Fire-fighters wait until they see a problem, then run around like crazy till it's fixed, then sit back and wait for the next problem to appear. Leaders coach their subordinates to improve the quality, productivity, and speed of the process for which they are responsible. Fire-fighters minimize damage. Leaders maximize profits.If you want your supervisors to be leaders, they must be able to do the three basic tasks below. Here is some advice for supervisors who want to be leaders instead of fire-fighters:
1. Know How To Measure Quality, Cost And Speed
Measuring profit for your area is probably not practical. Instead, measure quality, productivity, and speed (QPS), because better QPS means better profits. Better quality means less rework, lower warrantee costs, and higher customer satisfaction. Better productivity means lower unit cost. Better speed (shorter lead time) means making the product the customer wants when she wants it, instead of making products (inventory) ahead of time based on a guess.
You need to figure out how to measure QPS for your area of responsibility. It probably won't be easy, but it is possible. You must measure QPS, because you can't improve something you aren't measuring.
When I was a manager of experimental film manufacturing at Eastman Kodak Company, we defined measures for QPS. For quality, we measured the percentage of films that had to be made over again because of defects. For cost, we measured labor hours per film manufactured. For speed, we measured the time from when the design of the film was complete until the film was delivered to the scientist who ordered it.
Percent of supervisors who currently do this step: 25.0%*
2. Set Improvement Goals
First, you need to know how your area is currently performing. When I took over my department at Kodak, we started at 22% defects (remember, this was experimental film made with experimental ingredients), 10.7 labor hours per film, and three days from design to delivery.
Next, set six-month goals. Six months is plenty of time to make a major improvement. If your goals aren't due for a year, your people won't feel much urgency. Besides, in a year things change so much in most companies that it's likely you'll be promoted, moved, or get a new boss with new priorities before you have time to reach your goals. When you achieve a six-month goal, you can feel good about it (and put it on your resume) even if circumstances change.
Set big goals. Look at the books out there about lean manufacturing (which, by the way, is applicable to the office area as well). Typical results are 20% improvement in quality and productivity, and 75% improvement in speed (lead time).
At Kodak, I set a goal to improve our speed (from design
to delivery) from three days to 12 hours. I knew if we improved our speed (which would require eliminating most waiting time and giving small teams responsibility for the product from beginning to end), we'd get productivity and quality benefits as well.
Percent of supervisors who currently do this step: 15.6%
3. Lead Every Employee To Improve Every Day
At Kodak, I got my people together every day for 45 minutes to move our improvement efforts forward. We were able to do that because I cut back on some of their other duties and my boss agreed to pay for overtime when it was needed. He knew we were serious and wanted to give us a chance to succeed.
During our 45-minute meetings, I'd ask each person to contribute at least one idea to help us improve our speed, then I'd ask each person to take responsibility to make progress on one idea before the start of the next meeting. For example, they did experiments to see if an idea was feasible, labeled a new tool storage area, or discussed a new fixture idea with a manufacturing engineer.
How did they find time to do these action items? Remember, you eat an elephant one bite at a time, and I was content with small bites (only 15 minutes or so per day - they add up). Second, most employees can find the time if they are motivated, and can cover for each other if they are working toward a common goal.
None of this was voluntary. I made it very clear that I expected everyone to think of ideas and work on implementing them every day. Why? Because I was running a piece of a company and we had competition. I knew we could improve and that my people had common sense. I didn't want my people to get laid off because I hadn't required everyone to carry their own weight.
Nothing motivates employees more than giving them a tough goal and asking them to use their brains to accomplish it. People love to work hard if they have a good reason and are trusted to get the job done.
Within six months, we had improved our speed (design to delivery) from three days to 10 hours (we beat our goal by two hours). In addition, our rework dropped from 22% to 4%, and our productivity improved from 10.7 to 7.4 hours per
film.
Percent of supervisors who currently do this step: 3.1%
• These statistics are from a survey of 32 organizations in manufacturing, medical services, banking, distribution, and government.
© 2001 Everest Consulting Group, Inc. (888)910-8326.
