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How
about a “Serious
Steering Committee”?
Enrique Mora
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How
many times we have heard or been a part of a steering committee put together to sponsor a
Kaizen Event?
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How
long did the energy, momentum, and enthusiasm last?
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How
many times a Kaizen Event turned out to be a total failure just a few weeks or
months down the road?
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Well,
under the umbrella of SLIM Manufacturing we will need those committees to
become truly committed.
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First
of all, let us analyze what has made the previous committees fail:
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"Urgent"
assignments take the members’ attention
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Improvements
were "finished…" (are they ever???) |
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We
don’t have time for meetings every so often |
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People
don’t want to cooperate with us |
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And
a few other excuses |
The
most important “reason” is they do not consider the steering committee to be
a part of their jobs much less will they consider it
one of the most
important parts of their jobs.
Indeed, when one of
these teams performs right, the amount of money they will start saving to the
company is out of proportion. In most cases this may end up producing so much
revenue and increased profit that will abundantly justify the time devoted to
that task, even if it demands full time dedication.
No
more “Mickey Mouse” committees please.
Management
teams will need to perform a mindset adjustment here. No longer they will assign
to the committees the poorest performers or the people they can do without. The
assignment must be given a serious tone of privilege, because that is what it
is!
Steering
committee members should be considered the sponsors of all the improvements we
will see from now on in the different activities, and should be credited for
them. It is going to represent a real privilege to be assigned those
opportunities.
Nevertheless, Preston Ingalls, one of the most experienced consultants I have
met, calls the new generation of steering committees "Steering
Councils". Whatever you want to call
them, but integrate and support them seriously!
Short-Effective Meetings
The
meetings of these committees need not be of the typical kind. They will meet
usually once per week. Every 22-minute meeting will consist of exchange of
essential information and assignment-commitment of the new tasks and actions
proposed or required. This is Kaizen concept: what you agree in the meeting, you go out
to the floor and get it done! It is vital to keep documentation at all
times so we can rely on the accurate history of events and spread the
process. KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) should
be clearly defined and shown in the areas, so everyone involved can at a
glimpse, see and understand the progress in a form of a score-card. All the
people should feel they are a part of the "Big
Picture", because they
really are!
In
between meetings there should be a continuous contact via radios, emails, phone,
or brief 2-people encounters.
If there is an Intranet in the company, a
webmaster will make sure that the successes are published timely, supported with
pictures, and everyone in the organization gets invited to share the pride of those
achievements.
So…
this is the “new image” of a Steering Committee or Council. What do you think?
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