6/21/2009
THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG
- Multiple Site Management
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Team Building
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Quality Assurance
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Negotiation
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Engineering Management
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Business Development
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Cost Accounting
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International Experience
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the 20 commandments of management and motivation
6/14/2009
FISH OUT OF WATER
Nick spent most of his career at GM. He quickly rose through the ranks and became second in command at a Chevrolet plant in the NY/NJ metro area. Nick was one step from a high level position in Detroit when he declined a transfer and joined our firm. Owners of our tiny company had big hopes for him, but they continually questioned his prolonged approach to problem resolution and he was frustrated with what he considered to be limited company resources. Nick left the company after six years, finally accepting GM’s open invitation to transfer to Detroit.
Fred was an engineer by education and was well known. He progressed through the ranks of one the largest companies in our trade to the position of VP of Manufacturing before moving to another big firm. After serving as VP of Operations for 10 years at that company, Fred joined us replacing Nick. As a small but key supplier to Fred’s prior firms, our company was thrilled to have someone of his stature and notoriety on board. Unfortunately, the honeymoon ended quickly. With disillusion on both sides and after eighteen months, Fred joined another big manufacturing firm in Massachusetts.
When it came to leading people in a small business environment, these guys were fish out of water: The issues:
Poor people skills
In larger firms, where there are layers of supervision separating the big boss from the hands-on workers, people skills are less important. In smaller firms failing to acknowledge and engage your people can be "the kiss of death".
Inability to motivate
One of these leaders rarely acknowledged achievements, ideas or suggestions from subordinates and frequently took credit for the contribution himself. Another viewed new ideas and suggestions as dissention and would often respond with long and demeaning written dissertations on why the idea could never work. If you know anything about the dog-eat-dog environment in big companies, you can easily figure out why leaders feel they need to "protect" their own position.
Complicated and costly problem resolution
Larger companies can smother the problem with cash, equipment and people. In smaller companies there generally isn’t a fallback position; and to be successful, a leader needs to be creative, flexible and resourceful.
Slow reaction time
Change rarely happens quickly in large companies, nor does it need to. There are just too many levels of management and review for a plan to jump into action. In smaller companies, failing to respond quickly and accurately can mean disaster.
Ambivalence to the importance of the customer
In a big company, loss of a customer means little in the grand scheme of things. In a small firm hard-line or take-it-or-leave-it approaches become the talk of the trade, and when the competition is looking to survive - watch out!
5/14/2009
ANCARO IMPARO
Marty and I met in freshman year at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City and became lifelong friends. His engaging personality and sense of humor have always had a way at putting people at ease. When Marty and I were in college, my father said "that buddy of yours would make a great salesman - he could sell ice to Eskimos."
Using his people skills along with his business acumen and financial savvy, Marty has successfully served as COO/CFO of some prestigious advertising and healthcare communication firms. Recently he asked for my help in marketing his business skills. While I was honored to pass along some of what I had learned, as an operations guy, what could I teach the professor? Sensing my unease, Marty said "ancaro imparo." When he saw the puzzled look on my face, he smiled and wrote the phrase on my yellow pad and said "look it up."
The next day, I googled the words and found numerous references. The one that summed it up the best went like this:
Ancora imparo, translated as "I am still learning" or "Still, I am learning," is attributed to Michelangelo in his eighty-seventh year. The man who painted the Sistine Chapel and sculpted the Pieta and David, whose very name evokes mastery of his craft, exemplifies a lifelong learning philosophy.
As I reflected on the meaning of these words, I realized that all of the truly good leaders I have met in life were ones who were willing to listen and learn from others.
4/13/2009
EYE TO EYE
Bob was a good plant manager who had a solid set of business skills. He had a great way with his people and was the type of guy you could count on to "carry the ball".
While Bob and I "saw eye-to-eye" on most issues, we were 180 degrees apart when it came to dealing with a declining backlog. Bob believed in "stretching the work" and would accept lower productivity from his factory workers during these periods. His theory was that running at or above standard would deplete the backlog sooner leaving him to face deep layoffs. My approach was to continue to achieve or exceed standard and deplete the backlog; and if deep layoffs causing the permanent loss of talented people were a concern, I might consider using the people on "busy work" projects like organizing, cleaning and painting after the "billable" work was expended.
Although some would say that both approaches produce the same the bottom line cost to the company, I offer the following for consideration:
- Managers need to be consistent in what they ask of their people. Accepting less than best sends a mixed message encouraging workers to independently decide when and where standards apply.
- A manager who lowers the standard for line workers is like a coach who begins to train his players at a relaxed pace. Getting the team back into shape for the big game takes time.
- Cleaning, painting & organizing eventually need to be done. Waiting until you’re busy again often means that you’ll be too busy to get it done.
3/15/2009
HIDDEN TREASURE
Larry, the new Director of Operations, was convinced they could do better. However, as the new kid on the block, he was unwilling to suggest a big upfront cost. Similarly, he was concerned about a change that would require retraining an already overworked staff.
When he contacted us to address the situation, we saw a simple solution that involved three steps:
- First, we created a separate database program that imported the daily productivity input from the existing system.
- Next, we met with Larry and set up a series of reports to provide the specific type of analysis and measurement for which he was looking.
- Finally, we recommended and implemented two additional reports - one that evaluated equipment utilization and another that provided job profitability by customer.
Here’s what we accomplished:
- Data entry workload did not change. The staff continued to enter the information in the old software as they had in the past. To generate the reports from the new software, the data entry clerk simply opened the new program and pressed CTRL-F7. By executing this macro, the information was automatically imported into the new database and the new reports were printed. This step took less than 5 minutes.
- Acme continued to use the older program to manage their inventory.
- The new reports were instrumental in the company’s successful effort to assign accountability and improve productivity.
Larry was delighted with the results and referred to the information in his old software as his hidden treasure.
3/1/2009
THE RESULTS ARE IN
When I’m asked to evaluate a company’s data collection and communication process, I frequently find that recurring reports in use are ineffective. For some reason, programmers forget that how the message is conveyed is as important as the analysis. In developing a database to manage or analyze a process, I almost always spend more time on the reports than I do on the programming. Here’s my approach:
- If a report is being used as a tool to manage a process, the information should be presented in the sequence it will be used. To understand the correct order, talk to the people involved.
- Reports need to be audience-specific and concise. If the audience is Spanish-speaking, provide the information in Spanish. Offer only the information that is needed. Providing too much information will overwhelm your readers and they will be less likely to focus on the points that are worthy of consideration. Senior management will generally require more information than line supervisors and line supervisors will require more information than line workers. Don’t be afraid to consider multiple versions.
- Present the information in a format that is pleasing to the eye. Aesthetics do make a difference!
2/24/2009
A FAILING GRADE
On his second day as head of operations, John was assured by the maintenance manager that Excelsior had a solid PM program in place. With seemingly more important things to learn, John accepted the convincing response on face value. As a newcomer to the trade, John did not know that major customers routinely audited vendors’ facilities, procedures and practices to insure uninterrupted flow of materials and supplies.
Exactly two weeks after John’s start, Excelsior’s largest customer arrived unannounced to conduct an audit. Among other things, it cited the company on its unacceptable PM program awarding it a failing grade.
With only a month to comply, John jumped on the problem, finding that the company had an extensive set of procedures in place and a composition book assigned to each piece of equipment to document the required maintenance. While the procedures looked good, examination of the forty-eight composition books revealed a total of seven undated entries! Immediately, it was clear what was missing:
- A way to monitor the what and the when;
- A way to communicate the information; and
- A way to track responsibility and insure completion.
John called in a local business consultant, who had significant experience in operations management and database design. The approach was as follows:
- A database program was created to monitor and communicate maintenance actions.
- Key people were trained.
- Hard copy maintenance work orders were generated twice each week.
- Upon completion of the maintenance, the maintenance work orders were signed, dated and returned to management.
- Management recorded the action as complete in the database.
- To track responsibility and progress, an open item report was established and issued to key maintenance and management personnel every Wednesday.
Since implementation, the program continually passes the toughest of audits including one performed to evaluate the company’s readiness for an FDA inspection. The most positive change has been the improvement in equipment reliability. Downtime due to breakdowns is practically non-existent - not bad for a company where the average equipment age is 30 years!
2/17/2009
APPLES TO ORANGES
Allied provided machine shop services to a number of small automotive repair shops in Southern New Jersey. Sixty-five percent of their work comprised of limited production runs to replace or repair parts that were no longer available. Daily production reports were nothing more than a written chronicle of the previous day’s activity and included the following:
- Customer Name
- Product Description
- Product Code
- Work Order #
- Line #
- Production Operation Performed
- Operator
- Hours
- Amount Produced
Absent of any comparison or analysis, each person reading the report saw a different result. And while it was probably equivalent to adding apples to oranges, the production clerk totaled the hours and totaled the production with the hope that these nondescript sums would inspire some action on the part of supervision. Copies of the report were distributed to the owner and each of the key managers while one was placed on file and never seen again.
Since most of Allied’s jobs were custom, individual expertise and effort played a major role in daily productivity. Viewing this as an opportunity for significant improvement, the game plan went as follows:
- Define every single step in the production process;
- Through consensus of key managers, set up interim standards;
- Develop a database program to record and analyze the information;
- Input the data daily and generate audience-specific reports for all;
- Explain expectations with regard to interim standards;
- After six months revise the standards to reflect history and achievability;
- Insist on accountability and reward favorable results.
One year later Allied’s productivity increased by 22%. As an added benefit, the data collected afforded the company with reports and analysis on line utilization and equipment efficiency.
1/31/2009
THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF
While Mike would never admit to it, I suspect he thought that focusing on the negative and ignoring the positive would embarrass or scare us into being more productive. As this continued year after year, Mike’s "motivational" approach became a joke among his partners and his senior managers. The shame of it all was that even when Mike pointed out a legitimate problem or trend; he was ignored like the boy who cried wolf.
- Proclaim the good news with the bad news
- Publicly recognize those responsible for the good
- Privately talk to those who had a hand in the bad
- Offer suggestions and support for improvement
12/20/2008
HOW AM I DOING?
When Ed Koch was mayor of New York from 1978 to 1989, he would ask anyone who would listen, "How am I doing?" Arguably one of the city’s best mayors, he was known for marching to the beat of his own drum. Although it might seem strange to many that an independent and strong-willed person would solicit this kind of feedback, psychologists suggest that the desire for recognition and acknowledgement is as important to the spirit as the need for food and water is to the body.
In spite of this basic need, it is amazing how often bosses miss the opportunity to commend or correct a worker. I recall one boss, Tony, who thought positive feedback would cause the workforce to become complacent and/or raise the expectation of financial rewards. His approach was to comment on "sins of omission or commission", but he rarely had anything positive to say. For many of us, Tony’s negativity fostered one of the most demoralizing work environments any of us had ever experienced!
And in another case there was Rick who provided no feedback one way or another. In spite of a brilliant mind and impressive academic credentials, Rick was a numbers man. Devoid of people skills, he never appreciated or understood our need for feedback. At all times, none of us knew where we stood and most of us wished we worked somewhere else.
MAYOR ED KOCH
Managers and Bosses: Let your people know how they are doing!
PROVIDE FEEDBACK & IMPROVE PERFORMANCE!