Lean
Tip #1756 – Set Goals for Alignment and Motivation
For
your team to be aligned, they have to be working for a common purpose and with
a similar motivation.
The
ideal team has come together, with each team member bringing a separate set of
skills and expertise. Your team will be aligned when their common goal is
known, and when they cooperate together to achieve it.
Goals
have the added bonus of increasing motivation. You’ll find that your employees
are more motivated when they have something to strive for.
If
your team is working well together, and they are aligned with a common goal,
you might find they individually exceed your expectations.
Lean
Tip #1757 - Define the Responsibilities of Team Members
In
order to work toward your common goals, each person on the team should agree to
how you’ll meet the goal.
Once
that happens, you can set individual responsibilities. These should be
well-defined so there is no room for interpretation.
For
the good of the team and motivation of all members, keep the individual tasks
as evenly distributed as possible.
Lean
Tip #1758 - Provide Encouragement To Your Team
As
the team leader, your encouragement goes a long way in building your team and
keeping members active and engaged.
Make
sure that everyone continues to work together and remains aligned in goals and
motivation.
Ensure
that everyone knows they have a place on the team, and everyone’s opinions and
work is valued.
Lean
Tip #1759 - Increase Motivation With Realistic Goals
You’ll
find that your employees are more motivated when they have something to strive
for. Make sure your goals are specific and attainable.
Goals
that aren’t reachable are motivation killers. You want your team to be
successful, so make sure your goals are realistic.
Generally,
you’ll find your team members want to be successful, and your goals will
motivate them to reach for excellence.
You
can always offer some time of reward if your team meets your goal.
Lean
Tip #1760 - Align the Team for Maximum Teamwork
Consider
the team who can’t reach its goals unless every member of the team works
together, finishing their tasks on time.
This
is a team that is aligned with a shared motivation. When your team realizes
their goals can only be reached with maximum teamwork, you’ll have a better
chance at success.
Lean
Tip #1761 - Lead by Example
It
is vital that your senior leaders model any change initiatives for your
employees. If your senior leaders do not “walk their talk,” employees will
quickly stop trying as well. Your staff will think, “Why should I make these
extra efforts if the people running the organization aren’t bothering?” Leaders
who don’t back up their words with actions lose employee trust. A change
initiative requires a team effort, and management should be fostering trust and
leading their teams. Senior leaders can introduce a change process, but it’s
their active participation that demonstrates the organization’s commitment to
change.
Lean
Tip #1762 - Communicate Consistently to Avoid Confusion
It’s
likely there will be some confusion during a change process. Employees may feel
disoriented as your organization lets go of old processes and embraces new
procedures. In order to help your staff feel more comfortable, make sure to
communicate with them often.
Think
of your organization as a sailboat, and you’re simply changing your course.
When you turn your boat, the sails often luff or flap as they adjust to the
shifting winds. As captain, you can keep your crew from panicking by reassuring
them you’re headed in the right direction. Employees will feel safer knowing
that someone is at the helm.
Lean
Tip #1763 - Provide Education Whenever Possible
Executives
usually don’t want to admit that they don’t know what they don’t know. Keep in
mind that many leaders, especially those who do not have a manufacturing or
engineering background, may not have had much exposure to the lean and Six
Sigma tools. So, improvement leaders may need to dedicate some one-on-one time
in order to address any deficiencies. Another good tactic is to suggest that
all company leaders attend training in order to show their support and to help
build a common culture and understanding.
Lean
Tip #1764 - Tie Improvement Efforts to Strategic Goals
One
of the first company functions that needs to be exposed to the improvement
tools and methodologies is the finance group. Many improvements (5S for
example) may prove difficult to calculate a hard dollar savings. So, if an
improvement team has an accountant type resource as one of the members, they
have a better chance to show the business executives that the savings are real.
Otherwise, you may be accused of trying to use “smoke and mirrors” to validate
the efforts and justify the costs of the training and resources.
Lean
Tip #1765 - Empower Employees to Contribute.
Control
of their own jobs is one of the five key factors in what employees want from
work. So, too, this control aspect follows when you seek to minimize resistance
to change. Give the employees control over any aspect of the change that they
can manage.
If
you have communicated transparently, you have provided the direction, the rationale,
the goals, and the parameters that have been set by your organization. Within
that framework, your job is to empower the employees to make the change work.
Practice
effective delegation and set the critical path points at which you need feedback
for the change effort - and get out of the way.
Lean
Tip #1766 - Create an Organization-Wide Feedback and Improvement Loop.
You
must maintain an open line of communication throughout your organization to
make sure that feedback reaches the ears of the employees leading the charge. Changing
course or details, continuous improvement, and tweaking is a natural and
expected, part of any organizational change. Most changes are not poured in
concrete but there must be a willingness to examine the improvement (plan, do,
study, take additional action).
Lean
Tip #1767 - Listen Deeply and Empathetically to the Employees.
You
can expect that the employees will experience the same range of emotions,
thoughts, agreement, and disagreement that you experienced when the change was
introduced to you or when you participated in creating the change. Never
minimize an employee's response to even the most simple change.
You
can't know or experience the impact from an individual employee's point of
view. Maybe the change seems insignificant to many employees, but the change
will seriously impact another employee's favorite task. Hearing the employees
out and letting them express their point of view in a non-judgmental
environment will reduce resistance to change.
Lean
Tip #1768 - Provide Great Training and Equally Great Support
Putting
the change in place is just the beginning. There needs to be systems in place
to help support your employees and make sure that the change sticks. Most
changes don’t fail in the implementation, they fail in their execution.
Training and support help ensure the change will last.
Lean
Tip #1769 - Show the Results for Positive Reinforcement
Depending
on the change, you want to keep some sort of metrics to show the results to
everyone in the organization. The more positive results seen by employees, the
more enthusiastic they will be about not only this change, but any others that
take place down the road. Nothing speaks quite like results!
Lean
Tip #1770 - It Pays to Reward Success
Remember,
success builds on itself. By rewarding success, you will create internal
champions from among those who are higher risk takers and more aware of the
value of the new outcomes. They will become your role models and persuaders.
Others will follow them more easily.
