The importance of visible leadership
Just this week, I caught a few moments of the reality show where the CEO goes out “undercover” – albeit with a film crew – to capture what’s really happening in the trenches of an organization. It reminded me of how frequently we fail to understand what’s going on in our own world during the off-shifts and so on. As I have mentioned many
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Follow-up, performance matrix frequently absent from CMMS process flow
Many organizations are using their computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) as a recordkeeping tool. If that’s all they want, a spreadsheet perhaps can suffice. A correctly used CMMS is a tool that goes way beyond recordkeeping. By not fully utilizing the CMMS, maintenance operations are
Expert advice on how to deal with difficult people
One of the first people to study difficult employees in the workplace and to assign specific characteristic descriptors to these groups of people was Robert M. Branson. In 1981, he wrote a book called “Coping with Difficult People.” In this book, he identifies seven categories of difficult
A game plan to resolve conflict in the workplace
Conflict in the workplace seems to be a fact of life. We’ve all seen situations where different people with different goals and needs have come into conflict. And, we’ve all seen the often-intense personal animosity that can result. Organization leaders are responsible for creating a work
Reduce or eliminate waste through training
Following along with my blog “Reliability is a green initiative”, I would like to talk about waste reduction by training. Waste is seen in many different forms in manufacturing, and many of these wastes can be reduced or eliminated through training. Training is one of the first costs to be
Lean maintenance: Is it a new concept or another ‘acronym’?
It seems as if new weight loss programs and products come out every week. The latest I saw was a plastic wrap that you place around your stomach called “Sauna Fit”. If you strap it around your stomach, you will sweat and lose weight. Brilliant! I’m thinking that you’ll probably
Why improvement efforts fail
Why do improvement efforts fail or perhaps not sustain the gains? There are many reasons, but those most often stated are “lack of commitment” and not “following the process”. But why is there lack of commitment, and why aren’t processes followed? Here are a few of the reasons
Go execute the CI plan!
Hello out there, and happy belated Thanksgiving to you! Before I start the actual blog, I wanted to tell you all that I am very thankful to be an American. I had family in town over Thanksgiving, and we cooked and ate like there was no tomorrow! As I was sharing the food and laughs with family, it just
Money from honey: Africa lean project generates results
I recently wrote about my trip in August to Zambia in Africa. I was visiting with my friends John and Kendra who have been working in Zambia for the past 10 years and in Congo the previous 25 years. Their work is centered on setting up indigenous economic development to give Zambians a sustainable livelihood
Improvements must be generated, implemented on a daily basis
I heard a radio interview some time back with Neil Sedaka. If the name is no longer familiar, he is probably one of the most successful songwriters of all time. His songs, more than 1,000 of them, (while not all are my favorites), are performed by many different and famous artists. How does he write?
Effective strategies for coaching and developing your employees
Performance coaching is not about disciplinary action, nor is it about accountability (although it may promote accountability in the long term). It is really about leadership development - teaching your team of supervisors, managers and leaders the skills and behaviors that are necessary to perform their
