8 Ways to Create an Infrastructure that Supports Lean Replayed

Creating a Lean organization is never an easy task, but with the right Lean systems in place, it can be far less challenging. If you missed Jeff Hajek and I's presentation on creating an infrastructure that supports Lean you can see the replay here.

8 Ways to Create an Infrastructure that Supports Lean

View more presentations from Tim McMahon

Mark your calendars for our next webinar on September 3, 2011 at 12 noon ET. Our topic will cover 10 tips to help supercharge you on your Lean Journey.

Lean Quote: Promoting Respect in the Workplace

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.

"Respect is the foundation stone of organization effectiveness. It encourages us to recognise the skills and experience of every individual and to work together to maximize our collective potential." — Building and Promoting Respect in the Workplace - A Handbook for Managers

In order for any group, organization, or institution to be able to build and maintain itself as a functioning entity capable of achieving its potential, it must be able to manage its interpersonal relationships in a positive – civil and respectful – manner.

In my experience a respectful workplace exemplifies the following 10 elements:

1. People receive credit for the good work that is done.
2. Individuals take responsibility for their actions/behavior rather than making excuses or blaming others.
3. Individuals are committed to keeping each other informed and trust each other to pass along information appropriately.
4. People collaborate on important issues by seeking out each others opinions and expertise.
5. People talk in terms of “we” instead of creating “us and them” distinctions.
6. Individuals focus on the main issue or mission and don’t get sidetracked by differences in detail.
7. Individuals respect organizational structures and roles and don’t use them as weapons.
8. Individuals value each other’s background and experience rather than discrediting each other’s competence.
9. Concerns, criticisms, and conflicts are openly raised, are focused on methods for accomplishing the work, and are discussed in a respectful manner.
10. People speak positively about their work, the organization, and the future rather than negatively or expressing cynicism.

Does your workplace exemplify these signs of respect? What others would you add to this list?



Stay connect to A Lean Journey on our Facebook page or LinkedIn group.
Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on Linkedin. 
You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.

Guest Post: Using Single Point Lessons as a Teaching Aide

Today I am happy to be guest blogging on Christian Paulsen's Lean Leadership Blog. Chris recently did a couple guest posts while I was on vacation and now I get to return the favor. I decided that I would talk about the benefits of using a single point lesson as a teaching aide.


It is often said that lean is 90% people and 10% tools. Knowledge is the factor which determines the rate of change in organizations. How do we learn and teach this knowledge within our organization? Many organizations use a “train the trainer” method where knowledge is handed down from one individual to the next. This is like the school age game “telephone” where one person tells a story to someone who tells someone else and so on till the end of the line where the final result is a variant of the original. The variation from this type of training can result in confusion, longer cycle times, rework, and defects.

A lean tool that can be employed for teaching is a Single Point Lesson, SPL (or One Point Lesson). Single point lessons originated from TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) as a method to teach knowledge and skills necessary for autonomous maintenance.

Keeping in mind this mantra:

• Teaching occurs when an opportunity for Learning is presented.
• Learning occurs when there is a change in behavior.
• Teaching is only VALUABLE when there is a subsequent change in behavior.

To learn about about single point lessons and to see an example continue reading here.




Stay connect to A Lean Journey on our Facebook page or LinkedIn group.
Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on Linkedin. 
You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.

Lean Leadership: Getting Executive Buy-in

Last month I was at an AME networking session in our Connecticut region. These sessions provide an opportunity for our members to get together for a couple of hours in the morning at a host company discuss a specific Lean topic. The topics change at every session and are decided ahead of time. Typically the participants represent a mix of experts and beginners on the topic because everyone is on a different journey and have been travelling the road a different amount of time. This is truly the value behind these networking sessions.

Our recent topic was centered around Lean Leadership. I know, this is a broad topic. The discussion focused on how to get executives in your company to want to support and then adopt Lean Thinking. We would all like to work at a company where the top people in the organization don’t just do Lean but live Lean but many of us work at a place where they don’t even necessarily do Lean. Since every company culture is different the way to get executive buy-in will be different. Here is a list of ideas from our discussion to help you convince your management to start thinking Lean:

• Bring Executives to customers who are implementing Lean to benchmark and understand how to better service these customer.
• Define core guiding principles from which common ground and a common vision set the basis for improvement.
• Understand what your leaders are supposed to do not what they are doing. The improvement you make must “replace” not be “additive”.
• How to get leaders “Doing” the right things – Focus on capabilities
       o Have them concentration on what they can do, not what 
          they can’t do.
                 How is your process working?
                 Where is your process broken?
                 What doesn’t work well?
                 What can you do about it?
• Survey the workforce- solve their problems.
        o What do you like? (in Company, Department, Daily Job)
        o What do you wish you could change? (in Company, 
           Department, Daily Job)
• All the manager should understand they are leaders.
        o Example of engineers not thinking they are leaders.
        o Need to lead up and down the organization.
• Understand where you are in the organization.
        o You can’t change it all by yourself- teamwork.
        o Everyone’s input is valuable – listen and let them be 
           heard.
• Get quick, easy wins (Someone gave example of the companies first Kanban was in the break room for sugar).

If you want to learn more about educating Executives in Lean you should read Bob Emiliani’s book Moving Forward Faster.  I recommended this book in a review a few months ago if you want to understand what REAL Lean is and how to support it or lead it in your organization.














Stay connect to A Lean Journey on our Facebook page or LinkedIn group.
Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on Linkedin. 
You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.

Lean Quote: Appreciation - It's Free and Worth a Fortune

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.

"Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune." — Sam Walton

Many organizations say that their most valuable resource is their people; but they struggle to recognize the. Business success has never occurred without people and yet people are often treated as an asset of lesser class than the equipment. Put another way, no company can exist without it’s people. Today’s workplace relies on employee thinking, commitment and engagement for success; employees who are celebrated and regularly thanked for their contributions, consistently contribute more, out-perform others and are more loyal. Besides being the right thing to do personally, it’s also great for business.

Consider these three ways to thank and celebrate your employees:

1. Take the time to talk to, and get to know, your employees. The most significant way to thank your employees is to get to know them. Take them to lunch or schedule time to ask about their values, hobbies, and interests. Understand your employees. Use what you now know about them to build a customized skills-improvement performance plan. Spend time with, and become interested in, each of your employees.

2. Ask employees what they think. The best way to feel appreciated is to be included – to feel that your perspectives matter. In a Lean environment, we need input from all of our employees to be successful. Including employees in company issues, challenges, and opportunities empowers them, engages them, and connects them to strategy and vision of the company.

3. Say thank you, and mean it. Most managers actually do thank employees who do great work. Employees work for more than money. They work for the praise and acknowledgement of their managers. A sincere thank you, said at the time of a specific event that warrants the applause, is one of the most effective ways to appreciate employees. Remember the phrase, “What gets rewarded, gets repeated.” Start to say “thank you” or “I appreciate what you do” when it is deserved and it will inspire the behaviors to continue. Make it personal and sincere. Catch employees doing great things and respond. It empowers them, appreciates them, and celebrates their performance.

Appreciating and thanking your employees isn’t hard or costly. So take the time to make a difference in your employee’s life. You will be pleasantly rewarded by them making a difference in yours.



Stay connect to A Lean Journey on our Facebook page or LinkedIn group.
Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on Linkedin. 
You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.

Personal Continuous Improvement - A Lesson in Feedback

If you want to continuously improve your skills you need to close the learning loop with feedback.  James Ottaway, a passionate software developer for ThoughtWorks, has a strong desire to continuously improve his skills.  In the following video he shares his personal continuous improvement process and experience.



This is a good lesson for all those who coach employees in the Gemba.  I think it is good to be able to give and receive feedback.  Remember the two important aspects of feedback is strengthen confidence and improve effectiveness.  Be curious, continuously improve, and look for support are key lessons to apply in anything you do.

Feedback?



Stay connect to A Lean Journey on our Facebook page or LinkedIn group.
Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on Linkedin. 
You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.

Daily Lean Tips Edition #17

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 #241 – Leaders must teach by example to transform a culture.

To get people across an organization to systematically work on improvement every day requires teaching the skills behind the solution. And for that to happen, their leaders and mangers also need to practice and learn those skills.

Lean Tip #242 – Developing people means going beyond challenging people.

Developing people means challenging people. But just issuing challenges isn’t enough. It would be disrespectful to not also teach a systematic, common means of developing solutions and meeting those challenges.

Lean Tip #243 – The purpose of coaching is an interaction not an audit.

The learner should know when the coach is coming and what he/she will ask. They can prepare the information in advance of the coaching cycle. The purpose is not to control or get people to do what they say. There should be a genuine interest in both parties in what you are trying to achieve, what you are learning, and what will be the next experiment.

Lean Tip #244 – Once you have a target condition don’t think too far ahead.

One you have a target condition, relax and focus on the next step. Put your emphasis on the next step, because what you learn there may influence the step after that. You’ll only see the full path in hindsight. And you’re probably not going to be taking the most direct route to the target condition either.

Lean Tip #245 – A Target is not the same as a Target Condition.

A target is an outcome, while a target condition is a description of a process operating in a way, in a pattern, that we predict will result in the desired outcome. A target condition enables teamwork. It’s not so much my idea vs your idea. It’s more about what we need to work on to get there.

Lean Tip #246 - Mapping your processes will help you understand the actual condition.

To gain control over your processes, you must understand the “three actuals”:

- The actual place or location in which a process occurs
- The actual employees working in that location
- The actual process in that location

Mapping the processes will help you understand all three actuals.

Lean Tip #247 – When creating a value stream map take a tour from end-to-end of the flow with out prejudice.

Conduct a quick tour of the value stream to view end-to-end material and information flows, making sure that you have identified all the component flows. Remember to record exactly what you see without making any judgments. Don’t waste time debating the merits of an activity or its proper sequence; just record what is happening.

Lean Tip #248 – Use quick-changeover methods to reduce your set-up costs and batch sizes.

By reducing changeover times, you company will be able to run smaller batch sizes and free up production capacity. If being able to offer a mix of products and services is important, then quick changeover will reduce the number of operations you need to run every day, week, or month.

Lean Tip #249 – Use error-proofing techniques to ensure that no product defects are being passed on to downstream operations.

The goal of error proofing is to create an error-free production environment. A Lean enterprise strives for quality at the source. This means that any defects that occur during one operation in a manufacturing or business process should never be passed on to the next operation. This ensures that your customers will receive only defect-free product or services.

Lean Tip #250 – Zero defects is an achievable goal!

Many organizations have attained this level of error proofing, One of the largest barriers to achieving it is the belief that it can’t be done. By changing this belief among your employees, you can make zero defects a reality in your organization.

Lean Tip #251 – Effective problem solving requires good understanding of the problem and the current situation.

The first step in problem solving is to be certain you have a good understanding of the current situation. To ensure your solutions get to the root cause, you must understand the process where the problem initially occurred. When starting to diagnose a problem, don’t rely on verbal reports to provide the details. Go to the work area, observe the situation, solicit help from the people in the area, and collect hard evidence for yourself. Gathering the facts first hand will help you gain a better understanding of the problem which, in turn, will allow you to better focus your solutions.

Lean Tip #252 – Source inspection and mistake proofing are needed to achieve zero defects.

To achieve zero defects, both source inspection and mistake proofing are needed. Remember that, although it is necessary to have efficient inspection operations, they are of little value to the process. Even the most efficient inspection operations are merely efficient forms of waste.

Lean Tip #253 – Empower operators to stop the production line whenever a defect is detected.

Wherever practical, empower operators to stop the production line whenever a defect is detected. This creates a sense of urgency that focuses employees’ energy on prevention of the defect’s recurrence. It also creates the need for the effective source inspections and self-inspections.

Lean Tip #254 – Don’t let and error-proofing device sit idle.

This happens all too often when people override sensors, disconnect them, or ignore them. If your employees are tempted to disconnect an error-proofing device, then install an error-proofing device for the error-proofing device. It is likely that the device needs some improvement to make it effective.

Lean Tip #255 – Always use data as the basis for making adjustments in your processes.

Always use data as the basis for making adjustments in your processes. Using subjective opinion or intuition to make adjustments can result in errors – and eventually defects. Data also ensures that the adjustment was effective or not.

Stay connect to A Lean Journey on our Facebook page or LinkedIn group.
Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on Linkedin. 
You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.