As 2023 comes
to an end and we look toward 2024 I wanted to revisit some tips. The Lean Tips
published daily are meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and
some knowledgeable tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey. Here are
the top 10 Lean tips from this past year:
Lean Tip
#3195 – Believe in Your Goals and Trust Yourself That You Can Do It
You need to
believe in your goals and trust yourself that you can do it. First, you must
believe that your goals are possible. And second, you must trust that you can
achieve them.
When you truly
believe you can achieve your goals, you will do whatever it takes to reach
them. Think about why people buy lottery tickets. Well, it is because they
believe that they stand a chance to win, right? If you don’t believe you stand
a chance to win, you will never bother buying the lottery ticket.
The same goes
for your goals. When you believe that you can achieve them, you will do it with
a 100% commitment rather than a half-hearted attempt.
Therefore,
believe that your goals are possible and trust that you can achieve them.
Lean Tip
#3306 – Focus Team and Company on Crucial Tasks
Don’t confuse
being busy with being productive – they’re not necessarily related. We all know
someone who is always busy, but never seems to get anything done. Where focus
goes, energy flows, and it’s crucial to keep your employees focused on just one
task or goal at a time. Make it clear what’s most important, and efficiency
will follow.
Lean Tip
#3196 – Think Positive
You can’t
always control life-changing events, but you can control how you respond to
them. Rather than dwelling on negative thoughts, accept that change is part of
life, and try to see it as an opportunity for personal growth. What can you
learn? How will this situation better prepare you for the future? Concentrate
on what you ultimately want to achieve, rather than worrying about the
obstacles in your way. Try to keep things in perspective, and avoid
catastrophizing or feeling helpless or overwhelmed. The more you can face a
stressful situation with optimism and positivity, the more resilient you will
become – and the better equipped you will be to face the next challenge.
Lean Tip
#3208 – Teach Employees Instead of Giving Orders.
An effective
leader knows how to show others what is required, rather than simply telling
them. Leaders should coach their team members toward a more collaborative,
committed work environment – without coaxing them.
If you are
controlling people to do certain things in certain ways, you’re not going to
get the level of engagement that you’re looking for. Coaching is about helping
the people you lead recognize the choices they have in front of them. People
will then take a great deal of ownership over the direction of the project.
As opposed to
simply barking orders at team members, good leaders should encourage growth by
teaching. People wouldn’t grow if leaders never taught them anything. Leaders
need to be teaching so they can grow new leaders to take their place.
Lean Tip
#3209 – Be Open to New Ideas.
Good leaders
have the emotional intelligence to understand and accept that change is
inevitable. Instead of trying to maintain a status quo just for the sake of
consistency, embrace change and innovation. Be open to new ideas and
alternative ways of thinking. Everyone brings a unique perspective to the
table, and that is something to take advantage of, not discourage.
When you’re
open to hearing the thoughts of the talent around you is when you truly embrace
every possibility and potential. See things through till the end. Understand
that there will be errors along the way, but if something doesn’t work, try to
figure out why and how before scrapping it.
When solving a
problem, encourage team members to provide their insights. When employees feel
like they can openly bring new ideas to the table, true innovation, engagement
and success can prevail.
Lean Tip
#3290 – Deliver Praise and Recognition Often
Were you aware
that feeling underappreciated at work is the #1 reason Americans leave their
jobs? Number one! Beating out low salary, limited vacation days and not enough
flexibility for life outside of work.
A statistic as
powerful as that one needs to be front of mind for managers and leaders.
By offering
consistent praise and recognition, your team will be excited and eager to
contribute to company-wide initiatives.
Ask team
members how they want to be recognized for a job well done. Send out a quick
email or commence a team huddle to get their feedback on how they prefer to be
recognized or complimented when and where credit is due. For some, it may be a
quick “You did it!” shout-out during a meeting. For others, it might be a
one-on-one positive feedback session.
The key is to
be consistent. If a team member deserves to be recognized for outstanding work,
tell them right away: Don’t wait for their “review.” The days of annual reviews
are ancient history.
Lean Tip
#3295 – Strive for Progress Over Perfection
Everyone seeks
perfection—but no one ever attains it. One of the most important things to
remember when trying to improve efficiency and productivity in the workplace is
that nothing can ever be perfect. Holding yourself and your employees to
unattainable standards is demoralizing, stress-inducing and impractical.
Part of the
working world is embracing setbacks and challenges without letting them
overwhelm you. If employees are constantly striving for perfection, they will
never have a healthy understanding of success and will, therefore, struggle
with their work efficiency.
Progress is far
more important than perfection – embrace feedback from your colleagues and help
them to do the same. Without the weight of perfectionism around our necks, we
are much less likely to procrastinate and far more likely to achieve something
great.
Lean Tip
#3279 – Develop A Culture Of Constant Improvement
The most
important value that companies can build their culture around is one of
constant improvement, both as individuals and as an overall business (and your
processes, workflows and the way you handle customers). If members of your team
know and understand that the business is always looking to improve itself, then
it becomes easier to talk about gaps and areas that may be able to be improved.
Be accepting of proposed solutions or changes that are brought to you by
employees, and reward them for what they are doing—which is actively working to
make your business better. It is hearing these suggestions out and giving them
serious thought and discussion rather than brushing them aside that is the
ultimate incentivization for employees.
Lean Tip
#3285 - Treat Mistakes as an Opportunity to Learn
Inevitably,
there will be some mistakes along the way for your team. Depending on the way
they are handled, they can become big roadblocks for your team. No one ever
responds well if they are called out and criticized harshly for making a
mistake or failing to reach a goal. That does not mean you should let mistakes
or missing a goal slide as being no big deal. Instead, use these situations as
an opportunity to learn what didn’t work this time and to make better plans
going forward.
Avoid assigning
blame to anyone. Instead, ask questions similar to the following:
• Is there something the team did (or
did not do) that caused the mistake to occur?
• How can we regroup and move forward
to reach our goal next time? Be specific.
• What can I do to help the team reach
the goal next time?
Generally, when
a failure occurs, it is not due to one mistake. There are a series of events
that occur and the failure is the result. Spending time trying to assign blame
takes away from learning how to avoid the same pitfalls next time.
Lean Tip
#3212 – Transparency of Ideas is Critical
In fact, ideas
submitted to suggestion boxes are occasionally implemented. The problem is that
there is often little or no communication with the idea submitter. Hence as far
as she knows – nothing has happened to her idea.
Thus, it is
critical that any idea generation initiative is transparent, not only during
the idea generation phase, but also during the idea review and testing phases.
Regular reports to the idea submitters lets them know how their ideas are
developing and demonstrates the value that the firm gives to good ideas.
These 10 Lean
tips can help you with your journey in 2024. What advice would you share for
the New Year?
