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Leader Standard Work Challenges, what are and how can you overcome them?

LSW enable leaders to transform the culture, develop the team, and keep them on track to achieve the site goals. What are and how can you overcome the leader standard work challenges?

Leader standard work is a powerful tool for focusing on those activities and behaviors that transform the culture, develop the team, and keep them on track to achieve the site goals. Also, it is helpful to drive continuous improvement. However, creating the LSW is easy, but using it every day is not. This critical tool for leaders at all levels entails various challenges. What are and how can you overcome the leader standard work challenges?

Leader Standard Work Challenges

Months after the leader standard work deployment, we used a short survey to learn about the experience. We wanted to know what went well and the challenges. The top challenge identified was the habit of using the tool daily.

Another challenge mentioned was the lack of noticeable improvements in their daily workload. For instance, they did not feel they were engaging in less firefighting. The third challenge indicated is the frustration in identifying what type of behaviors support the site goals. Moreover, to recognize the difference between behaviors and tasks.

How to overcome those challenges

Leader standard work will not strive unless you use it. To build the habit of using it, new users should use the following building habit tricks.

The formation of every habit has three steps, a trigger, the routine, and the reward. The practice you are pursuing starts with the trigger. The reward can be a feeling, like the satisfaction of helping others to develop and grow. The brain needs to know the prize of the new routine. That piece of information is critical to do something effortlessly, without thinking.

You need to identify what will trigger the review of the LSW. Experts say that the best way to form a new habit is to tie it to an existing one. Look for patterns at the start of your day, and think about how you can use your current routine to create new ones. For instance, if the first thing you do in the morning is to read your emails, let that be your trigger. Now when you think about reading emails, you will review your LSW first.

Even though reviewing the standard once a day is not enough, start with this and then add more times later. Many believe the best way to build a habit is to start small and gradually improve. To increase your chances of success, you can use electronic reminders on your email, calendar, or cell phone.

Standard Work and Leader Standard Work Challenges

Leader standard work enables leaders to support the work of others. Lack of clarity between the value-added activities that support the site objectives, culture transformation, and team development affects its effectiveness. Therefore, it is critical to understand that LSW needs standard work and vice versa.

While building the LSW, start with listing your site and personal performance goals. The second step is to list the tasks and behaviors to support their achievement. Build this list as part of the LSW workshop right before the implementation. Do we have standard work (SW) for those activities? For example, do we have SW for Gemba walks, and how to conduct effective 1:1 meetings to support growth? If the answer is no, it is paramount to create those standards before asking people to do the work.

When the appropriate systems are not in place, LSW turns into frustration. A process to identify the need, develop, create, and improve SW will enable the power of continuous improvement. The use of PDCA for this process reduces problems along with RCA will provide the support needed to do more improvements and less firefighting.

Creating capabilities and leadership behaviors

The foundation of a culture of continuous improvement is respect, appreciation for the employees, and clarity. To build a CI culture, active listening, effective two-way communication, and coaching are necessary. A leader’s work is to act and coach their direct reports to act in a way that supports the new culture.

Identify those behaviors that support or promote communication, listening, collaboration, caring, and other values identified by the company. List them and share them as part of the LSW implementation. Be clear about the relationship between behaviors and company values.

To change the focus from firefighting to continuous improvement, leaders need to develop their team to do the same. Coaching and participation in problem-solving are examples of activities to create those capabilities. While performing those activities, leaders should practice behaviors such as respect, patience, resilience, persistence, and curiosity. If the boss is not afraid to try new things, learn from failures, and keep trying, the team will do the same.

Leader Standard Work Challenges, every day, all-day

Changing the mindset from command and control to coaching requires practice. It is imperative to guide people with a clear, inspiring and shared vision of the future. Talk the talk, but most importantly, walk the talk. A voice without action does not help gain the trust of your employees. With LSW, leaders have a comprehensive guide to work on daily, focusing on what is critical for the business’s success. Successful use of it only comes with practice. Recognize the biggest pitfall of the LSW implementation and avoid them with complete training, follow-up, and further improvements.

Tools

How do you identify all the steps in the value stream?

The value stream is all the steps required to bring a product or service from order to delivery. The first lean principle is to define value from the customer’s point of view. The second is to identify all the steps in the value stream and eliminate waste. How do you determine those steps?

Identifying the steps in the value stream

A value stream map (VSM) represents the flow of materials and information required to bring a product or service from order to delivery. You identify value-add activities using the customer’s lenses as a reference. This visual representation helps to accomplish the goal of eliminating waste within and between processes.

The first step is to determine the scope and form the team to draw the map. You need to decide the boundaries of the VSM event to be clear about what process you will be working on. A process can start with the suppliers or the customer’s request. Similarly, it can end with the end of the process at the site or the delivery to the customer.

In general, during the VSM event the team will complete the following steps.

Determine the process family.
Draw the current state map.
Determine and draw the future state map.
Draft a plan to arrive at the future state.

Benefits of the value stream map

Drawing a VSM enables a high-level view of the process, which uncovers where the stream stops. Many times this map is the first time that people see the entire process from start to finish. Therefore, it brings clarity to what happens between departments and the challenges associated. For instance, it helps to see the materials flow and the information management as well.

The conversation around the drawing activity promotes discussions regarding efficiency, resources, and individual processes themselves. The depiction of the process crosses departmental lines, which breaks silo thinking. As a result, teamwork and collaboration drive the brainstorming process seeking improvement ideas. Furthermore, it conveys the flow of action plans to execute those ideas.

Another word about identifying the steps

Drawing the map is not the objective or the most meaningful thing of the VSM. What matters is the thinking process to identify the process steps and identify the value of each one. Moreover, the conversations around the subject, the collaboration within departments, and the clarity to see the opportunities for improvements.

In the next post, I will write more about the steps to draw the value stream map.

Leadership & Team Development

Using reflection to learn

You can use reflection to learn from your mistakes.

Do you remember the last time you felt defeated? How did you feel after making a mistake? Perhaps you felt angry, upset, or fearful. How did you react? What did you do after that mistake? The way you respond during the heat of the moment is significant. However, what you do after, is what is even more critical. In continuous improvement, we use reflection to learn from our mistakes.

Get in the habit of analyzing your mistakes.

I read an article from Justin Bariso regarding an online course he took from Garry Kasparov. Kasparov is a chess strategist who uses reflection to learn from his mistakes. Bariso indicated in this article that there is one lesson from Kasparov that stands out. The lesson is that to improve at anything, you must get in the habit of analyzing your mistakes.

He recommends that the next time you commit a blunder, you should take some time to analyze it. The analysis should start with asking yourself the following questions.

Why did I react the way I did?
What may I have misunderstood or have gotten wrong, especially in the heat of the moment?
What would I change if I could do it again?
What could I say to myself next time that would help me think more clearly?

Why using reflection to learn from your mistakes?

Making mistakes is part of our lives. For that reason, we better learn how to deal with them. When you are a leader, it is paramount to learn from those mistakes. Moreover, to learn from the way we reacted to those mistakes.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and those around you. EI skills are a characteristic of good leaders and kaizen facilitators. The reason is that people with a healthy amount of EI recognize their feelings and learn how to react to them. Also, they understand how those feelings can affect other people.

In a continuous improvement culture, you achieve your goal, or you learn. There is no losing, and a reflection is a learning tool. Kasparov’s provided a guide to learn from your emotions. The answer to those questions will help you understand why you reacted that way and how you could do it differently next time. This reflection will help to learn more about yourself and how you deal with your emotions. Your top job is to guide and support your team. Knowing your mental state will support your efforts to motivate and keep your team engage in the continuous improvement process.

Using reflection to learn from your mistakes and emotions

The truth is that reflecting upon your emotions is also a tool to guide your growing process. It does not have to stop with our feelings after making a mistake. I found that in our quest to be better human beings, it helps to learn how we react to some situations.

For instance, we can learn to understand and deal with impatience, fear, anger, sadness, and others. Moreover, why do we feel joy and happiness from some activities? In conclusion, through reflection, we can evaluate and learn from our mistakes and feelings. Both things will help us to be better professionals and human beings.

Leadership & Team Development

How to promote innovation, a must-know for leaders.

Leaders must know to promote innovation and the attitude to never stop exploring, learning, and growing.

Innovation is crucial for the success of any organization. Finding out-of-the-box ways to improve the operation or satisfied your customers can give you a competitive edge over your competitors. Innovation can produce a new product or service. It can also help you to empower your team. Regardless of the purpose, creative thinking is a must. Given the competition out there, leaders need to know how to promote innovation as part of the daily processes.

To promote innovation, develop your team’s skills.

To empower the team, leaders need to ensure they have what they need. How do they know what skills to develop? Some skills, like problem-solving or data visualization, are easy to recognize, but others are not. If you are not sure, go to the best source for this information. Ask your team member what do they need for success? What skills or knowledge do they like to develop? Then, evaluate if the request is reasonable or worth the resources. Finally, approve the request or work with them to find a solution that fits their needs and aligns with the company goals.

Create a safe place to learn.

One of the rules for a kaizen event is to create a safe place to learn, voice ideas, and test their hypothesis. A safe environment is fundamental for a learning experience. Employees are more likely to engage in the problem-solving or creative process when they feel safe. Creating such a place is one-way servant leaders show that they care about their team. The absence of fear of losing their job or retaliation is critical for innovation.

Even when there is no fear of losing their job, exposing themselves to failure is a deterrent. Although in continuous improvement, you win or you learn, it feels like a failure if you don’t get what you expected. To change that, leaders will need to step up and model the expected behavior.

Promote innovation modeling the expected behaviors.

They can model them in two different ways. First, they can show how to react when they face failure. Great leaders do not hesitate to show their vulnerabilities. Leaders make mistakes like everybody else. When people see the boss has fears or insecurities about following his ideas but do it anyway, they feel good. It is that aha moment when they realize that their boss is human and feels fear like they do.

The second way to model correct behavior is by demonstrating the expected reaction when things turn out differently than expected. During those times, it is normal to feel defeated or upset. However, it is the reaction to that feeling what counts. Instead of roaming your sadness or anger, good leaders show their team that it is ok not to win all the time. Ask your team how they feel and let them vent their emotions.

After that moment of relief, reset the mindset by showing them how to reflect on the lessons learned. With those learning on hand, adjust the plan and test it. Moreover, show them to never stop exploring, learning, and growing!

Leadership & Team Development

Ask without telling, the art of asking questions

To make good questions and help your team to develop their problem-solving skills, you need to know how to ask without telling.

One thing that everybody does every day is asking questions. We ask questions to learn, clarify doubts, or obtain information. As a leader, you ask questions to learn about a situation. Also, you make questions to guide your team on their learning process. However, are you asking or disguising your solutions as questions? To promote a learning environment, leaders need to ask without telling.

Sometimes a leader needs to tell

Leaders have the responsibility to communicate, set direction, and provide a purpose. To accomplish them, they tell information and share news or concerns with their team. Moreover, there are times when they need to set direction. Sometimes, there is a need to change a strategy or adjust a plan. When that happens, the leader tells the group what the change is and why it is needed. Also, how it will affect them and the new expectations. During these situations, telling is the right thing to do.

Another responsibility of leadership is to teach and coach their team. The objective is to transfer knowledge and create capabilities. While facilitating the learning process, leaders tell new information.

Finally, sometimes leaders need to advise people. It is common to share previous experiences or tell a story to illustrate a point. If that is the case, say what you are trying to do, do not hide it behind questions. The best leaders are humble and compassionate. There is nothing wrong with showing your humanity by using past experiences to illustrate a point.

Why do you need to ask without telling?

A servant leader’s job is to develop more leaders by teaching, motivating, facilitating, and supporting the team. By asking questions without telling, they promote learning. Also, their team’s confidence in their ability to solve problems and create more value grows. As their confidence grows, their participation in the improvement process grows as well.

A critical step to change the culture is to empower the people. While asking questions with respect, leaders guide them to find answers by themselves. By allowing people to use their brains and participate in the daily management processes and innovation, they feel more engaged with their work and happier when they come back home.

How can you ask without telling? How to ask better questions?

When you ask questions that people can answer with a simple yes or no, they don’t put too much effort. Closed questions do not lead to engagement or promote thinking. When you don’t receive answers, the next thing you do is telling people what to do. On the other hand, with open questions, people need to think. Use the 5W and 1H to ask questions. That is, reframe your questions using who, what, where, when, why, and how.

To keep the brain’s wheels turning, ask one question at a time and give people time to think. In general, we are not comfortable with silence. Therefore, right after asking something, people jump to tell their answer. To be successful in asking without telling, you will need to become comfortable with silence.

Sometimes it is easier to ask closed questions. Therefore, you would need to stop and think about how to reframe it as an open question. There are two questions that I used often. The first one is, what makes you think that way? or ” What do you think we can do differently?” The second question I often used is, “How do you think we can accomplish that?

Ask without telling that is what we should do.

Contrary to common perception, leaders are not supposed to have all the answers. However, very often, they have ideas or solutions to share with the team. During those times, tell the group that you want to share something with them. You can always tell people, here is a suggestion and then ask how they can improve it. Do not hide answers using questions. Let people think, promote learning and problem-solving skills.

By telling, leadership is not fulfilling their responsibility of teaching and coaching. Once again, this is a stop-and-think situation. Think about your idea, do you have any doubts about it? What parts of it need fine-tuning? Use your doubts or unknown parts to ask open questions.

A continuous improvement culture seeks to foster a learning environment. Servant leaders teach, motivate, facilitate, and support their teams. Show them that you care by helping them to develop their skills and grow. Learning how to ask questions without telling is a way to achieve that.

Leadership & Team Development

Asking good questions, what is the value of it?

By asking good questions the right way, leaders can uncover the root cause of a problem, the later big product, and much more.

One way to build trust in the workplace is to listen. Listening is the most basic way to show respect. Another way is by helping your team to develop their problem-solving skills. To help people to get to the root cause of a problem, asking good questions is critical. Although solving problems is of great value, asking good questions brings more value than that.

Uncover the root cause of a problem and get more

It is necessary to ask comprehensive questions to uncover the root cause of a problem. For example, use open questions to ask what happened, how, and how often. This kind of question makes people think harder before answering. The thinking process may bring with it new ideas and different ways to see things. Moreover, it unleashes the hidden talents of the people.

When people feel that their work is meaningful, they feel better about themselves. Higher self-esteem is part of a good mental health state. Some benefits of good mental health are more clarity of thinking, better mood, and anxiety reduction. People with good mental health also experience an improvement in relationships. That is to say that something that started with someone asking good questions ends up helping not just the team but their family.

Ask good questions to build trust

If leadership often communicates with team members at all levels, they have the chance to create relationships beyond problem-solving exercises. Informal conversations are the perfect vehicle to know the person behind each team member. It is also a chance for those team members to learn the human side of their leaders.

Some leaders are nervous about asking their people for ideas. This hesitance many times comes from the fear of being weak or not worthy of their position. However, when a leader asks for help, it is shows vulnerability which helps to build trust. In other words, they show that they are honest about admitting that they know everything. Also, asking for help Is a sign of modesty. Good leaders are humble and trustworthy.

The value of asking good questions

Asking good questions is a skill that every leader should have. By asking, they help their team develop new skills and learn new ways to do things. Most of the time, those learnings are applicable not just at work but also in other settings. Problem-solving Is one of those skills that are helpful everywhere.

Team members that learn more and participate more from the site decision process through brainstorming and other activities feel better about their jobs. The feeling of being part of a group and have a meaningful job brings the added value of good mental health. An individual with good mental health has better relationships at work and home.

Finally, problem-solving is a team activity. Therefore collaboration, creativity, learning, and trust are added benefits of the idea’s inquiry process. For the business, the value of asking questions Includes better efficiency and lower costs. Above all, it can impact employee satisfaction and retention.

By asking the right questions in the right way, leaders can discover the next big idea for their business, the solution to what stops them from sleep at night, or how to change their company culture. Moreover, they will positively impact their team by helping them to grow.

Culture Transformation Journey

How do you sell the need for continuous improvement?

Know what matter to your team before you start to sell the need for continuous improvement.

This week I was facilitating a workshop for a group of team leaders and supervisors. The subject was managing and sustaining 5S. I asked what their biggest concern is to implement and sustain 5S. Close to 70% of them answer that selling the need for it. How do you sell the need for continuous improvement? How do you get your team to buy in to lean?

Using benefits to sell the need for continuous improvement

The answer of the workshop participants did not surprise me. My experience tells me that they were right on the money. For a long time, I struggle to get the buy-in of the team. It took me years before I realize what I was doing wrong.

During the launching phase, I talked about the benefits of continuous improvement. For example, for a 5S implementation, I mentioned things like better organization, increased productivity, cleaner machines, and no search for tools. But I failed to tell people what was vital for them.

People respond to what matters to them

Unfortunately, sometimes we forget that who we are is an inherent part of everything we do. Our beliefs, values, and life purpose are at the front and center of all our decisions. Even when we don’t realize that we are doing it, those things guide ours thought process.

Talking about how continuous improvement or 5S will benefit the company will not gain their buy-in. Your team needs to know what is in there for them. We would gain their support when they see how this new initiative connects with their needs and who they are. It is our job to find that connection and communicate it to them. To know that, we have to answer a few questions.

What are the most important things for them? – family, community, personal values
What higher purpose they pursue? – fighting climate change, curing cancer
Their personal goals – professional and personal
How do the team feel about their work? – content, frustrated

Answer their questions and concerns to sell the need for CI

Every proposed change will encounter resistance or hesitancy. None of those changes will be sustainable unless the team understands and support them. This statement is true for continuous improvement, 5S, or anything else. Job security gained through increased profits or better customer service is a great selling point. However, maybe it is not connected to their values or emotional needs.

To sell the need to change, you need to understand their goals and what they value. When the team sees the relationship between what matters to them and your proposal, buy-in and sustainability have better chances. Ensure that your communication plan highlights that relationship. Also, answer any other questions and concerns they may have before they voice them.

Culture Transformation Journey

How do you overcome resistance?

Every transformation effort will face resistance. An effective plan can help to overcome most of it.

Every transformation effort will hit the resistance wall sooner or later. In general, in the beginning, your team will be divided following the 20/60/20 rule. The rule states that approximately 20% will be happy to participate, 60% will watch from distance, and another 20% will resist the change.

How to handle resistance with each group

Those who are happy to participate, or at least try, are your golden group. They can help to spread the enthusiasm. The resistance group will actively work as roadblocks. They will oppose every idea and maybe even try to convince people to stop or delay progress.

Focus your efforts on the 60% group. With the right transformation plan, you can influence this group and have them participating in the transformation. Treat the first group as your advocates and helpers. With the participation of these two groups, things will start to get traction. Eventually, they will convince most of the resistance group.

Use the transformation plan to overcome resistance

While there are no magic bullets, an effective plan will help address some situations that cause resistance. For example, explain what will change, the reason for the change, and how it will happen.

A critical part of the transformation is the communication plan. Think who, when, and how to break the news. Start saying why the culture needs to change. Explain the reason to invest time and resources into a conversion of the company mindsets and methods. Be open and honest about those reasons. Also, be transparent about the challenges ahead. Moreover, explain in detail what the goal is, what do you want to achieve. In other words, try to answer all the possible questions before they become a source of resistance.

Build your plan around the team needs

Your team is the most critical resource in the journey from traditional to continuous improvement. Assess the gaps between the skills and knowledge your team need and currently has. Talk about education and training. For instance, cite examples of training needs and how you will close the gap.

Changes are stressful, remove a bit of anxiety by presenting the big picture, a high-level view of the roadmap to success. Present how success looks like, what the expectations are. Monitor the execution of each step of the plan and report back to the team how things are going. Be honest about what is working and what is not. Reflect with the group about lessons learned and celebrate together every win regardless of how big or small.

Your people are the heart of your business, the most valuable asset. When you take care of them, they take care of your customers. Keep the focus on providing them all the support and guidance they need throughout the transformation. Listening to their concerns and act upon those things that you can improve is critical for a successful transformation.

Daily & Events CI

Improvement suggestions program, what is it?

A solid foundation of employee involvement activities is critical to achieving the continuous improvement goals. One of those elements is the improvement suggestions program.

What is an improvement suggestions program?

An employee suggestion program gives your employees a formal way to express their ideas to improve the processes of the workplace conditions. Also, it is a way to channel those ideas from the work floor to management.

A well manage suggestion plan serves two purposes. The first is to formalize the suggestions process. The second is to provide documentation of individual contributions. With the former, leadership can prioritize ideas aligned with the company goals. The ladder provides documentation for the year-end performance review.

Are you ready to lunch this program?

Why do you want to lunch an improvement suggestions program? If you want to check a box from your to-do list, do not do it. Are you receiving a steady number of suggestions? If ideas are not flowing from employees to supervisors and managers, maybe you are not there yet. On the other hand, if enthusiasm is growing and team members are communicating ideas constantly, it is time to launch your suggestions program.

Characteristics of an improvement suggestions program

But the improvement suggestions program is much more than a suggestions box. Above all, careful design of the process is important. For instance, the following are factors that describe a successful suggestions plan.

Hassle-free process – Make it easy to participate by providing a simple suggestions form.
Clear and fair rules – Same rules for everybody, explain how you would assign a value or impact to the results of the estimated improvements. Moreover, explain the rewards and recognition system tied to the suggestions propositions and results. Also, establish guidelines for the type of topics open to suggestions and how ideas are prioritized.
Quick feedback – Establish a standard, such as responding to suggestions within one week. Even more, create the standard for what information should be included in the response and how the feedback will be provided.
Program promotion and evaluation – Check how the system is doing versus the standards and look for areas for improvement. Furthermore, create a measuring or evaluation system and publish the results. For example, the total number of suggestions and participation percentage

Don’ts

A badly designed program will hurt your continuous improvement transformation. Once it loses credibility it will be undertaken to win it back. Put simply, avoid hurting the continuous improvement journey and the business bottom-line. The following are mistakes that should avoid.

Create a complicated form requesting too much information.
Take too much time to answer, don’t be the bottleneck of the process!
Have a homogenous evaluation team, include people from different functions and levels.
Fail to follow the program rules.

Summary

Team involvement activities are critical to achieving improvement goals in the areas of quality, cost, and delivery. For that reason, their engagement is decisive to achieve the continuous improvement goals. Certainly, it is important to create and maintain a fair and simple program that motivates participation.

Culture Transformation Journey

Buy-in and support from leadership is key for changes

buy-in and support is key for cultural transformation from traditional to lean

The business owner or top leader leads the change in company culture from traditional to continuous improvement. However, to achieve it, he or she needs the buy-in and support of the leadership team. That condition is one of the key elements for the continuous improvement success.

How to gain the buy-in and support

The first step in this journey is to get the support of your leadership team. Start explaining why the change is necessary. Be honest and provide data to support your intention. Also, communicate the purpose of the transformation. What do you want to achieve? Explain the process you will follow to achieve the goal.

Be clear about the expectations through the journey. Provide the team with a top-level explanation. For example, explain expected behaviors, like showing respect, learning, and teaching new skills.

These conversations are an excellent place to start modeling those behaviors. For instance, show how to do active listening and be patient. You and your team will go through the same learning experience. It is ok not knowing and be vulnerable. Your clarity and honesty regarding the reasons are a good selling point, but the best will be the fact that you will participate along with them on this journey. It is much more difficult not to try to do something when the boss is willing to try first.

What is in it for them?

Present the team the benefits of a continuous improvement culture. a couple of gains are more engaged employees and less turn-over rate. A stable and motivated workforce means more brains thinking in solutions. Therefore, leadership would have more time to engage in strategy rather than firefighting.

Another benefit is creating a learning enterprise where the entire team works together to provide better services or products. As a result, the company could grow to expand to new markets. Another possibility is to offer new products or services.

But also talk about the challenges ahead. Prepare the group to have setbacks and frustrations. The continuous improvement journey is about changing behaviors and attitudes engrained in the company’s soul. That task is not easy. Neither is to learn and teach at the same time. By doing this, leaders will feel vulnerable, and that is again everything they know. But, if you are willing to do it, they should be as well.

Buy-in and support leads to collaboration

The journey to transformation starts with explaining the need to change. As the top leader, you are responsible for aligning purpose, process, and people. Your job is to provide clear information and answer questions. Also, to listen, provide direction, teach, coach, and remove barriers.

Remove barriers means provide resources and make high-level decisions. Unfortunately, it also means letting go of those leaders who are not willing to change their behavior. Of course, that would be the last alternative after trying to change their minds.

With a clarity of purpose, process, and intentions, the team should be ready to start working together in this adventure. Share with them the key elements for a successful continuous improvement or lean implementation. Those elements are building blocks for the new work environment. For instance, knowing them from the beginning could help to understand the journey ahead.