A technical theme emerges in the results, which is probably okay IF you are a business professional with refined knowledge of your specialized skills and have been asked to lead a cost saving project in your department. Most of us, however, find the mechanical nature of "Lean speak" to be unbearably dry and very easy to tune out. As an advocate for Lean thinking and a student of communication, I believe the language we use to persuade our team is just as important as the improvements we hope to see. You do yourself a disservice when you intimidate a project crew by speaking a confusing new language derived from Japanese (gemba, kanban, takt time, poka yoke, etc.). They will learn it and might even speak it, so long as it is used in a context that is useful and interesting. Give it time. After all, no one ever thought Google would become a synonym for query, but it is kind of fun to say.
When your business implements a change, do they make an announcement OR do they provide communication? Doesn't an announcement feel a lot like orders, a briefing, a declaration? News that is happening to me, that is not a question or a conversation, invites a defensive reaction. What about communication? If you open an email with the subject: Inter-office Communication, it feels more like something that invites engagement, feedback, or input. These nuances make a world of difference when a business needs a cultural shift in its staff. By inviting suggestions and engagement from the workers, a positive and productive environment will likely be the result.Would you rather have their compliance or their commitment?
I read this interesting bit from Brian Buck's blog, Improve With Me. He explains that there are a variety of reasons an employee might not follow standard work instructions.
A leader must go and see the actual condition that is causing the employee to not follow Standardized Work. Leaders need to ask why SW isn’t followed. Here are some potential reasons:
They don’t know about the SW: How was the change communicated? At a team-meeting where not everyone was present? Via email buried under other announcements?
They aren’t trained or capable to do the SW: They may not have the tools or the environment does not allow them to follow it. The training provided might not have been enough for them.
All situations not considered when creating the SW: In order to respond to customers, the SW may not be capable to meet their needs. Do not jump to the conclusion that there isn’t a good reason why an employee did something different. They are on your team because of their hearts and minds and not just a pair of hands right?
They already discovered a better way: Help them know how to spread improvements discovered by frontline workers.
No leadership involvement: If leadership does not show they care whether the process is being followed on a regular basis or helping to solve problems uncovered after implementation, then how can you expect employees to care?
Outcome not achieved but SW still being required: Standardization is not a Lean goal, but is a tool to help improve outcomes. If your hypothesized outcome didn't come true, why are you still requiring staff to follow the SW?
You are not improving the SW: Over time, the SW will unconsciously change if continuous improvement is not part of your culture. The SW may have had elements missing or wasn’t fully tested.
Leadership has placed the wrong person in the role: There are some people who willfully refuse to follow SW. Leadership must take responsibility for this as well, since they either tolerated bad behavior in exchange for productivity, or have been so uninvolved that they didn't realize the worker doesn't fit in their new culture.If the knee jerk response was to report this guy to HR for performance issues, problems will persist, good ideas may remain buried, and employee morale diminishes. Determining root cause can be everyone's job. An image we used for Lean Projects in my office explains this scenario in a way that is easy to understand. The rocks just beneath the water's surface will continue to damage the vessel unless they are exposed.
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| Image courtesy of: http://www.handsongroup.com/lean-articles/forcing-continuous-improvement/ |
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