Reducing Waste and Rework

In my experience of working with organizations around the world, manufacturing companies can usually document about 35% of their time, effort, and cost go into producing waste and rework. Service organizations are usually around 60% and government operations somewhere around 60-90%. There are reasons for the difference. Manufacturing companies have had industrial and manufacturing engineers working to improve production processes for years. A big reason the 35% number is so high is those same engineers seldom work on improving processes in finance, personnel, sales, etc. departments. They still have lots of room for reduction of waste and rework. Service and government organizations numbers are higher for the same reason; they just haven’t focused on process improvement. Government figures tend to be higher because of the many regulations that must be followed and tend to be accepted rather than challenged for better ways.

All work is made up of a series of processes and no process is perfect. The modern manager understands that his/her focus needs to be on managing the processes and not the people. People will do the best they can within the processes that they are given and must be trusted to do so without management micro-managing them. Management will receive much more satisfaction in work by providing improved processes for their people rather than constantly looking over their shoulders. A tremendous breakthrough seems to take place when managers accept that their role is to manage the processes and not the people.

With that acceptance of their role, the managers focus on improving the processes and look for ways to reduce wasted effort and cost. Last month, Vern Campbell conducted a workshop and presented a useful method of remembering the keys to identifying waste based on the term, DOWNTIME.

D-defects. This can be the rejected products, service, mistakes, or anything else that is less than desired.

O-over production. Doing more than is desired can result in scrap or reduced returns.

W-wait. Delays anywhere in the process cost time, effort, and therefore money, let alone a decrease in customer satisfaction.

N-non-utilized talent. A tip-off to his cause of waste is to see people standing around waiting, watching, and wondering what to do next.

T-transportation. It can be useful to chart the actual flow of work in a process and look for needless travel or movement. The old saying that the shortest route between two points is a straight line is true but often in our work processes we have the work product going back and forth all over the area, which can cause delays and possibly damage.

I-inventory. Inventory may be necessary to some extent but usually it is evil. It can produce obsolescence, rework, lost or misplacement, theft, etc.

M-motion. This is related to transportation but can be needless movement of people.

E-excessive processing. Examples of this are over-cooking in a restaurant, over-medication by a doctor, over-testing in manufacturing, and over application of regulations in government to cover any possible violations.

The goal is to not only remove the waste, rework, and redundancy as can be found with the above technique, but to streamline the process and improve the output. No process is perfect nor will it ever be. There is always room for improvement. By focusing on improving the work processes, the work product will constantly improve, little by little, better and better, resulting in improved success of the operation, happier employees, and more pride and satisfaction in their work achieved by the managers.

Improving Workforce Effectiveness

Are you proud of your workforce? Could they do better? Of course, none of us are perfect. So, how do we get from our present state to the new improved desired state? Would you believe the federal government can help? The National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, manages the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Their mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness and to that end they publish a book detailing criteria for performance excellence. It can be obtained free by calling (301) 975-2036 or by emailing baldrige@nist.gov.

Category 5, Workforce Focus, provides some excellent food for thought.

The first element is to engage the workforce to enthusiastically perform to their highest level. First and foremost is to ensure good information flow, up, down, and across the organization. Keep people informed. Empower them to make changes needed. In order to do that, they must be adequately trained and trusted. That means get to know them and work with them.

People need to have meaningful work, which provides them with satisfaction of doing something worthwhile. The work must be enjoyable and provide opportunities to take pride in the outcome. The work should be aligned with the workers personal values.

The next element is to develop the workforce. The people must be enabled to do excellent work. Good professional training is always a necessity for good performance but one of the first budgets to be cut in periods of belt tightening is always training. Worker-training-worker is not the answer as can be demonstrated by the old game of whispering something into the ear of a string of people and asking them to pass it on to the next person. What comes out at the end has little relevance to what was whispered to the first person. Similar distortions occur with the worker-training-worker concept.

With the rapid advancements happening in the world today, people need to be continually learning. It can happen inside or outside the organization, in-person or distant, or by mentoring. How the learning takes place doesn’t really matter as long as learning is constant. Individuals should be counseled to identify their next position and training and education provided to prepare them.

The third element of workforce effectiveness is management. Clear direction of the desired outcome of the work must always be remembered. There are two parts to communication, sending and receiving. Using two of our senses is also key to communication, whenever possible, provide written form and oral explanation. The manager needs to practice active listening and to reinforce desired behavior with positive feedback. Trust and respect is absolutely essential, up, down, and across the organization so it needs to always be on the mind of the manager.

The managers’ main role is to innovate and improve capable processes that enable the workforce to take pride and satisfaction in their work. The workers role is to do the best they can within those processes.

By constantly focusing on improving engagement, development, and management, a more productive, happier, and satisfied workforce will result.

Teams That Get Results

Why is it that some teams get results effectively and efficiently and others just waste our time? Could it be that they are organized? Could it be that they have a process? Could it be that they have effective leadership? Could it be that they share a mutual responsibility to act professionally and are focused on moving toward desired results? Probably all of the above.

The potential for great achievements lies within the grasp of all organizational teams. There is no doubt that several brains are better than one. Our history of autocratic management styles, organization charts, and past experiences have led us to rely on the brains of a few to make decisions for the many. The reality today is that work is so complex that no one is smart enough to make all those decisions. Leaders may determine some decisions independently, but often we benefit by using a team to develop direction or solutions to problems.

Teams that work usually exhibit characteristics such as:

·      Identifying a clear and strong purpose and direction

·      Members are selected based on complimentary skills rather than popularity. Team efficiency goes down as the number of members increase so an upper limit of eight members is ideal. Special resources can be brought as needed but need not be regular members of the team.

·      Exhibit team discipline and structure

·      Identify acceptable behavior guidelines

·      Identify clear mission oriented tasks and goals

·      Welcome different perspectives and face facts

Time is critical and non-renewable for all teams in today’s workplace so clearly defined roles are important. They are:

·      Member. Each member shares the responsibility for the team’s success. Ground rules reflect the team’s agreed-to values and serve as guidelines for team member behavior.

·      Leader. In high-performance teams, each member is in a very real sense a leader; the environment of participation and openness created allows members to contribute leadership to the total team effort. When teams are structured with a formal leader role, it is the responsibility of that designated leader to help create this kind of environment. The leader’s role during meetings includes:

o   Challenge the team to clarify its purpose, objectives, and timeline.

o   Help the team define the methods/process to be used

o   Deal with conflicts by focusing on objective/purpose

o   Encourage the group to challenge conventional thinking

o   View members as partners, not as subordinates

·      Facilitator (may or may not be the leader). The facilitator helps to ensure balanced participation while keeping the group focused on its agenda and purpose. The facilitator maintains objectivity and neutrality on the content of group discussions. He/she also challenges the team to confront difficult issues and helps them become unstuck when they get mired down.

·      Scribe. The scribe maintains an ongoing record of each meeting and shares with all members

·      Timekeeper. In collaboration with the group, the timekeeper determines the beginning and ending time for each meeting and also for each agenda item. It is the responsibility of all team members to monitor their own behavior in ways that show respect for time. However, the timekeeper may serve as the “time conscience” for the team.

Teams outperform individuals acting alone or in large organizational settings, especially when multiple skills, experiences, and/or judgment are required. None of us is smarter than all of us, especially if we are organized and work effectively together.

Tenets to Live By

Just as business organizations need Operating Principles to guide behavior of employees, individuals benefit with a documented set of principles, developed by them, for them. As we journey through our career and personal life, we need beliefs and principles to guide us through challenging times and good times. Following are tenets, which I have found helpful. They may not be right for you; they are simply the ones I try to follow.

Stay Active. Satisfy your inherent need to feel worthwhile by striving to pay back to society for all the blessings you have received. The alternative is to atrophy and die.

Strive toward your ultimate Aim in life in every aspect-career, social, family, and financial. Identify what you hope to achieve and make every decision toward that aim.

Genuinely Care about others. Practice the Golden Rule as a matter of habit.

Be Dependable. Others need to be able to rely on your words and actions.

Be Enthusiastic. Norman Vincent Peale published a wonderful book on this subject titled Enthusiasm Makes the Difference. People gravitate toward those who exhibit enthusiasm and want to help and work with them. Enthusiasm and confidence rub off on others.

Be a Friend to others and your group of friends will multiply. Stephen Covey said we need to start inside out, in other words, start with our own behavior and we will receive what we sow.

Be Honest with others and most of all, with yourself. Surveys reveal that the most important trait of the best bosses people have ever worked for is always honesty.

Be a Leader. If you want to get ahead in life, you need to get ahead of the pack. Leaders lead! Have the self-confidence and courage to innovate.

Be a good Listener. Communication has two parts, sending and receiving. Make sure you are listening at least half the time in any setting. We learn by listening, not talking.

Persevere in your undertakings. Tenacity is a common trait of successful people.

Be Positive. You tend to get what you expect in life. Optimism does not cost any more and makes you much happier.

Take Pride in everything that you do. We have an inherent need to be proud of our achievements, those around us, and most of all, ourselves.

Develop mutual Trust and Respect throughout all of your circles; business, family, volunteer work, and social settings. Do not be a critic; criticism drives wedges and makes one unpopular.

Stay true to your Faith, whatever it might be.  We all need a rudder to keep us true to our desired direction.

You may wish to develop your own list of tenets, print them out, and review them often.