In this Q&A session, TriVista shares how leadership teams can foster a culture of lean transformation and achieve significant operational improvement and excellence by addressing these four critical questions:
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How can leadership convince the organization that lean and inherent business realities are not at odds?
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What are the most important concepts leaders must support for lean management to work in their organizations?
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Is there a standard model for lean implementation that can be applied across all manufacturing or transactional business models?
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What resources should be provided to management teams responsible for implementing and sustaining lean systems?
HOW CAN LEADERSHIP CONVINCE THE ORGANIZATION THAT LEAN AND INHERENT BUSINESS REALITIES ARE NOT AT ODDS?
Lean management is a more effective way for leaders to do what they already do but enhanced, allowing them to better achieve priorities and take on even more business challenges. Lean empowers an organization to connect to the company’s purpose, the people it leads, its supply chain, and clients. In order to successfully communicate the importance and benefits of lean, a few key concepts must be considered.
VOICE OF CUSTOMER IS #1
Both companies and lean leaders believe the customer matters more than anything. The customer’s perspective, then, trumps almost all other considerations. Employees’ contribution and commitment is critical in understanding and realizing voice of customer as well as voice of business. Employees’ continued commitment to improving the organization relies on their relationship between lean management and their own worth. To protect this trust, management needs to rely on cross-training rather than layoffs to keep the organization efficient and operational and further support employee acceptance.
REMOVE BLAME TO IDENTIFY ROOT CAUSE
Lean management focuses on organizational improvement by identifying the root cause of problems and taking corrective action to prevent their recurrence. When problems crop up or someone makes a mistake, the first response is not blame. Organizational dysfunction occurs when people are afraid of being associated with problems – they not only hide their mistakes, but also distance themselves from complex situations. Once people begin to feel comfortable uncovering problems, excitement and confidence builds among employees and both organizational and individual performance soars.