Friday, October 29, 2010

Sharing "Key Learning points" from my class participants!


I will again apologize for my delays in posting; I am on the road weekly in hopes of helping various companies on their Lean Journey!! Wanted to share with you a great moment in one of my classes this week!

I had the pleasure this week of working with a Company on their "Lean Journey" and would consider them, like many, a Brownfield plant. As John Shook wrote in his latest newsletter to LEI subscribers --- Brownfield's are great opportunities to have an actual GEMBA (work area) to GO and SEE and get the facts. Greenfield situations can often lead to assumptions because the GEMBA may not be evident yet.

I did an exercise during my 2 day session there that I felt opened my eyes, as well as the participants in the class. They were able to see just how much they learned and how each person internalized a specific/different concept from the class. I gave each person 2 post-it notes and asked them to write down 2 concepts/key points they picked up from class over the past 2 days we have covered. For me, this was a "grasping of the situation" as the instructor, and for them; they can see a quick snapshot of others thoughts internalized from the class. Here is the list below; I put numbers by the ones that were mentioned more than once.

To get "Buy-in" with countermeasure implementation- 1


Use the 360 degree communication (Team, Supervisor-Stakeholder)- 2


Not jump straight to a countermeasure or blaming people first -3


Communicate the What - How - and Why to team members- 2


Ask more questions at the Gemba-4


Go to the Gemba-6


Gather info (facts) first before making decisions


DAMI (Define-Achieve-Maintain-Improve) process


Be a better Servant Leader-1


Use the Criteria Matrix for countermeasure selection


Think through the steps not just react (assumption)


Ask What should be happening? vs What is currently happening? more often


Use the Breakdown Tree for Root Cause analysis (5 why) - 3


Practice the A3 with Root cause analysis -2


Ask more questions at the process (where work is being done)


Coach, instead of manage, by asking the right questions


Get team member involvement/engagnemnt on the left side of the A3 to get better buy in on the right side


Work with measurable to the KPI's (Key Performance Indicators- ie Quality, Saftey, Productivity, Cost)


Get the facts not perceptions/assumption/preconceived notions about the problem


Gather deeper info about the problem (how to frame)


Don't spend a lot of time trying to make it perfect the first time


Ask questions


Use the Line of Sight Activity (Activity that helps align a worker's daily activities to the Company Business Plan improving the KPI's) --this is at every level of the Organization.

After looking at this, I said to myself "Wow, if each one of you go back and use/implement the "2" concepts you listed, look what you can accomplish as a Company in changing their culture!!! It was a nice moment for me and the Company which I feel gave them some empowerment to make a difference. It's amazing to visualize on a flipchart what all participants grasped from the training. Each one of them, in my opinion selected what might be most helpful in their situation and also I think you can also factor in learning preferences. I guess the essence of the exercise was to say-- It takes "you" to make the first change that has the ripple-effect in your company. It's up to you to make it a disclipline!!

Until next time,
thetoyotagal
Tracey Richardson