by Julie | Feb 19, 2018 | Management
Why is Why Important?
Over the past few months, I have observed a trend within our society. We seem to be afraid to ask “Why” when a difficult or unusual situation presents itself. For some reason, we accept the situation, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense and then start making assumptions as to the reason. I’ve seen this with customers, employees and even friends and family.
We all know what happens when we start making assumptions, and it is true (to a certain extent). The “Why” is important as it impacts how we respond to the situation.
Here are a few examples of what happens when we don’t stop and ask Why:
- A manager noticed that an employee had been really distant recently but she didn’t really worry as she assumed this was a due to the Lyme disease that the employee was recently diagnosed with. The reality was that the employee was very upset with her manager due to a perceived lack of concern resulting in a very unhappy, unproductive employee who was spreading discontent throughout the team. If the manager had spoken with the employee when she sensed the distance, perhaps this discontent could have been resolved before it impacted the productivity of the entire office.
- The largest customer of a small manufacturing company calls and asks to have a meeting. Instead of asking why the customer wanted the meeting, the sales person sets it up for a week later and immediately begins to stress over the reason for the meeting. Was the customer going to fire the company due to the number of late deliveries? Did the customer want a price reduction due to some recent production issues? Was the sales person going to lose her job if she lost this account? By the time the day of the meeting arrived, the sales person wasn’t able to eat or sleep. However, in the end, the customer expressed their desire to continue working with the company but wanted a commitment from the company to improve on-time delivery.
It is my belief that if your intentions are pure, you have the right to ask Why when a situation presents itself that seems to be out of the norm. The question must come from a place of concern and not accusation; a place of learning, not an effort to gain the upper hand.
I’m not saying these conversations are always easy. There may be things that are painful to share or difficult to hear. It may require you to shelve your ego and put yourself in the position of the person sharing the information. What is this person trying to tell me? Am I really focusing on what he is saying or am I preparing to respond to this perceived attack? If you don’t take the time to hear what is being said and listen with empathy, you could cause more harm than good. But, if you really listen, you have the opportunity to create a stronger relationship.
In our current climate of heated debates, 10-second sound bites and need for frenzied activity, we are missing an opportunity to connect with each other. If we view these situations as an opportunity to create deeper relationships, everyone wins.
by Julie | Mar 29, 2017 | Process Control
Tools to Streamline Your Processes
Resulting In Enhanced Productivity and Improved Profitability
Tool of the Week: Value Stream Mapping
What it is: Value Stream Maps (VSM) are process maps with data.This is a more complicated tool than a process flow chart as it includes data to help identify and quantify waste in the process.
Benefits of Using the Tool: This is a valuable tool if the goal is to speed up the process or reduce and/or eliminate non-value added steps. This tool can be used to identify an opportunity for improvement or to create an “as-is” version of the proces and then document improvement in a future version.
How to Use It: Begin at the end of the process with the final product and then work upstream. Identify the main steps of the process and place them in sequence. Incorporate all steps including subprocesses, inspection steps, and any testing required during the process.
Include the flow of information between the steps and how communication occurs between the different processes and the customer. Is the communication via email, on the router, in person or electronic? When it comes time to collect the data, gather the following pieces of information:
– Set-up time
– Takt time (the rate which the product or service must be produced in order to satisfy customer demand within a given period of time)
– Processing Time
– Lead Time
– Percent defective and/or scrap rate
– Number of people
– Downtime
– WIP – upstream and downstream
– Batch size
– Any other data pertinent to your process
Once the data is compiled, classify each step as valuable to the customer, valuable to the business or not valuable. From this data, you have a roadmap on which steps to optimize and which to eliminate in order to reduce process lead time, increase capacity and improve overall equipment efficiency.
Real Life Example: Value Stream Mapping is a great tool for identifying where the variability is coming from in a process. I had a client who was struggling with long processing times for a particular part.
By completing a VSM, they identified steps in the process which had large sources of variation, In addition, they found communication between departments to be inadequate or in some cases, non-existent. From this data, they were able to identify which steps needed to be removed from the process and which steps needed to be optimized to reduce variation. This work resulted in a quantifiable improvement in processing times.
by Julie | Jan 4, 2017 | Management
Over the past year, I’ve worked with many of you on ways to attract, train and retain your workforce. During this journey, I’ve listened to you and your challenges and what I’ve found is that some of your pain could be alleviated by instituting better processes.
So, as I considered how best to provide value to you and your businesses, I thought I’d change the topic and focus on process control tools that can help streamline your processes to enhance productivity and improve profitability.
As we move into 2017, look for a new topic and new format.
I look forward to our continued dialogue in the new year!
Best Wishes!
Julie
by Julie | Jan 4, 2017 | Employee Training, Management, Onboarding
UNDERSTANDING OUR ROLE IN ACHIEVING OUR GOALS
As 2016 comes to a close, it is time to set 2017 goals. Do you have in mind what you would like to achieve from a business perspective? Personally? In your relationships? Have you thought about how you are going to achieve your goals?
At a recent Vistage meeting, our chair asked each member of the group what our goals were for the upcoming year. And then he asked us to write down what we needed from the group in order to achieve those goals. But, then he shifted the perspective and asked what we were willing to give to the group in order to help achieve our goals.
I’ll be honest, this exercise made me uncomfortable. It was easy for me to give specifics about what they could do to help me succeed in 2017. But, as I shared with the group, the chair challenged me to answer what I would do to ensure the group could help me. After some gentle prodding, I had to admit that I would open myself up to their feedback and suggestions, even if it pushed me outside of my comfort zone.
As I reflected on this exercise, I started to realize the power in this shift in thought. It moves the conversation from ME (my goals) and YOU (what you are going to do to support me) to how WE can collectively be better.
As you set the goals for your business in 2017, have you thought about what you need from your organization in order to achieve those goals? Have you talked with your employees about their goals and what they need from you in order to achieve their goals? And then, have you asked what all of you are willing to give back to the organization in order to achieve those goals?
by Julie | Dec 2, 2016 | Efficiency, Management
LOOKING BEYOND THE MONEY
I think we can agree that most people work to make money. Of course, there are a few rare people who work because they enjoy it, but, most of them also use that money to further their personal interests.
But, beyond money what else motivates your employees? In his article, “The Ten Ironies of Motivation,” Bob Nelson stated “more than anything else, employees want to be valued for a job well done by those they hold in high esteem.”
The sad reality is that very few people work for good managers who understand the importance of providing feedback and recognition. We all have our war stories of a terrible manager we worked for, but, what about a good manager? What made her so good?
I’m confident that the answer to that question was that he truly cared about his employees and took the time to hear their concerns and give feedback on a consistent basis.
So, as 2016 comes to a close, think about ways you can provide more recognition and appreciation for your employees. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, in fact, I’ve put together a few ideas that don’t cost much at all:
- Write a note to one employee each week thanking them for their hard work
- Feature an employee in the company newsletter or meetings
- Ask the company president to reach out to an employee thanking him for a job well done
- Give out gift cards to employees who have gone above and beyond, or maybe “just because”
- Read positive letters from customers or clients in your staff meeting
- Allow employees to nominate each other for recognition
With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas looming right around the corner, now is a perfect time to show appreciation for your employees.
About Julie Markee: Julie Markee is a highly conscientious, detail-oriented consultant working directly with manufacturing companies as a part-time Process Efficiency engineer or a full-time Interim Operations Manager. She utilizes tools from Lean Manufacturing and 6 Sigma, along with her extensive process experience to reduce complex challenges into manageable steps resulting in stream-lined processes, enhanced employee involvement and increased profitability. Learn more at www.keyprocessinnovations.com.
