Unlocking the value in your organization requires accountability at all levels. Like in the National Football League, everyone must do his/her job. As problems are identified, actions need to be assigned and completed. There are three critical questions that make accountability for these actions far more robust: who will do what by when? Who […]
Accountability is Forward Looking
May 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Effective operating systems have a process for assigning tasks daily based on an evaluation of the business’ performance in the past 24 hours. David Mann has an effective method – a board that has days of the month across the top and team members down the side. This forms a grid, allowing assignments to be […]
Standardize Principles – Personalize Approach
February 1, 2019 By Leave a Comment
World class organizations align themselves around a set of principles that have stood the test of time like; using the scientific method, creating standard work for people paced activities, engaging operators in the preventative maintenance of the equipment. While almost all these organizations agree on the principles, a visit to each would reveal a variety […]
Don’t forget the Hawthorne Effect
July 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment
From 1924 to 1932 a Western Electric factory outside of Chicago called the Hawthorne Works ran a series of experiments to understand the impact of certain conditions on productivity. The most famous of these experiments was testing the impact of different levels of light. In this study, as well as their others, the productivity would […]
Daily Management is GPS for Operations
June 1, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Daily Management is GPS for operations Operational excellence depends on setting an expectation, tracking progress toward that goal, and adjusting along the way. Daily Management is an operations tool for doing the same. Much like a global positioning system for a car, daily management can; set the expectation, track progress along the journey, and help […]
Do Improvement Boards at a Work Center Really Work?
February 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Do Improvement Boards at a Work Center Really Work? Hospitals have embraced the improvement methods in their operations that were pioneered in manufacturing. Many of them are deep into their operational excellence journeys with several of the same tools we see in business, such as changeover practices in operating rooms and performance boards at work […]
Red and Green are Sacred Colors for Operations
May 26, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Red and Green are Sacred Colors for Operations Operational excellence depends very heavily on a few fundamental principles. It depends on the use of the scientific method, a continuous commitment to Plan – Do – Check – Act, creating standards to identify waste and making visual the status of ahead or behind. Companies who unlock […]
What You Can Predict, You Can Impact
October 14, 2016 By Leave a Comment
What You Can Predict, You Can Impact Unlocking the value in your organization requires having an impact on key performance metrics. As an organization, you have to be able to effect measures that characterize your business performance and drive business value. One of the first steps effecting a metric is trying to predict it. The […]
Do Your Metrics Lead to Action?
May 31, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Do Your Metrics Lead to Action? Effective operating systems have a daily process for measuring business performance and engaging people in solving problems. The content of the meetings includes visual controls that represent a 24-hour view of Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost metrics with clear signals of ahead or behind target. The metrics in those […]
