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| **New plant manager pushes "teams"…
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Laura
is the new
plant manager of a division that specializes in the manufacturing of
plastics. She is new to the company and has a history of creating efficient
manufacturing operations. The parent company is an large
decentralized corporation
with plants around the world. One of the first projects Laura pursues is to
change the way the plant does its business. The plant has a history of good
performance, at least by the standards of the international corporation, so
some wonder why she wants to "break" something that has been
working well.
Seeking assistance….
Laura's work is cut out for her.
Not only is she learning the plastics industry, she is building a second plant in a nearby
community. Both of these demands plus her decision to implement teams in the current plant
seem impossible. From experience she knows that many team initiatives fail due to a lack
of understanding of what such a project demands. She knows she has to spend a significant
amount of time in upfront preparation and planning. One reason she elected to start the
team process now versus wait is that a window of opportunity exists with the development
of the second plant. Her experience has taught her that creating a team environment in a
totally new setting is much easier than converting one that has been traditionally
managed…but she needs help. One immediate decision was to bring on a consultant
skilled in implementing teams in manufacturing environments. She calls Emersus Consulting.
The preliminary work begins…
Laura and her consultant spend their first meeting focused on 3 items only. The first is to
create a strategy that will allow her to influence key players in the corporate office to
support the plan. This detailed document will outline the rationale for such an evolution,
the costs, the eventual benefits and the progression that she predicts. She is aware that
another plant in a different country tried to implement teams 5 years ago and failed
miserably. She expects resistance.
The second item they address is the method for determining who should be on the core
development team. This group will consist of employees who are cross-representational of
the entire plant and will be key in planning and managing this massive project. They
understand that one of the most important premises of a team environment is that, in general, front-line employees have the best information to solve
most problems. They then determine a way to select the core team based on this
requirement.
The third item in
their meeting addresses a fundamental question. "What type of team environment should
they create?" and "Will that model be used throughout all areas of the plant or
only some?" Her consultant reviews the types of teams that can be used to create more
participation in the workplace. Laura's consultant educates her about how to determine
when a certain type of team may be most appropriate. Realizing that Laura's presentation
to corporate must include this variable, they elect to make the decision, even though they
realize that the core team may revisit this decision in the first stage of their planning.
The preparation continues….
Laura receives the go ahead from the corporate office and forms
the core development team. For
the first month the core team participates in training and education to learn how and why
teams help in workplace productivity, efficiency, quality, and cycle-time, among
others. They also learn that a variety of teams exist that vary by degree of
participation. They learn what has made teams fail in other organizations and what seems
to lead to their success.
One
of the most significant aspects of their training is the
experiential exercises that allowed them to experience how teams actually work. This part
of the training was for most members a "time of conversion," when all the
knowledge they had gathered became real. The energy in the core team was high.
The core team spends
one month planning all aspects of the implementation. They realize, though, that some of
their decisions will change as more information is available to them. They learn in real
life the concept of kaizen or continuous improvement. Some areas they
address include: the type of teams, where to use teams, the training needed, changes in
compensation, leadership needs, process changes and hiring and selection requirements.
The plan is extensive and impacts all aspects of the business.
Concurrently,
Laura creates a strategy to continue to inform corporate decision-makers on
their progress. She regularly has a core team member co-present with her
at corporate headquarters
the status of the team formation. She realizes this networking
is important because not all key players are convinced of this investment.
The project will be scrutinized closely.
Implementation
begins….
Despite Laura's desire to implement quickly, the core team elects to
phase in the implementation at the existing plant. They select key areas to transform in
order to learn from the first phase and improve the process with the next team that
starts. They select 3 teams at a time and introduce 3 more the following month. In the new
plant they implement team practices from the beginning of all phases of plant development.
They immediately implemented new systems that would support a self-directed team
environment. As the new plant becomes operational, all aspects of manufacturing and
support services will be designed to support a team-based work environment.
Fundamental team training
has been created and new teams cycle through the various modules on a regular basis. Plant
productivity predictably dips, but not as significantly as it would if they had not
anticipated it. Implementation continues for 18 months at which time all teams are
converted and the new plant is operational. Most teams continue to refine the way they get
their work done and continue to struggle with what is in their purview and what
isn’t. Morale varies and some attrition occurs at the old plant, again predictable.
Now what?
Two years out and most measures of
improvement now have surpassed the performance of the old plant prior to the conversion to
teams. The improvements are not yet dramatic, but are expected to rise more dramatically
in the next 6 months. With the cost offsets of improved quality, diminished scrap, reduced
cycle time, etc., Laura expects a payoff for the team investment in one year. After that,
the cost to market will have decreased dramatically. Her division’s profit
performance will only continue upward.
** This case study is comprised of aspects
of a variety of team implementation consultations by Emersus Consulting.
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