An age old problem Your staff aren’t really working the way you want them to, results are at best average, engagement is low. The age old solution to the age old problem is measures: “give them real measures that mean something to them, it will motivate them to perform better” Will it? What does a […]
Top 10 Process Mapping Sins
Not being clear on the scope: how will you know when to stop? Not gaining buy in: whose back yard are you digging in? Not explaining what you are doing: at best staff will be suspicious, at worst they will turn nasty. (Positioning your work as a cost saving initiative is not going to help […]
Silver Bullets
We have a fascination with big bets, wholesale system change, outsourcing deals, new facilities. We are rewarded for thinking strategically and pulling the big leavers; consequently we are always looking for silver bullets, the one change that will make everything more efficient. All operations are big machines that deal with materials, customers, employees and products. […]
What Can You See?
The manufacturing guys have a neat trick It is called an “Ohno circle”. They paint them on the floor at different points in factories and then the team leader stands in the circle with a clip board for 30 minutes, writing down everything that he can see that doesn’t work. He or she then spends […]
Talk to Me
The more companies I work with the more it becomes apparent that members of staff realise that they are being asked to do wasteful things by their senior managers. They just don’t challenge back. (They are however very adept at bitching about the situation amongst themselves). Managers don’t ask for these wasteful things out of […]