One of the biggest barriers to standardization is fluctuating short-term demand. Long term changes in demand can be managed by hiring staff or by attrition, but when there is significant variation day to day or even hour to hour, it just isn’t practical to hire new people for the handful Read more…
One of the jobs of a leader is to set clear expectations. There are two implications here. The first is that she must understand, very clearly, what she wants her team to do. The second is that she must know what her team is actually doing. And, of course, the Read more…
Most people understand that if there is no standard process, it is hard for other individuals to come in and help out when things go wrong. What is less commonly understood is that simply establishing consistent methods is not enough to support teamwork. The process must be configured in a Read more…
One of the things that takes some getting used to in a Lean organization is the fact that people are constantly watching each other. Leaders are relentlessly told to go to gemba. Teams participate in a never ending parade of kaizen activity. Employees from other work areas visit to do benchmarking and get ideas for best practices. In a nutshell, if you work in the company with a culture of continuous improvement, you will be on display.
Process documentation is important for two reasons. The obvious one is to create work instructions that record the details of how a process should be completed. The other big reason is to create a standard sequence of operations (i.e. when the process steps should be done) to provide more consistency in the time a process takes. This helps leaders accurately assess the staffing needs of an organization. It also provides an indicator of when a team member is falling behind on a process.
One of the realities of creating standardized processes is that they need standard times. This is generally done using the Time Observation Sheet. The challenge, though, is that there are a few different strategies you can use when selecting the person who should do the work when being timed. If the person is slow, most people will be standing around when they do the process. If the observed individual is one of the most proficient, others will struggle to keep up.
One of the facts of life of a Lean environment is that things get measured. Often the data collection is inconspicuous. But sometimes, the measurement is hard to miss. When a stopwatch comes out, people know that their work is getting looked at. It is easy for them to inadvertently, and in some cases, intentionally, bias the results.
Job security is extremely important to people. One way that people increase their job security is to hold crucial information close to the vest. The thought is that the employee can’t be let go if the information goes with him. The problem, with this belief, though is that in a Lean organization, processes change rapidly. Skills become far more important than specific process knowledge.
Try as we might, we are not always successful at separating work from our home life. Whether it is after hours emails, or simply being unable to clear your mind from job stressors, work can creep into everything you do. When work is challenging, as it might be during a big change, that overlap can cause problems.
If you want to thrive in a Lean company, your boss must see you as being supportive of continuous improvement efforts. If she doesn’t see you that way, it is because of one of two reasons. Either you really aren’t supportive of Lean, and the assessment is accurate, or you Read more…
Learning about Lean can be a challenge. The concepts are generally unfamiliar, and there is the added pressure of facing a big change. Getting the lessons to stick takes concerted effort. You’ll have to have a game plan for during class, and you’ll have to have a plan for putting the concepts to immediate use after training.
When you choose a new job, you can make sure that your skills match the requirements of the position you are seeking. When a company starts it Lean journey, though, your job requirements change. You may feel grossly unprepared for the transition. Fortunately, though, there are many ways to learn Read more…