Daily Lean Tips Edition #57 (841-855)

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.

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Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #841 – Ensure a Penalty-Free Exchange of Ideas

Ensuring a penalty-free exchange of ideas is beneficial to both the giver and the receiver of new ideas and approaches and will ensure a safe two way exchange of thoughts and ideas.

Lean Tip #842 – Use A Consistent Approach For Projects

A consistent and structured approach for project identification and execution will provide the organization with the ability to identify, select, and manage continuous improvement projects. It should also provide post-closing process steps to continually refine the improvement project methodology and to act upon the lessons learn from the project effort.

Lean Tip #843 – Measure and Monitor Key Performance Indicators

It is not possible to improve what is not measured. Determine in advance the approach and techniques to be used in measurements. Scorecards can be useful to monitor the key performance indicators of processes that support capability and performance.

Lean Tip #844 – Ensure Regular Communications to Foster Collaborative Interactions

Ensure regular communications to foster collaborative interactions among leaders, stakeholders, and practitioners at all levels.  Where needed, schedule face to face meetings and where not needed, use the communication and collaboration tools and capabilities of the enterprise to keep all members updated and involved.

Lean Tip #845 – Establish Core Values that Comprise The Continuous Improvement Culture

Establish the core values that comprise the continuous improvement culture such as a focus on supporting the customer, teamwork throughout the extended enterprise, receptivity to evolving continuous improvement concepts and tools. These core values will create a sense of belonging and a common vision for all involved.

Lean Tip #846 - Identify an Internal Change Agent and Gain Commitment From Leadership

The successful implementation of a lean manufacturing program requires the engagement of company leadership to ensure lean doesn't become the company's latest “flavor of the month” program. I recommend identifying an internal “change agent” who will have overall responsibility for driving your lean transformation. Change won't come easy, so this person must be respected, have good communication skills and the ability to turn pushback into idea generation.

Lean Tip #847 - Turn Employees Into Problem Solvers and Improvement Specialists

The most important aspect of lean is to involve employees in developing lean processes. Many times companies create a culture in which the employees don't make the decisions, management does. Then when problems occur, employees are unable to diagnose or solve problems without involving a supervisor. lean reverses that by revolving around employees and looking to them as the improvement specialists.

Lean Tip #848 - Share As Much As You Can

Shared information will help to stop silos emerging and can help to manage the ‘collective expectation’. Furthermore, regular communications and clear messaging explains the benefits to the wider team and will be widely welcomed.

Lean Tip #849 - Devolve Responsibility To Those At The Gemba

Those on the shop floor are vital in that they will be able to spot imperfections and inefficiency.  Don’t just involve them in discussion, but make them experts and give them responsibility.

Lean Tip #850 – Instill Confidence In Your Employees To Suggest Improvements

Instill confidence in your employees so they will feel free to suggest improvements. In the firelight, our cave dwellers could assess and improve their procedures. In one set of drawings, the hunters stand in front of the stampeding herd. Where do you think we would be today if people had not felt free to suggest improvements?

Lean Tip #851 - Empower Them to Think Differently

While it’s important to set clear goals and responsibilities, the key to having a successful business and engaged workforce is to empower all your employees to make decisions on their own. Make sure employees are comfortable and confident asking questions, bringing forward new ideas and even taking a different approach that may fail. Out of that failure will come knowledge and longer-term success.

Lean Tip #852 - Create Opportunities for Employees to Shine

While every company is pleased to have natural-born leaders, others may need a bit more prodding. Empower those employees by providing them with a bit more freedom to pursue to their passions. Then give them the opportunity to demonstrate their work to other employees.

Lean Tip #853 - Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide Guidance

Provide a space in which people will communicate by listening to them and asking them questions. Guide by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what to do. People generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them. When an employee brings you a problem to solve, ask, "what do you think you should do to solve this problem?" Or, ask, "what action steps do you recommend?" Employees can demonstrate what they know and grow in the process. Eventually, you will feel comfortable telling the employee that he or she need not ask you about similar situations. You trust their judgment.

Lean Tip #854 - Promote Employee Education.

Provide a means for employees to get whatever training is necessary to their optimal performance so that they can truly master their job responsibilities. Also, show that you are invested in their professional success by arranging for them to attend career development seminars and courses. Not only does this provide for employee empowerment, but it is a great way to gain employee loyalty and improve employee performance.

Lean Tip #855 - Really Listen to What Your Employees are Telling You.

It is hard to know what your employees want and need if you do not truly hear and understand what they are saying. Set aside a designated time to meet one-on-one with each employee at least once a month. During your meeting, actively take notes on what your employee is saying and asking. Your notes will help you to listen more effectively.

Use Performance Measures To Drive Lean Behavior

Changing organization culture is a key approach to overcoming barriers to performance improvement. But how do you change culture? One key element is performance measurement. “What gets measured, gets done!” And if we want to get Lean, we need to use performance measures that promote Lean behavior.

So if measurement motivates, we need to measure the things we want to change. In a traditional “push” plant, we measured output and efficiency by department and machine. The goal was to keep people and machines busy and these measures made that the focus. In retrospect, it’s not surprising that we built up piles of inventory between departments, and extended our total production leadtime, i.e., the time from first operation to last operation.

In a Lean plant we want value to flow. We want leadtimes to be as short as possible. How can we drive that change? Measure leadtimes and show the results to those who can make it happen. Similarly, if changeover times need to be reduced, measure them and feed back the results on a team information board.

“Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions!”

If we want to succeed on our Lean journey, the feedback must support the change. Therefore, discard old measures that encourage sub-optimizing behavior, and replace them with good Lean measures that drive the flow of value to the customer.

Measure

Everything

That

Results

In

Customer

Satisfaction

“No one retires at night with deep satisfaction, unless they have measured their achievements against standards they hold credible.” 

Lean Quote: Become a Man of Value

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.

"Try Not to Become a Man of Success. Rather Become a Man of Value." — Albert Einstein

Success is something that can be judged based upon achievement of goals. However someone who is successful does not necessarily have to give anything valuable to the world.

Value is something that can be measured based upon what an individual has contributed to the world.

Examples of success:

A politician that is elected to a high level of office can be considered successful politician.

A business man that makes a lot of money in the stock market is considered a successful stock broker.

An athlete that wins a gold medal in the Olympics is considered a successful athlete.

Albert Einstein achieved many great accomplishments in physics during his lifetime, and is therefore considered a successful physicist.

Examples of value:

Einstein invented the wheel, and the wheel is used by nearly all human beings living on the planet; therefore he has contributed something of extraordinary value to society, and is hence a valuable person.

Einstein synthesized the polio vaccine, which has been used to rid much humanity of a horrible disease, hence he is a person of value to society.

Through his theory of general relativity Albert Einstein fundamentally changed our view of gravity, and it's mechanics, clarifying many previously misunderstood concepts, and natural phenomena; hence he has been of great value to humanity, and more specifically to the field of physics.

Throughout history, the people who change the way we think, and live, and the people who influence our lives most have been men of value rather than men of success. Though it should be noted that most people of value can also be considered successful, due to the value of their contributions to the world.

There's nothing wrong with success, but oftentimes it's easy to lose sight of who you are when you're successful. If you keep your eyes on your own values, you'll end up both successful and a good person, which is a pretty good combination.

Einstein's quote does not preclude becoming successful (after all, he himself was both), but exhorts value creation as being a higher priority.

It also subtly calls for those who have success but have not yet used it to help other people to pitch in, under the guise of leaving a much longer-lasting legacy.

What do you think about this quote?

 

Guest Post: Workplace Trust

Recently, I had a great conversation with Edward Hallinan, from Unum,on employee empowerment.We discussed the importance of trust in terms of empowerment.  I am pleased to present Edward's post on workforce trust and how to increase it in your workplace.
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On 13th November, Tim wrote a post on the importance of empowering employees for improvement. In it, we found not only that employee empowerment leads to a more knowledgeable, hence effective workforce but, crucially, a more motivated one. And the catalyst for this? Trust. 

When a workforce is trusted to take key decisions and equipped with the tools to do so, it is a clear sign of trust from the higher echelons of a company. And the great thing about trust? It is reciprocal. That means that a trusted workforce trusts its employers in equal measure – a win win situation. 

The role of trust as a key motivator has been explored in real depth by employee engagement expert, Susanne Jacobs and the skilled income protection team at Unum. Entitled, Workplace Trust, the unique infographic depicts 8 factors that lead to increased trust among employees and hence productivity.


Workplace Trust: An infographic by the team at Unum UK

About the Author: Edward Hallinan is a professional content writer, currently writing on behalf of Unum. He is passionate about championing the role of employees in big businesses and believes motivation is the key to success!

Lean Quote: Gratitude is the Greatest Virtue

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.

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." — Roman Philosopher Cicero

I think he is absolutely right.  An ungrateful person focuses on what they don’t have and is unhappy, discontent, impatient, unkind, proud (thinks he deserves better), and reluctant to help others.  But a grateful person is happy and content. From that gratitude flows patience, kindness, humility, generosity, and love.

Being thankful for what we already have is probably the most powerful tool of positive thinking. The ability to notice what we already have and to consider ourselves blessed with it truly unlocks the door to abundance and to feeling good.

I wanted to take this time to thank all of you for reading, following, and supporting A Lean Journey Blog. You make sharing my thoughts more rewarding than I would have imagined.

Thankfulness is something we have to practice. It is like learning how to play the piano. Just as anyone who wishes to play piano well has to practice scales over and over again, thanksgiving must be practiced continually.

As we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving in the US, may we vow to live not just this day but every day with a grateful heart and to use our blessings to bless others.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm Thankful for You

I'm Thankful for You

Thanksgiving is the appointed time

for focusing on the good in our lives.

In each of our days,

we can find small blessings,

but too often we overlook them,

choosing instead to spend our time

paying attention to problems.

We give our energy

to those who cause us trouble

instead of those who bring peace.

Starting now,

let's be on the lookout

for the bits of pleasure in each hour,

and appreciate the people who

bring love and light to everyone

who is blessed to know them.

You are one of those people.

On Thanksgiving,

I'm thankful for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Joanna Fuchs

Poemsource.com

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November by federal legislation in 1941, has been an annual tradition in the United States by presidential proclamation since 1863 and by state legislation since the Founding Fathers of the United States. Historically, Thanksgiving began as a tradition of celebrating the harvest of the year.  

Thanksgiving Day has evolved over the years as an important holiday. It is not just about feasting and merrymaking. The tradition of Thanksgiving dinner teaches us to appreciate the finer things in life. It is about showing one's gratitude for the blessings that we are showered with. In all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Thanksgiving, take a moment to focus on what being thankful is all about. 

I am thankful for you, the readers of A Lean Journey Blog. You make sharing my thoughts rewarding in so many ways. I wanted to take this time to resound my appreciation for your interest, dialogue, and support of me and A Lean Journey Blog. 

Putting the Thanks in Thanksgiving

As many Americans will be celebrating the century old tradition that is ‘Thanksgiving’ this week, it provides the perfect opportunity for employers to reflect on how often they offer thanks and praise to their employees. Your employees work hard for you all year, and what better season to show your appreciation and gratitude than now, as we celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Whilst Thanksgiving may have evolved into a turkey eating, football supporting, Macy’s parade watching event, the original tradition stems from when the Pilgrims and Indians joined over a feast to give thanks to each other and god for getting through a difficult harvest. The gratitude shown to each other is something which many employers forget to embrace in the workplace, yet a little recognition and praise can have a significant impact on employee engagement and productivity.

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.

Regardless of your style and how you do it, connecting with employees and taking the opportunity to thank them, when ever you can, pays dividends for everyone. 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.