Continuous Improvement Archives - Better Process Solutions

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.

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!

Daily & Events CI

What are the characteristics of a kaizen facilitator?

Kaizen events are an integral part of the continuous improvement culture. The success of those events depends on many factors, such as the characteristics of the kaizen facilitator. This person is responsible for leading the event, among other things. Experience leading events and continuous improvement knowledge are not the only characteristics that a facilitator needs. What are the characteristics of a kaizen facilitator?

Characteristics of a kaizen facilitator

Whether you are looking to hire or contract, the following are most haves’ characteristics. The facilitator must be courageous. In other words, a person who is comfortable having difficult conversations and asking tough questions. While being brave in the name of the event’s success, a coach is respectful and supportive.

Whether you are looking to hire or contract, the following are most have characteristics. The facilitator must be courageous. In other words, a person who is comfortable having difficult conversations and asking tough questions. While being brave, a coach is respectful and supportive.

Communication is another soft skill that is critical for success. The ability to convey information in a clear, simple, and concise way. A person who practices active listening and can do so with people of different levels in the organization or levels of education. If they cannot explain something in simple words, it will not translate knowledge effectively. Explain something complicated without too many technical words is an elusive skill for many.

Emotional intelligence skills are another characteristic of a kaizen facilitator

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and those around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence recognize and understand their feelings and how they can affect other people. The emotionally intelligent person is skilled in four areas: identifying emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and regulating emotions.

A facilitator must motivate, make others feel comfortable, overcome challenges, and manage conflict. Therefore, the ability to understand and manage their emotions to influence others in positive ways is critical. Social skills such as interpersonal relationships with empathy, compassion, and humility are essential for this job. With them, the facilitator will be coaching others to learn and be their best self.

For instance, understanding human psychology and change management are key to influence people and drive a successful event. An honest and trustworthy individual who gives people credit for their ideas will navigate through the challenges of the event with greater chances of success.

A facilitator must have technical skills

A continuous improvement facilitator without technical skills and lean knowledge is not a good bet. Knowledge about continuous improvement and proven practical experience is non-negotiable. Moreover, problem-solving, time management, organization skills, and team building are also crucial. An energetic and passionate about continuous improvement person is the ideal driver for the cultural transformation from traditional to continuous improvement, one kaizen at a time.

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.

Daily & Events CI

Facilitators, their role in a kaizen event

A kaizen facilitator has various tasks to complete, for example keep the team focus, engaged, and energized.

Various roles are critical for a successful continuous improvement event. One of those roles is the event facilitator. He or she is responsible for leading the event, but that is not the only responsibility.

What are the responsibilities of the facilitator?

Most of the time, the facilitator is also the kaizen or continuous improvement event planner. As an event planner, they organize and prepare all the activities related to the event. For instance, the facilitator works with the event leaders to establish the scope of the event and develop the charter. Also, they identify and gather resources and materials while keeping everything under budget.

During the event, the facilitator has a couple of responsibilities that can make or break the activity. A CI event requires a good coach that guides the team by asking questions. Through these questions, he or she helps the team to see and approach problems using lean thinking. In other words, participants learn lean thinking by doing it.

While executing the different steps of the event, the use of CI tools is common. Because not all team members know those tools, they learned them from the teacher or facilitator. This means that during the event, they develop team skills.

Keep the team motivated

Unfortunately, not everything always goes as planned. Sometimes, participants do not show interest or lose focus during the event. When that happens, it is time to put on a different hat. This time the facilitator will act as a motivator and cheerleader. Accepting change is never easy. Therefore, people need to understand the purpose of the event. Furthermore, why they are participating in the event and what is in there for them.

Even when event participants know those things, keeping them motivated and engage in the activities is a tall order. A good facilitator will take time to learn about their audience before the action starts. Knowing ahead how they learn better and their learning type will go a long way to keep them motivated.

Some parts of a continuous improvement or kaizen event can be bored. Not everybody enjoys sitting in a room for hours or analyze information. The facilitator needs to work hard to keep those individuals engaged and energized. A way to do this is to acknowledge those challenges and the accomplishment of milestones during the activity. Celebrate those accomplishments as all small wins. Keep the audience active by incorporating exercises and having them assisting you in some parts. For example, participants can help as scribers.

Facilitators also manage conflict

Another situation that is inevitable when we are dealing with change is conflict. Some people will be more open than others to accept change or participate in activities that lead to change the status quo. Those groups may disagree on the causes or solutions. When that happens, the facilitator acts as a mediator to help those groups to reach a consensus.

There are a few other things that can cause some trouble. For instance, when technology fails, it must pivot and adjust the training to the new circumstances. The same happens when the original training plan is not working.

Help the team succeed is the most important job of the facilitator

The event facilitator’s most important job is to help the team succeed. Teaching and coaching while focusing on the kaizen’s objective is a critical part of that job. Also, to remove any obstacles to learning and keep the group energized. Motivate and show respect by focusing your attention on whoever is sharing an idea or commenting on a subject. Celebrate small wins and praise teamwork and collaboration. In other words, create a positive and safe environment that invites people to participate and be the best they can be!

Daily & Events CI

Lean champions, who are they?

Every activity, movement, or new initiative needs advocates, people that support and promote the cause. Continuous improvement or lean is not the exception. The journey to transform the company will be easier if you have lean champions in your team.

Why you need them?

As we plan the continuous improvement rollout, we spend a lot of time on how to earn the trust of our employees. During previous years, most of the staff changed. At the time the plant changed its business operation model, many people retired. For that reason, we hired new supervisors and managers. The concern of the most senior members of the staff was that people could have trust issues.

Accept changes is never easy, especially when you tell people with an average of 22 years on the job that they will learn new ways to do it. Knowing all the changes from the previous year, how could they trust that we were not trying to fire people? Our lean coach suggested identifying team members known for being natural leaders to help. People feel at ease with trusted leaders. Therefore, they come into the conversation with less apprehension. An advocate that is considered trustworthy by the team is the best way to gain their attention.

What are lean champions?

A lean champion is an advocate for the continuous improvement journey. He or she knows the tools and helps others to use them. Moreover, they promote lean thinking not only with words but with their actions. In general, they will work closely with their coworkers to identify areas for improvement. Also, they will guide and support the implementation of improvement ideas. Most of the time, champions know the process very well and have experience in different functions. That experience helps them to ask the right questions and guide their coworkers to learn. However, it is not critical to be a subject matter expert.

This group is more than promoters for the lean cause. They will assist in continuous improvement events or even facilitate them. Of course, they will need a coach to learn the ropes of the trade before going solo.

Lean champions may have different levels of experience, education, and qualifications. People with previous continuous improvement experience are candidates to be champions. However, not having experience in lean is not a deterrent to being a champion. After all, continuous improvement is not about using tools but about the people and their learning experience. For that reason, there are some characteristics or traits that have more weight than knowing the tools.

What are the characteristics of the lean champions?

Attitude and communication skills are among the most meaningful characteristics of members of this group. They are positive people with the ability to adapt, avid learners, and enjoy helping others. Their communication skills are above average. They can express ideas and simply and clearly. Also, they can adapt their communication to different audiences.

Honesty, integrity, consistency, and empathy are critical character traits for members of this group. Champions do what they say and have no problem admitting they don’t know something. Of course, they have a strong will to succeed. But also, they can cope with challenges and setbacks. The ability to step back for a second to see the big picture and reflection as a learning tool is part of their skills.

Lean champions don’t need to have any leadership positions. The best I worked with were team members with a strong desire to learn and contribute to the company’s success. Also, they have their egos under control and value the power of teamwork and collaboration. These people don’t look to be in the spotlight at all times, although they feel comfortable doing it.

Tools

5S every day, not just once a month!

A colleague who works in logistics is responsible for two warehouses in the same city. Both sites have been implementing 5S. One of them has been successful, while the other is not. He asks me how it is possible to have different results. Although both locations received the same training and support, their implementation approach was different. Only one of those teams was practicing 5S every day.

Change behaviors to do 5S every day

Have you ever tried to lose weight? How well did it go? I tried many times with no sustainable results until I learn what I was doing wrong. Each time I failed; I was following a diet. I treated my weight loss as individual events with a common goal. However, healthy eating is for every day, not for special occasions. It wasn’t until I change my eating habits that were able to lose weight for good.

Like with weight loss, 5S will not be successful until people build new behaviors. Get used to putting things back in their place immediately after use takes time. After all, it’s easier to leave things where you last used them. The problem is to remember where that was. For sustainable results, you have to change that behavior by creating new habits.

5S is an activity to practice every day, throughout the day. Before launching the program, leadership needs to agree on how to achieve the fifth S, sustain. The effort requires the participation of all site leaders. Everybody needs to walk the workplace every day to verify cleanliness and organization conditions. If shadow boards have empty spots, it means that tools are out of place. If the material is missing from their allocated staging floor areas, it means that material is missing. For instance, those examples represent future problems, either searching time or delays.

How to create the habits

While setting up the materials and equipment, work on how to create new habits. Ask the team how they could trigger the desired response. Once they finish work, what will trigger putting the tools or equipment back on their location.

For example, empty printer cartridges go inside a labeled box in the office supply room. However, some people throw them in the trash or leave them in their office or cubicle. To build the habit, add how to dispose of the cartridge as part of the instructions to change it. Also, include what the trigger would be for this action. For instance, a good time would be the completion of the printer testing. After confirmation that the printer is working, take the old cartridge to its designated location. The problem is that most people would decide to move it to a location later. And then, they don’t remember.

Sometimes, people convince themselves that it is better to put things back in their place at the end of the shift. Ask questions to understand why they think that way. Where they leave them throughout the day? Are there any safety hazards? Are they wasting time searching for them? Maybe the designated area is not the best. By working with the team to understand their reasons and creating a plan together, sustainability will have a better chance.

At times, like in the printer cartridge example, it makes sense to compromise. For example, have a mailbox by the door or entrance. They see it while walking out, take it, and move it to its place.

After launching the program, sustain it with 5S every day

That is the difference between the warehouse teams. One group completed all the kick-off event preparation in detail. After that, they completed the first three steps, leaving the areas with temporary marks. They planned to test locations and quantities before making them permanent. The problem is the responsible parties never follow-up. At that time, those temporary marks became permanent. And then, when things didn’t go as planned, people were discouraged to continue.

At the same time, the other team follows similar planning and initial execution steps. The only difference was that as part of their plan, they agreed on triggers for 5S activities. The senior supervisor and his team had on their leader standard work a daily 5S walk. They also had a board where they mark their visits and top three observations. This information was part of the daily huddle meetings. Also, the leadership group makes a point to acknowledge at least one positive comment every day. That simple action helps to enforce the desired behavior. For instance, supervisors celebrate each program milestone and recognize groups or individuals that achieve their 5S goals.

Forklift operators and clerks have their triggers for 5S activities as well. For example, lunch break is one of the triggers for the operators. With this one, they know it is time to park and charge their truck in one of the designated spaces.

By identifying what will signal the start of each 5S task, the group initiates to build the habit of doing 5S every day, all day. This way, their program for housekeeping and organization became a daily activity. They created new behaviors to ensure sustainability. For the other warehouse, it happens only when the warehouse was a mess or visitors were coming.

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.

Daily & Events CI

Kaizen event do’s and don’ts, behaviors for success.

The ten ground rules for practicing continuous improvement events exist to ensure the right environment to encourage participation exists. Therefore, is the job of the event facilitator to set clear expectations about following those rules. It is also their job to steer the group in the direction. Effective facilitators know how to guide the team and get results creating a positive and high-energy environment. They do that by encouraging and motivating the right behaviors. Let’s summarize them with the continuous improvement or kaizen event do’s and don’ts.

Kaizen event do’s and don’ts for Success

Keep the momentum on your CI event

Through the kaizen event, the facilitator teaches team members how to think lean and identify waste. For instance, the team will learn by doing. While they go through the event process, the team learns and uses tools to analyze the current state. Using lean thinking they will question the status quo and will learn how to see things differently.

To keep momentum, the event facilitator keeps asking questions. He or she builds upon the team’s ideas and concerns to challenge the status quo. Maybe, asking questions is the facilitator’s most important job. In other words, questions are the vehicle to guide the team to discover their solution. Through questioning with respect, they learn how to challenge the status quo.

Kaizen event do’s and don’ts, one more don’t

Also, to keep momentum on your CI journey I have one more Don’t for you. Do not engage in an event that is not aligned with your business goals. Through events, you are targeting those big gaps between the goals and the current state. Before you start planning the event, ask Do these activities help the business to achieve its goals? If the answer is no, then find another subject for your event.