and a new one brought in. The new team wanted to implement lean manufacturing techniques and was looking for input from the line workers. No dice. As a result of past misdeeds the seasoned workers didn’t trust management and wouldn’t cooperate. Unfortunately, the skills these vets have honed over the years weren’t documented anywhere and now they weren’t talking. They believe if they did tell all management might pull the company right out from underneath them and move out of the country.
Plain and simple:
Companies who are considering going forward with their first lean initiative often want to know the risk factors in going forward. Lean sounds so simple and the savings so easy to attain; where is the “gothcha”? The lean “gotcha” is what is described in the article above. Companies have to find a way to deal with the concept that to be successful at lean everyone’s input counts the same. Lean will not survive in a setting where the line workers are spectators. Lean requires management to give up some control as to how goals are accomplished and processes are evaluated and performed. Management has to get out of the business of doing for everyone and let those on the line have a role in how things get done. Success at lean has nothing to do with technology, time or money but everything to do with how people are brought into the process.
Lean Lite:
It may be possible to pick some low hanging fruit early on in a few successful kaizen events but that excitement will quickly fade without this cultural shift. Workers must learn to trust management enough to accept the responsibility to participate. As to be expected nothing comes for free. You will need to show each employee group why it is important to participate and how it benefits them.
I Got The Promotion!:
We don’t train our managers to be successful at lean. The criteria for most supervisor/management promotions is based on individual ability and being able to get the job done, sometimes despite all odds. Other times, promotions may come just by being in the right place at the right time. Neither scenario helps the lean cause at your company. Supervisors who have not been taught the coaching skills necessary for success in groups will thrash about. They will manage the way they were managed unless you can change their habits. The word habit for the purpose of this discussion is what happens between a supervisor and a worker when no one else is there.
Can we sustain lean?:
The test whether lean takes hold or not is at the front line manager/supervisor level and requires coaching and leadership skills. These skills are needed to get the staff involved, and most importantly to help teach them how to think at work. They have not been asked to do this before so initially they will need guidance and clear guidelines as to how to proceed. Without the proper coaching and guidelines the workers become frustrated and wonder why their suggestions aren’t being accepted. They soon disengage from the process hoping lean soon fades away. Enthusiasm wanes, nerves get frayed and nothing gets done. Management eventually backs away and lean dies a quiet death.
Lean Thrives:
Lean requires that the lean engine be continuously fed with new ideas and recommendations for improvements. Management has to sanction it, endorse it at every opportunity, participate and actively measure its progress.
Follow these guidelines for success:
• Challenge your team to think
• Set and coach them to attain goals (let them do it!)
• Measure their progress frequently
• Reward them when they achieve success
Every pair of hands comes with a free brain. Lean requires that you use all the free stuff too.
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