make employees feel valued.

It seems like a simple concept: Make employees feel appreciated, and they will work harder and be more loyal. But there is often a disconnect between the type of appreciation employees want and what their managers think they want.

Employees should be appreciated each and every day, but hey – why not make them feel extra special with these ideas.

Focus on Fun 

Employee Appreciation Day is the perfect excuse to have fun at work! Your employees are used to the everyday work grind. If you throw in some fun activities or games, it will be a memorable and refreshing break from the same old, same old.

Snacks are Essential

Food is a great motivator. Present me with a cupcake and I will remember it for the rest of my life. Throw a celebration with no food at all? I will remember that for the rest of my life, too. Okay, I might be a little dramatic BUT either way, food is a celebration must. Food brings people together. It’s the centerpiece. It’s what connects us all at the end of a long workday.

Recognize Publicly

Recognizing your employees publicly for a job well done is an underrated idea for showing employee appreciation. As a boss, your positive words can greatly boost employee morale, especially if the praise is given in front of colleagues and peers.

Simply Say “Thank You”

This one might seem super obvious. Make sure to take some time to say thank you with intentionality. A heartfelt thank you can make employees feel valued, motivated, and appreciated for their efforts.

Recognition cannot be an afterthought. It must be deliberate and timely. Whether it’s a simple thank you or more formal recognition, people want to feel appreciated at work. They want to feel a sense of purpose, and that they are part of something bigger than themselves. The right employee appreciation program can help make those connections and much more.

Lean Roundup #177 – February 2024

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of February 2024.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.  

 

Introduction to Toyota Kata – Mark Rosenthal introduces Toyota Kata as a way to start to nudge the culture in the direction we want it to go.

 

The Problem (737 MAX and Beyond) at Boeing Isn’t “Idiots.” It’s Far More Complex Than That… But Fixable – Mark Graban asks and answers what can we do to prevent mistakes and protect ourselves from human error.

 

Toyota’s job rotation policy - Michel Baudin focuses on the specifics of Job Rotation as a policy that sets Toyota apart from most other manufacturing companies.

 

Strategy in a Time of Explosive Change – Pascal Dennis discusses how to develop and deploy strategy in ‘interesting’ Technological times.

 

The Power of Perception: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities – Ron Pereira talks about how our experience is shaped by our perception and reaction.

Asking the Wrong Question (for Decades) – Bob Emiliani says we have challenged people with the wrong question.

Understanding the Customer Experience is a Keystone in Process Improvement - John Knotts says ensuring satisfaction through the entire journey a customer undertakes with your business is essential for process improvement and, ultimately, business success.

 

Different Aspects of Seeing a Shop Floor—Introduction - Christoph Roser goes through the steps for understanding the shop floor to see what’s going on in the production system.

 

Coach’s Corner: How can Lean Product and Process Development enable the creation of environmentally sustainable products? - Katrina Appell shows how following LPPD principles and practices enables teams to consider sustainability when making decisions early in and throughout the design process.

 

The Ongoing State of Agile Transformations - Christopher Chapman reviewed and analyzed the annual State of Agile industry survey to see how peers were doing in adopting this “new” way of delivering software, what impediments they were facing, and what trends were emerging.

 

Lean Leadership in Action: CEO Larry Culp’s Journey to Revitalize GE at the Gemba – Mark Graban discusses the importance of leadership action in Lean with recent example from GE’s CEO Larry Culp.

Learning is Not Enough – Bob Emiliani explains learning is a foundation, a launching point, but one has to go much further to gain know-how.

 

Fear is Poor Motivator for Business Transformation

Those of us who are familiar with Continuous Improvement programs all know the term “burning platform”, an expression used to describe a situation where a company or organization needs to take drastic action to survive. The concept has gained popularity as an effective way to motivate employees and stakeholders to make a real change.

In general, a necessity to change – the burning platform – will create higher stress levels which affect the attitude and behavior of employees towards the upcoming change. The more critical and urgent the need for change, the bigger the chances for stress levels. This triggers negative and defensive reactions like fight, flight or freeze.

Too often, we see high stress levels result in internal fights, pointing fingers, pushing problems to other teams and the best talents moving to other companies.

Maybe, these negative sentiments can be transformed into a more positive and bonding attitude within teams for a while, but not for long time.

My view, however, is different. Even though fear is a strong motivator, it only works for a limited time. And should never be applied on a personal level. Fear causes stress, decreasing performance levels and motivation in the long run. Typically, as soon as another option is available, people find ways to escape the unpleasant situation or environment.

To sustain a transformation journey, shifting from a burning platform to a burning ambition is absolutely critical. Leaders’ personal ambitions are surpassed by the lasting impact they wish to have on their organizations, their customers, their industries, and their communities. Burning ambitions provide far greater leverage than burning platforms to keep leaders on track. Clarity of personal and organizational ambition allows leaders to reorient their focus in spite of these competing pressures and allows them to accept short-term pain in the pursuit of longer-term gain.

Moving from a burning platform to a burning ambition is a necessary first step toward organizational transformation. Because this shift allows leaders to become calmer, more purposeful, and more responsive to the inevitable challenges they are going to face. Secondly, it is not only vital for a leader to articulate the organizational reasons for change, but they need to delve deeper and establish very compelling personal motivations for change. Finally, the fire or the ‘Big Why’ is a crucial part of how leaders transform.

The better option is what leading and dynamic manufacturers do very well: they rally their employees, their clients and their partners with a strong and compelling purpose, which makes continuous innovations and change the natural, logical and compelling thing to do.

In essence, if there are compelling reasons and not too many obstacles, people will change and drive innovation to improve. They do not need a crisis or burning platform to change. After all, that is the only reason the world is changing so rapidly.

However, too many organizations do a bad job in providing compelling reasons and a good job in creating obstacles. That is the reason organizations struggle to keep up the high pace of the changing world.

Lean Quote: Love What You Do

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Do what you love, love what you do, and with all your heart give yourself to it."   —  Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

We often hear the phrase “you’ve got to love what you do” and it is advice given by many self-help gurus and books. But what exactly does it mean?

These days it appears to be fashionable for young kids to call themselves entrepreneurs or founders. They have fallen in love with the idea of starting and running their own businesses. Yet unless you are making money, instead of raising money, you are not being very entrepreneurial. What these people are in love with is the title of ‘entrepreneur’. But to be a true entrepreneur involves hours and hours developing a product or service. It means spending days and weeks sitting in front of a computer writing boring lines of code or prototyping package designs and UI experiences. If you are not in love with that part of the work, you are not in love with what you do.

And that is what “love what you do” really means. It means you love the work of doing what you do every day. It means you love waking up at 6 am every morning and writing your book. It means you love pushing through the pain barrier every day in the gym to achieve the body you want. What it really means is you love the process of doing what you do.

If your love is the title, or the money or the position, you will never find happiness or fulfilment in your work. That only comes from the process. It is the love you have for doing that ultimately leads to happiness and fulfilment. That’s where the long-term wins are. There is no winning strategy in handing out small pieces of card with the title “founder” on it only for you to spend your days running around seeking money for a, as yet untested idea. That’s being in love with the name and not the process.

Lean Tips Edition #295 (#3451 - #3465)

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 #3451 – Develop a Positive Attitude

It’s crucial to have a positive attitude when striving to be an approachable manager. It is essential because seeing yourself as a positive person will change how you think, act, and relate. You’ll spontaneously treat others with respect, kindness, and warmth. All this will together make you approachable. It can be difficult when things are going poorly, but it’s essential if you want to build relationships with your team and achieve the objectives you set for yourself. 

One of the best ways to develop a positive attitude is to focus on your strengths. When you focus on what you do well, you’ll see progress and success in areas you previously struggled with. That will ultimately lead you to develop a positive attitude.

Lean Tip #3452 – Be Vulnerable in Sharing Your Failures or Insecurities 

As a manager, it’s important to be vulnerable in sharing your failures or insecurities. It will help you build trust and credibility with your team and enable them to lean on you for support when things get tough. When you are completely candid with your team, they will see you as a person instead of a manager. 

It empowers them to take risks and make decisions in the team’s best interest. It’s also important to be open about your thoughts and ideas so that they can provide valuable feedback. If you can make yourself approachable and available, your team will be more likely to report to you with good news, and they’ll be more likely to stick around if things go wrong.

Lean Tip #3453 – When You Don’t Know Something, Accept It And Work Together To Figure It Out 

When you don’t know something, and you’re the team manager, it’s essential to be patient and accept that fact. It means reaching out to your team and asking for help in most cases. If somebody on your team is knowledgeable about the subject, they’re more than happy to lend a hand.

You can quickly get up to speed on the issue and make the best decisions possible by working together. It is essential for decisions that impact the team’s productivity or morale. When you approach your employees with your problems or shortcomings, they are also pushed to come to you for their issues, positively impacting your approachability.

Lean Tip #3454 – Speak Openly and Honestly With Others 

If you want to become an approachable manager, a crucial step is to start speaking openly and honestly with others. It means being straightforward and honest about your intentions and willing to listen to others’ perspectives. Be responsive, show openness to feedback, and communicate openly about what you are doing and why so that everyone in your team feels engaged and invested in your work. Finally, while being honest, respect others’ time and effort. 

Lean Tip #3455 – Be a Sounding Board

Approachable leaders understand that people will come to them with good and bad news. Show compassion and empathy; let people know they can always come to you. As a leader, you don’t only lead — you must also stay open and listen. You must embrace compassion and engage empathy. Making yourself approachable and accessible is the secret ingredient to great leadership. 

Lean Tip #3456 – Challenge Processes, Not People 

One Lean management habit that’s more difficult in practice than it is on paper is challenging processes, not people. Often, we don’t realize how we are assigning blame to the people on our teams.

We all carry subconscious biases that prevent us from truly seeing the reality of any given situation. Aiming to solve any problem by focusing on the process keeps teams solutions-oriented and discourages power struggles on teams. 

Challenging processes, not people, can also usually uncover the real issues at hand. Returning to the idea that people want to do their best work, often our tendency to blame people leaves us with high turnover rates but the same problems. 

Lean Tip #3457 – Share Knowledge, Spread Energy

One key Lean principle is the idea of sharing knowledge. Increasing transparency in the flow of information can help to spread positive energy across the organization and reinforce Lean leadership principles. If the goal of Lean is to meet the needs of the customer in a sustainable and healthy way, sharing knowledge helps the entire organization maintain an up-to-date, accurate picture of the customer and their needs. 

It’s difficult to achieve that “we’re all in this together” mentality across the organization if only some members are allowed to see all the cards. Although it can feel risky to increase transparency across the organization, the benefits of a culture built on trust and openness outweigh the temporary feeling of vulnerability. 

Lean Tip #3458 – Lean Leadership by Example 

Lean leaders have to be curious, open, and transparent in ways for which traditional management methods did not prepare them. Embracing and embodying Lean management principles requires many to retrain their brains to allow for a completely new approach to leadership. 

One of the most exciting parts of Lean leadership is that it challenges the idea that leadership is an inborn trait that people either have or they don’t. By practicing the principles and practices above, anyone can become a Lean leader, regardless of their role, experience, or personality type. 

Lean Tip #3459 – Coach and Develop Your Team

Lean leaders invest in the coaching and development of their teams. They provide guidance, feedback, and support to help employees develop their problem-solving and Lean skills. Leaders encourage cross-functional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and learning from failures. By investing in their teams’ growth, leaders build a capable and empowered workforce that drives sustainable Lean improvements. 

Lean Tip #3460 – Instill a Continuous Improvement Mindset 

Lean leaders instill a continuous improvement mindset throughout the organization and create a Lean Culture. They encourage employees to identify and address waste, inefficiencies, and problems on a daily basis. Leaders utilize Lean tools and methods such as Kaizen events, A3 problem solving, and value stream mapping. These tools and methods help them make incremental improvements and foster a culture of learning and innovation.

Lean Tip #3461 – Be More Adaptable By Learning From Your Coworkers

One great way to learn adaptability is to observe how your co-workers embrace change. Consider the way they showcase their adaptability in certain situations and how you can apply those same concepts. It can also be beneficial to ask them for any tips they can provide you with in this area. 

Lean Tip #3462 – Ask Questions to Learn

Consider asking your co-workers how they perform certain tasks and handle certain situations in the workplace. One of the greatest ways to learn adaptability is to not only observe but actively seek advice from others who excel in this area. Make sure your questions are professional and well thought out.

Lean Tip #3463 – Be Willing to Make Mistakes 

Though making a mistake can be disheartening, it also provides you with various opportunities such as the ability to learn a valuable lesson, share knowledge and consider a future solution. Change your mindset when it comes to your mistakes in the workplace. The better you are at embracing your mistakes, the more adaptable you'll be at managing the fallout.

Lean Tip #3464 – Find the Positive

Many things in life and in the workplace don't go as planned. When this happens, focus on the positive. This will allow you to change your mindset and pay attention to the positives. Consider what you're able to take away from these situations and be optimistic about the future. 

Lean Tip #3465 – Keep Your Goals in Sight

When you face new challenges, keep your goals, values, and aspirations in mind. You may feel discouraged or frustrated as change happens, but it’s vital to revisit your aspirations and create a new plan to renew your determination and continue toward your goals.