Work Flow & Cash Flow

Not Too Long Ago In An Office Not Too Far Away….

Lean Guy and Money Girl worked around each other, listened to each other and other team managers talk about their current statuses and issues in the Monday 8am meeting every week, but did not really connect the dots between the results they were both trying to achieve individually.  Sure, everyone has gone through the Intro to Continuous Improvement training, the site was 99% compliant to that target.  And the site completes their mandated “3 Kaizens per Year” target easily by the end of the second quarter every year; we are number 1 in the company!

Sound familiar?  While these goals and targets are not bad, do you know why they exist and the purpose they serve?  We spend a considerable amount of time talking about activities that are value-added in a process, but how does this translate into increasing the value of the site or company?

Book Review: The Leader's Compass

A Personal Leadership Philosophy Is Your Key to Success (2nd Edition)

This was a quick read told in a story about a rapidly growing organization, their journey to excellence, and the role that mentors play in the building of people, specifically Leadership.  The story's main characters are Guy, a 29 year old Marketer from Penn State, and Stanley, a retired Naval Officer that is a good friend and neighbor to Guy.  The new leader was 'sort of' put in charge after an acquisition with a new large scale and ill-defined project.  With this acquisition are new team members who are trying to fit in the organization with no information from the boss.

Quality and Acceptability of Solutions

In the past we have explored the difficulty of change.  One concept attributed to General Electric that we can wrap our heads around is Q x A = E.

Q = Quality Level (1-10) of the Solution to Solve the Problem

A = Acceptance Level (1-10) of the Solution in the Organization

E = Effectiveness (0-100) of Deployment of the Change

Transparency

Part Four of the Foundation Thinking Series

The word Transparency has received much attention over the last few years, yet I believe it is misunderstood among those who use it most.  Transparency implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for everyone to see what actions are performed and how decisions are made.  We can see the results of actual Transparency in our Behaviors, Performance, and Values.

And since companies can't actually be accountable, communicate, be open, or exhibit other human behaviors we are really talking about the people in the company.  The people in the organization must have the right behaviors, performance, values, and integrity.  Problems around those issues will not be repaired if they stay in the dark bureaucracy where "people" barriers stop the flow of information.  If people in your organization have integrity problems, you will not like the results of you new-found imperative.

Accountability

Part Three of the Foundation Thinking Series

Accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance, and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences. If you are accountable for the performance of the team, then when things go right it's you who will receive the benefit, but when things go wrong it's you who will receive the blame. When you are accountable you own it, not the last guy.

Leadership

Part Two of the Foundation Thinking Series

According to Ruggero & Haley, Leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, direction and motivation while operating to accomplish the goals and improving the organization.  This means that Leaders are Involved and Active in the Processes.

Let's break this down one piece at a time...

Independence Day 2014

Happy Independence Day to my friends, fans, and followers at home and abroad!  May all your Journeys of Excellence find solid relationships and satisfied repeating customers.

Process Discipline

Part One of the Foundation Thinking Series

In its original sense, Discipline is systematic instruction intended to train a person, sometimes literally called a disciple, in a craft, trade or other activity, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order".  It also involved the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.  "And you will report status every day until it is fixed!"

Then there is Process Discipline and the "Rule of Rules”: Never make a rule that you are not willing to enforce every time. Every time equals consistency. In order to be consistent, therefore, the line between acceptable behavior and unacceptable behavior must be crystal clear. You must know exactly when to act.  Two ways we can cook discipline into our processes are by using standard work and by using a reaction plan in the process control tool.

Can it be any more clear than this??

Excellence is the Journey

And we're all on it together.


Try not to take it too personal.

Process Automation - Control or Inform?

Half the fun of improving processes is coming up with new or better ways to do stuff. One of our biggest opportunities is how we transfer information. This would be moving original documents, reviewing documents, and storing documents.

Information Workflow

Employee Buy-In to the Improvement Plan

As individuals we come up with really good ideas, changes to Products, Processes, and/or People in order to drive higher levels of Performance.  If we find a few people who think like us, the ideas and plans can become very elaborate.  We can hide in our offices or in the Innovation Stations and draw thought maps that would rival the great thinkers of Harvard and Yale.  But when we start implementing we fail to see the change we were looking for, our great ideas are stoned in the middle of the street, and we are ridiculed in front of our peers.

And that did not turn out how we thought it would.... once again.

Shaping the Vision

As we have explored before, change is hard.  It's harder when we don't include decision makers and smart people in the deployment of the vision.  The Captain of the ship points the way and we get to figure out how to get there.  "We" does not mean only the Directors and Senior Managers, it means all of us.  There are oodles of people out there, with skills and abilities that can help plan the change, execute the plan, transform the organization, and assess the results.

As the Captain's Executive Officer (XO), you get to figure out how to take the sometimes lofty statements by the boss and then translate them into what the future looks like for the organization and you are the point person for supporting the teams when the transformation begins.  More than likely you have something to start with, the Vision & Mission Statements, and the boss's lofty statements will typically track along in parallel.  Functionally this means something slightly different for each section of the organization based on how each connects to the main product or service that is provided.

The Correct Way To Draw An Org Chart

We have discussed creating the vision and specifying value in the past, but how do we take our thoughts and dreams on paper to those in the organization that will be going on this journey with us?  Spend some time talking with those teams to explore how they see themselves fitting into the Vision & Mission Statements and what do their metrics say about performance.  When they talk about the "things" they provide for the product or service, are they reflected on your VSM or Strategy Map?

Communicating the Vision

I'm going to presume that if you are in some sort (any sort) of Leadership position, that you have gotten over the fear of public speaking.  This will not be a one-time flash of the power point slide during an all-hands meeting and then you never speak of it again.  It will be discussed until everyone understands and are ready to start moving forward, and part of the conversation will be one where the vision is shaped.

You should discuss it everywhere you go.  Visit all the teams in their stand-up meetings, even if it's at 6am.  If you can put it on one piece of paper, hang the vision in the break rooms and the performance measurement screens on the walls.  Make it part of the company newsletters and create a video discussing the vision and how important it is to the organization.  When you are discussing it, do try to sound a little excited about the journey and the possibilities it will open for everyone.  And let the teams know they are part of this journey because they will be making adjustments to their 4P's also.

Share results with the organization while the transformation is ongoing.  What are the wins, what are the lessons learned, and what has been accomplished?  Reward some team members if you are having an all-hands meeting with the organization.  Instant awards like restaurant gift cards are cheap and easy.  Handwritten thank you notes provide a personal touch not seen today as often.  Award certifications if there are Green Belt or Black Belt certification projects tied to the change.

People want to know what you think about the transformation and if they are doing a good job.  Communication always comes up as a top issue for organizations and some of these ideas can help move you forward along your Lean Transformation.

Lean Roadmap

Roadmaps are handy little things, helping to point the direction while on a journey.  Sometimes they serve to identify markers on the road letting us know how far along we are, or telling us how far to go to the next marker.  The Lean Roadmap provides some general direction to keep our focus forward.  Many times we will not get the results that we want when we pick our favorite concept to launch into first. The steps in this map build upon each other to reach the smooth flow of the moving or pulse line.  Just like most other efforts we start by talking to our customers and finding out what they like, don't like, and what's important (what is value?).  We can make some presumptions about our customers, but we should go talk with them and confirm our beliefs.

Create the Vision

We all know that being able to describe the vision simply or on paper is one of the most important first steps in communicating the vision, and being able to imagine the potential in your organization's operations can put you on the road to good change.  Creating the vision may or may not be aligned with your organization's offerings, and the most important question to answer is "how are we creating value for the customer"?

When we measure Product of the 4P's (People, Process, Product, Performance) we are taking a look at the product performance and customer demand.  The measure of performance should be based on the requirements or the capabilities the product is sold upon.  Customers have expectations about the Product for how it performs today and future enhancements.  Does the vision need the Product to be enhanced?  This is one part of the Vision.  We must also evaluate how our Processes operate, do our People have the skills and abilities for new Products and Processes, and is the Performance good enough to provide the customer the experience that will keep them coming back for more?

Standardize the Flow From Improvements

Once we know where we are going (Future Vision) we need to know where we are starting (Current State) and where is the first marker (Future State).  These are high-level maps and metrics describing the Vision and different States.  These will be used to target improvements in the flows: product flows, work flows, and cash flows.  

Target and reduce the waste and variation.  This is the mantra, this is the drumbeat.  Everything follows a rhythm and this moves the organization to the next level of performance.  Learn from your processes and make changes that can be documented in your SOP's, Policy Statements, and other Work Documentation.  Deploy the new learning across the organization and manage the change reaching higher levels of performance.  Using a Kaizen approach will be faster, and small steps will be required.

Make the Supplies and Information Point-Of-Use

Improving the flows is not only the transformation steps in process, but creating efficient movement of inputs to the process.  Make the material and information inputs easy to find and fast to move.  Ensure this is documented in the new process and that everyone is emotionally and physically on board with the new way.  Implementing 5S concepts in your operations are focused on organizing and not housekeeping.  Organize your material and information in files and on your servers/clients.

Balance the Team

As you make improvement stay aware of bottlenecks in the system.  Comparing cycle time to takt time will assist in determining where the help is needed first.  Continue this analysis as customer demand changes.  Bottlenecks can (and will) move through your system.

Implement Visual Controls and Response

Visual Controls are the metrics, schedule, and constraints posted on the wall or on the displays that the team needs to be aware of.  While we may have the vision that says "no more fire-fighting", there should be some recognition that quick action is sometimes needed.  Having the signals in place that facilitates this planned response is much better than waiting for the boss to find out from an unhappy customer.  This type of system is the foundation of an Employee Empowered Workforce.

Connect Suppliers Using Pull System

Implementing a Pull System is much more difficult and will create much frustration if you have not started improving your flow.  Responding only when the order is received (start signal) should keep cash flow high by not spending those dollars on material and labor that will only increase Work-In-Process (WIP).  High levels of WIP in your system is just half-built product sitting around waiting to be damaged or made obsolete.

Move/Pulse the Line

We can all envision a Moving Line with Lucy and Ethel inspecting and packaging chocolates.  A Pulse Line is one with products that move to the takt time and they have longer cycle times or the cost to automate the transfer is too high.  In the places where our office products are created, we can use electronic workflow queuing to move products and to status completion.  The "Line" is really a collection of interdependent work teams operating to accomplish a series of tasks.  The results are fed back into the Visual Controls and then analyzed for new learning.  Using this method will help us to move to higher and more stable levels of performance.


I hope this encourages you to take another look at Lean Flow and how you may use the tools and techniques to improvement customer satisfaction and employee relationships.

The Power of Mentors

Do you have someone on the team that has been there longer than anyone else and knows the secret path to positive results? Whether we are talking about executive or operational teams, these members have the operational knowledge that the rest of the team needs to be successful. While we cannot connect to the Matrix and download everything they know, we can do something similar that will provide growth for everyone that chooses to participate.

The greatest benefit of using mentors is the transfer of knowledge from an experienced professional to an inexperienced protégé. There may be a basic understanding of what is going on, but it is the old guys who have already made the mistakes that know the nuances of their system. This transfer can only be successful if the receiver is ready for and open to the new information.

I feel some organizations may not have mentoring due to the innovative nature of their work, and how someone “did it” 10 years ago does not matter. That is until ideas began to be built on other ideas and now the organization is forced to document everything or keep someone around that knows the old system. At some point the innovation must move into the mainstream where it can be adapted and replicated.

When I began in my first formal process improvement role, I did not have a mentor and I had to feel my way around in the dark (while making lots of mistakes) until I started doing things right. When it was time to start the mass building of “belts”, I knew that to be successful, those new belts would need some help to get through the process faster. It was a workable system, but I wonder how much more those candidates would have learned if we were not holding their hands the entire time?

As you mentor others, are you directing down the path, or are you asking questions to make the protégé think about and consider the potential impact of decisions? Are they learning enough to walk the journey alone when you are no longer available? We have see the results of this condition when the charismatic leader leaves the organization and performance declines.

Each protégé is a little different and we cannot treat all of them the same. Would Anakin have turned to the dark side if Obi-Wan had not been as cryptic in his approach? Wisdom comes from practice, not from following an old man on some darn fool idealistic crusade. There should be discussion, a decision, execution, and then back to discussion. These conversations can follow a simple formula: what happened, what was supposed to happen, why did it happen, and then how do you respond to the results?

When Good Ideas Go Bad

In my experience, groupthink is a behavior that can sink an improvement project if not caught and stopped early. Groupthink is where there is group pressure to ‘go along’ with the decisions of the group or the beliefs of the group. This can start with ill-defined problem statements, scope, and/or goals, and the team will stay on the wrong path if assumptions are not tested or questioned. Keeping charter information simple and validating the problem statement can go a long way control groupthink. Validation is accomplished through using process timelines or data that is reflective of the problem statement.

Another method to reduce groupthink is to use a balanced functionally diverse team. Members bring their own perspective of the problems and causes to the team and if functional diversity is not present, then the natural group will have the numbers to force their perspective on the other team members. Using balanced teams with one or two members from each function can prevent groupthink.

ummm, no.

My favorite cause of groupthink is when one "expert on everything" arrives and begins to tell everyone how to think. Many will go along to get along because they are afraid of making someone mad or they do not want to be seen as a non-team player or because they are introverts that are uncomfortable speaking up. As a project lead my first method is to take them off to the side and tell them to knock it off. If it continues I have called them out in front of the team, which usually sends them into the stratosphere. If I still do not see the behavior I am looking for I will send them back to their work group and let the boss know that I'm not interested in baby-sitting their problem child. I have not had to do this very often because we use ground-rules for team member behavior that are discussed during the kick-off of the project while everyone's Supervisor, the Project Champion and General Manager are in the room.

This type of behavior can show up at any time during the project whether it is executed through weekly team meetings or kaizen style locked in a room for a week. When the behavior arrives a the end of the week when everyone is tired and ready to go home, the aforementioned expert will begin to implement her solution. Another method to overcome is to provide everyone with a number of votes or rating system to use across different possible solutions. I have had good results with this style and will continue to use it in the future.


Ultimately setting the expectations for team behavior must be established early (and often). If you are on a team and you begin to recognize groupthink, it may be time to become the voice of dissension.

Idea Transformation

How to make an "idea" person into an "implementation" person?

Sometimes you are minding your own business watching the clouds float by, working on another marketing presentation, or on a date with that special person in your life, and then POW!!!  You are hit so hard that it gives you a shiner on your driver's license.  The Idea Fairy has shown up to occupy the brain space you were using to focus on what was in front of you.  If you know whats good for you, you will write the idea on a napkin so you can put your focus back where it belongs.  Even better if you have a bright idea notepad (handy-dandy notebook?) that you carry around.

"Life's tough when you're stupid"

If you have spent some time observing your behavior, you may have determined during the day when you are at your most creative state and when you are at your most productive state.  I am an early morning thinker and a rest of the day doer with a brief blast of creativity late in the day.  Find your thinking time and space and pull out the idea assault from the day before and think about what you want to accomplish.  This is a dreaming phase to help you characterize the idea; write as much as you can about the end state.

What does your idea look like??

WARNING!!  The next step is where our excited idea holders begin to fall off the rails on the way to Awesome Town.  As boring as this sounds, you need to plan the implementation of your great idea.  

• What stuff (material or data) do you need to start with
• What kind of people help do you need
• What do you need to learn
• Do you need some money to make the idea happen
• How are you going to market the idea
• How much time do you need (or can you take) to implement this great idea.  

Keep in mind that some ideas have a short time span when the market is right and there is alignment between your great idea's purpose and the need it is meant to serve.  The project plan is to lay out our path and assist in determining if an important task needs to be accomplished before another.

If you are in the middle of a kaizen event and someone is hit in the head by the Idea Fairy, you can use a simple form to capture the idea that can help with implementation like the one below.  She will show up at the most inopportune of times demanding respect and acknowledgement.  Capture the idea, stick it to the process map or fishbone diagram and move along until you are ready to evaluate the idea.

There is DOWNTIME from the 8-Wastes!!

During implementation of the great idea, stop and look at the plan for changes that may need to be made and talk with your team members or mentor about the progression.  Is it coming together like you dreamed about days or weeks ago?  If you suffer from Not-Invented-Here (NIH) Syndrome, I recommend that you get over yourself.  No, I'm not kidding.

While this is an over-simplified version of what project managers do, it will take some practice before you are doing it right.  Remember that each failure is a stepping stone to success.  Don't give up, and learn as you move through your Journey.

Also remember that great ideas can come from little brothers.  Thanks Jeremy!

Lean Thinking - Make Value Flow Part 2

Making change is hard, but there are some models whose purpose it is to provide markers that shows the way.  These different road-maps take us to different destinations depending upon which journey we are on.  The criteria are specific, but easy to follow based on your current state.

PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT
Here we have our old friend DMAIC (Design-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) that is the umbrella for quality improvements based on statistical analysis tools developed in the '30s through the 1970s.  The model helps us to Define the problem, Measure how well the process is performing, Analyze for the root cause(s), Implement methods and practices to overcome the root cause(s), and finally Control our ability to backslide to the old and comfortable ways no matter how chaotic they are.

PROCESS DESIGN
If you are executing in the DMAIC model and one of the root causes is "we do not have a process", or you have been tasked to figure out how to do this new thing, then you may have found an opportunity to design a new process using DMADV (Design-Measure-Analyze-Design-Verify).  This should not be two dude's "Excellent Adventure" where you mess up until the boss finally accepts your new process because she is tired of your rock coloring game.  If y=f(x), then you need to figure out the important x's, or stated another way, stop guessing what color she wants for the rock.

Our Friend the Quality Function Deployment.  3 days?  Bah!

First find out who are the customers and what do they want about the product you are designing your process around, this is also called Voice of the Customer.  Do you have a large audience of customers?  Perhaps a well constructed survey would be best.  How about commandments from your company that your process must exist within or government regulations with which you must comply?  These would be the Voice of the Business.

Next, when you have collect this information, you can construct the Critical to Customer Requirements and Critical to Business Requirements.  Since "Critical" means measurable, we have the basis of performance.  No more needing to guess about the color of the rock she wants.

Now you can design the process that creates what is needed, how it is needed, in the amounts needed.  Simple right?  Probably not, especially if you think a complex solution proves just how intelligent you are.  Let's go with a solution that is as simple as it can be.  When designed and you have made a few rocks, do they align with the critical requirements?  If the answer no, then you are not finished.  Keep trying, you are almost there.  When the process is working as it should, document your process, someone will be expected to execute it later.

SOFTWARE DESIGN
The Software Development Life Cycle is a specific model used in the execution of software projects.  Keep in mind this is for implementing the solution that should be backed up with validated root cause analysis (remember the complexity thing earlier?).  The phases are Analyze, Design, Develop, Test, and Finalize; these should seem somewhat familiar in the DMADV model.

Agile is a customer-centered methodology where all the players are gathered together, complaints and good ideas are collected, prioritized, and executed in a group environment.  This is supposed to decrease the cycle time as everyone is together during the development and testing phases.  Scrum is a type of Agile where the prioritized activities are worked in Sprints using improved planning techniques.  This is an over-simplified explanation, but has shown to be effective when used appropriately.

WRAPPING IT UP
In the end we are trying to make our products flow better.  If we can design processes with less waste and variation, then achieving Return on Investment is faster.  Buy-in from our internal and external customers are important to our success in the future and our focus is still on the 4P's.