In Part 1 of this article we talked of how good managers must always try to keep their organizations energized, moving forward and upward. To do this, they must find ways to constantly disrupt complacent, status quo thinking and behavior.
But finding the right way is vital. Managers cause damage when they constantly demand immediate, unplanned, crisis response to equipment failure (and other) issues, when that level of response is not needed.
This fosters reactive behavior and hurts efforts to develop a proactive culture, as well as damaging overall reliability and organizational improvement.
So, the questions then become:
How Do We Do Both?
- Deal effectively with issues in a proactive way.
- Keep the organization energized.
1) Recognize the Constant Crisis Problem
Just like with any addiction – because that’s what using the constant crisis mode is – the first step is recognizing that there’s a problem.
The constant game of Whack-a-Mole, even though we seem to like playing it, isn’t making us any better. In fact, it’s really hurting us. Until we realize this, we’re not going anywhere. We need a better game.
Of course, we need to energize folks to deal with issues, but we have to do it in the right way.
This is a management culture issue.
2) Understand Issues and How to Deal with Them
Recognize that daily loss issues are mostly symptoms of processes that need to be improved.
Just fixing symptoms and never addressing the underlying process deficiency won’t make us any better. We have to deal with both.
With equipment failures, it’s not simply replacing a broken part as quickly as we can. We have to look for the reason the part broke and determine some ways to eliminate that cause.
But then, we also have to determine why we didn’t know that the part was getting close to failure, and fix that detection process, too.
The manager’s job is to constantly coach those most directly involved with any issue, to deal with it correctly, in the right time frame. It’s also to make sure they analyze and put the longer term, corrected process steps (e.g., preventive maintenance (PM) inspections, operational process improvements, equipment fixes, equipment improvements, checklists, training, etc.) in place to assure that particular issue does not recur.
And the ones who have to do this work are those involved with the issues, so that they will own and value the process improvements. People will resist process changes simply presented to them by others without their own participation and input, no matter how good they may be.
Dealing with issues isn’t just something that has to be done and gotten out of the way quickly.
Done properly, it’s actually the mechanism that continuously improves the organization.
Daily Shift Meetings at the line or department level, followed by a management group meeting that has rotating, wider participation, are the best places to do this. It’s a standard process for dealing with all types of loss issues that provides not just the mechanism for fixing them, but also, and more importantly, for communicating, learning, developing, and energizing.
It’s where people hear constantly about how they, themselves, are systematically and successfully dealing with plant issues by improving their processes, and they feel good about it.
Most places do a pretty poor job of routinely and widely communicating when issues have been fixed and small improvements made.
Folks typically only hear about the negatives, about the failures, and we wonder why we have struggles getting folks to feel good about the place and about each other’s contributions.
For those impatient with a problem and want to “Just Fix It”, it’s key to emphasize that it’s always easy to get tied up in fixing specific issues. But a manager’s real job is to continually improve the processes and the people of the organization. That’s his or her task always, and that’s much, much more than just dealing with some single issue as fast as possible.
Process for Dealing with Issues:
- Just Mitigate the Situation
- When an equipment issue arises, unless it’s a simple fix, it’s simply not possible, or there’s the risk of greater damage, just mitigate the situation.
- Don’t try to make the permanent fix, just stop the bleeding.
- This is difficult, and it even feels dishonorable for some folks, as they’ve always been told: “Do it right the first time.” But, as we’ve talked previously, it’s usually, pretty much impossible to make that correct permanent fix, to “Do it right”, just at the drop of a hat. All we really do is waste our valuable time and resources, we lose too much production time, and then we usually have to do it over again the “right way” anyway. We need some time for preparation so we can do the job properly.
- Every Day Review the Major Loss Issues from the Previous Day
- This includes issues Production, Equipment, Quality, Safety, etc., to determine the importance and urgency, and to communicate and highlight what needs to be improved. This is done in the Daily Meetings that must, absolutely, happen every day.
- Set an expectation that when some issue happens, some work must be done quickly to assess its seriousness, and get facts gathered and documented before this information gets lost or forgotten.
- Reporting the issue in the meeting should be done by those most immediately involved with it, and this must be received in a non-blaming way. There is always an unfortunate tendency to look for some performance failure by an individual as the cause, rather than the failure of a process. But individual mistakes are usually caused by some process deficiency, (perhaps insufficient training). People can’t be afraid to give complete information, worried about embarrassment or repercussions to themselves or others. We need to develop everyone’s reporting capability, and build the trust needed to be able to do this part well.
(It becomes obvious if an individual is repeatedly not following procedures.) - Usually, when this review process is first started, some information is brought to the meetings, but it’s usually not complete enough to make good decisions. Question what is known and not known, to coach correct the information gathering.
- If the information is not sufficient, task the appropriate individuals to gather more complete information about the issue and report the next day (unless it just can’t wait). Over time, people will get much better at this.
- Analyze and Plan
- With more complete information available, set an appropriate time frame and assignments of individuals from Operations and Maintenance. They will analyze the information to properly determine the problem, the causes, the process fix, or to plan the needed repair and determine the appropriate time frame for the repair. Obviously, the maintenance planner has a key role in this part, but he or she doesn’t do it all.
- This detail work and, particularly, developing solutions is never done in this meeting, no matter how tempting.
- Emphasize the essential inclusion of those who operate in that area. This work is shared across the organization. Managers and technical staff may assist, particularly in developing and training a systematic approach when starting out, but they do not control.
- Set a follow-up date to make sure this analysis and planning work gets done.
- Monitor the Analysis and Planning
- Insist this prep work gets done correctly and completely by the follow-up date.
- Review the process and proposed solutions briefly in the meeting for completeness, involvement and communication.
- Make the Fixes
- Implement the process improvements developed. Schedule the repair and do it in the appropriate time frame.
- Review for Effectiveness and Improvement
- Set a later date to do this, and broadly communicate the results and successes.
- Repeat the process if further action is needed.
Large whiteboards in the meeting rooms may seem, in today’s world, like an old-fashioned way to process information, but the constant, bigger visibility by all, of the issues, responsibilities and follow-up dates is essential. Access by computer or phone screen is still not immediately, or continually, visible enough to everyone.
This process, combined with our maintenance work management processes, has to make sure that issues don’t get forgotten or bypassed forever. People need to have confidence that their issues and their improvement ideas will be dealt with (often by themselves).
The manager has to make sure that this essential, routine meeting process absolutely happens every day and attendance is not optional, even if there are important plant activities. Visiting senior managers, for example, are invited to the meetings. The meetings are not canceled because of them. Even on days when it seems there are no important new loss issues, the process always goes on. There are always issues ongoing, and the process itself is an important improvement issue, that folks are counting on being there.
No matter what, just keep plugging away with this process. Absolutely guaranteed, things will get better. This is truly Continuous Improvement.
I still remember sitting in one of these meetings one morning, after months of working at this. And all of us suddenly just looking at each other in surprise, when we realized that, for the first time, there really weren’t any significant loss issues from the previous day. Still plenty of smaller issues, but not the size we were used to.
3) Energize the Organization by Fixing Processes and Communicating Successes
The energizing effect comes from constantly using issues as a way to develop people and processes. Making sure our processes are owned, valued and constantly improved by those who use them, and the resulting productivity improvements are communicated and celebrated ongoing.
Making sure people know they are empowered and responsible to improve their processes.
If processes are constantly improved by dealing with issues properly, the issues get smaller and smaller. They impact the organization less and less. They’re dealt with routinely at the action level, always in a non-blaming manner, and this is a source of satisfaction to those folks.
This energizes people continuously and the lack of a sense of urgency is not a problem.
(The excellent book Drive by Daniel Pink, gives examples and many references on this.)
Involving everyone, especially operators, in issue resolutions and improvements, and developing their role in constant equipment monitoring and care, gets them involved, interested, and builds the ownership that is the vital ingredient for success. It also builds capability and off-loads the maintenance team a great deal from minor trouble calls.
Summary
Organizations do have to be constantly energized. The sense of urgency for production and for improvement has to be developed and constantly maintained. But it has to be a rational, well placed, non-frantic, nondestructive, sense of urgency that constantly improves the people and processes of the organization, moving them to routinely and systematically act proactively.
Not constantly driven directly by the manager, but fostered by his or her behavior and coaching, and owned and maintained by the people in the organization themselves.
To give people reasons and foster an environment where they will constantly push for improvement in a way that’s healthy for them and the organization.
Published as an article in Uptime Magazine