Busyness and Mediocraty
I mention, in the analysis of Waste in the workplace, that when we look at maintaining an excess of inventory, we need to look at the possible excess inventory of workers. This excess of workers will be the workers (and staff) that are the mediocre employees we have on the books.
This will be an opportunity for a company owner or CEO to implement their own small 5S exercise without the need for “buy in” from others or to establish any teams.
This is not a witch hunt to rid yourself of people you do not like or employees who you have taken a set against, it is the time to rid yourself of mediocre employees.
Mediocre employees should be easy to identify. They are normally the ones busy telling you, plus all and sundry, that they are busy. If they are not telling you, they are the ones that always look busy but when their output is measured by an appropriate gauge such as KPI’s, the gap between displayed effort and actual output is canyon like.
Mediocre workers are also having a negative effect on you best performers your elite. Why? Becasuse your best performers will normally be great team players and they will be picking up the slack, left bu the mediocre, through extra efforts from themselves, so that the team as a whole does not suffer.
Even the best and most selfless employees will eventually tire of this. The best will move on when they are not happy. It is the medocre employees that stay put.
Put practices in place that, hopefully, exclude the recruitment of mediocre performers to begin with. This includes blindly hiring a relative or friend of a current employee without the normal recruitment processes being applied. Make sure the standard recruitment processes apply for each and every person to be hired. Don’t let there be special circumstances for any potentential recruit, no matter who they are related too.
Evaluate your employees more often and one of the best evaluation methods for identifying mediocrity is peer accountability. Unless a person has the charisma of a superstar actor, their peers, especially those in high performance teams will always draw attention to the non performers, you just need to be aware of the subtle ways they will alert you. Watch the interaction between the stars and others, this wiil identify the also rans.
But as stated earlier, either you, or in the some cases of mediocre employees, your HR Manager, need to conduct a 5S exercise to identify and rid you business of poor performers.
The sequence of the methodolgy for a 5S implementation to rid yourself of medicore performers is almost identical to a full implementation but the characteristics and performance will be altered.
Your initial Gemba Walk will be less overt and be more human based.
Red flags to watch for, for me are,
People who turn up early to work and people who stay later than required at the end of the day, both without any measurable increase in output or have no reason to be early or late. If you see this, ask their manager if they have asked that employee to work extra hours.
People who are constantly being berated and/or shamed by more than one peer.
People who just seem to be struggling.
1S - Red Tag
Make a confidential Red Tag note about any person you identify as mediocre or potentially mediocre.
Conduct confidential arbitration on your Red Tagged employees. Talk to supervisors, peers and underlings but not in a manner specific to the Red Tagged person. If you have made it to Manager I hope you already have and use this ability.
Make a decision. If you need to remove this person from your employ do so as quickly as you can and according to the law. Don’t worry about cost, it will save you money in the larger scheme of things.
Don’t have them hanging around for any notice period period, pay them, wish them luck and wave goodbye.
In all likelihood, you have not only done your business a favor but the the dismissed employee had already identified that they were out of their comfort zone (for the time being perhaps) and they can either resign themselves to being mediocre forever or take the necessary steps to continuing climbing the workplace ladder but in a more controlled and learned manner.
Address all performance issues head on
And speaking of the need to address performance issues head on brings me to another area that will effect our business with busyness, the use of sub contractors. If problems arise, address them quickly to prevent escalation.
This could involve discussions about performance or payment disputes.
Sub-contractors
Of course, when reading through this site, by following the prompts and looking at things in a progressive direction, you would have paid close attention to the Scope of Work(s) section. We can reinvestiigate that now to refresh ourselves,
Head to the Scope of Work(s) information
By understanding the completeness of a Scope of Work(s), you will have a platform for which to discuss matters with your sub-contractor(s) and have the basis to set up an actual working contract.
I am not going to deal with the legal issues here as I am not qualified to offer legal advice, see your lawyer for that.
What I will tell you here and what you more than likely already know is that you need to establish open communications with your sub-contractors. You need this open communication to be able to have your sub-contractors be compliant with the obligations you both have to the end customer.
We will achieve our compliancy obligations when we introduce the 5S methodology to our own organisation, mainly at the S4 & S5 stages. We need the sub-contractors to follow our lead and introduce our standards and our methods of maintaining those sandards at the subbies work place and with the subbies workers.
If you have performed during the preparation and introduction of 5S methodology at your own premises and have seen the benefits that a 5S implementation can bring, then the sell or a “buy in” from your subbies should not be difficult to achieve. Just show them what you have achieved.
I wrote about the Pareto Principle in the introduction to the Myths of Business and it maybe time to take the opportnity to reacquaint ourselves with details of the principle/
If we can can get a 25% improvement if efficiency and output from the 80% of sub-contractors causing virtually zero errors we maybe in a position to eliminate the under achieving, problem causing 20% all together.
Relationships
My initial dealings with contractors was when I was working for an International trader who traded in handicrafts. Of course, like all other traders in Asia, he represented himself as the actual manufacturer when dealing with the Buyers. With the actual manufacturers kilometers away and based in the very rural areas this ploy was not treated as dishonest as my trader friend and others in the same boat, virtually had their full control of up to a handful of suppliers. They were responsible for all the orders, they oversaw production and quality control, they arranged the packing materials and packing of the product and finally arranged for the empty containers to arrive, had them stuffed, cleared by customs and send off to be loaded on a ship. Of course, all of the paperwork that went along with orders was organised by the trader as well. As time went on and depending on hard you wanted to work, it was not unusual for successful traders to have more than 30 manufacturers producing for them.
Some close bonds were formed.
Again, with hard work, success came to a number of traders and like most successful traders the realisation that the product was less expensive to make if you made it yourself and while selling at the same price, additional profit could be made, this profit being suitable compensation for the previous and continued hardwork.
But planning, gaining approval, building and preparing a factory for production does not hapen over night. And continuing to use subbies while producing your own product would provide further compensation.
These people nneded to keep their sub contractors happy? But how happy and wasn’t this happiness a two way street?
This is where others busyness reared its ugly head.
Sub conractors become too busy to work for you exclusively
Sub contractors became too busy to work for you at all unless there was a significant increase in compensation
Sub contractors became too busy but only toward the end of the production cycle forcing you to pay (unbudgeted) overtime
Sub contractors became too busy that raw materials could not be purchased.
Etc., etc., etc., and that was were I first discovered the Pareto Principle, tested its theories and made the decison that Signor Pareto was correct.
What I also discovered was that while Pareto was correct with his ratio of 80% of the problems being attributed to 20% of the suppliers was that all bar one of the suppliers now causing the problems had been the first sub contractors we had worked with and they were the sub contractor with he thought he had the closest (best) relationship.
The were the first sub contractors to be given new orders and most importantly, they were the suppliers that were given the newest designs to produce. They thougt they were a protected species.
Performance issues had come about as the sub-contractors had formed unhealthy relationships with our companies Buyers and Quality Control workers. Once the unhealthy relatationships were identified, steps were taken to ensure there were clear lines drawn the parties. Yes, some of out staff had to be let go from the business and a couple of sub-contractors never worked for us again but barriers had been set.
In other companies I have seen business owners become to close to sub-contractors, do not let this happen to you.
Busyness and Misused
Many Lean practitioners will always refer to 6S as they have officially added the sixth S, S for Safety.
I am happy to continue with just using 5S as in every S. I refer to Safety of as an integral component of each S.
Along the same lines, most of the importance placed when I discuss Busyness and Misused is placed upon Occupational Health & Safety. Most but not all.
Complicated processes and complicated projects alike maybe required to be performed at your premises and a large arsenal of tools will be required to complete your orders. Using the correct tool for the job is essential to producing a quality product efficiently.
Tools best suited to your production will make an efficient production line and reduce reworks. Using the correct tool will save unnecessary trips to the first aid kit too, minimising downtime.
The most dangerous of all misuses in the work place is the misuse of authority. Abuse of authority in the workplace occurs when a person, who holds a position of power, uses that power to control, intimidate, or mistreat others. This rephrehensible conduct creates a toxic work environment and decreased morale even when it is kept under the radar of the majority of the workforce. It can come in the form of favoritism, unfair discipline or be as simple as keeping ridiclulous rules in the workplace just because a person can. Recognizing these behaviors is crucial to preventing harm. To an adept Manager or MR personell, the bully should stand out like a sore thumb.
Those that misuse their authority are more likely than others to misuse modern technology in their harassment of others within the workplace.
Bullies and malignant narcissists will always think they will either,
get away with their intimidation
or be too smart to get caught
so senior management and HR must be aware.
Yechnology-facilitated abuse, encompasses various behaviors that exploit digital tools to control, intimidate, or harm individuals. Below are some common examples:
Abuse By Communications
They may use texts, emails, or social media to send intimidating or humiliating messages.
They will include the anonyous sending of negative personal comments, insults and threats through social.
Surveillance and Monitoring
They will use spyware or phone tracking apps to monitor a person's movements without their consent.
They will record conversations without consent
They will access your social media and browsing history to invade your privacy and find entries that maybe detrimental to you.
The misuse of technology can lead to feelings of fear, isolation, and helplessness in victims. Recognizing these behaviors is crucial for seeking help and support.
If you witness or face abuse, start by keeping a clear and factual record. Note what happened, when, where and who was present. Keep copies of emails, messages or documents that show what occurred.
Speak to someone you trust. This could be a line manager outside the issue, a union representative or HR. Follow the organisation’s grievance or whistleblowing procedures so the matter is logged and reviewed properly.
Senior Management, Human Resources and Union representatives must take every report seriously. They must respond rapidly and keep their approach even handed. Protect confidentiality as much as possible. Ensure there is no retaliation. Investigate based on evidence, not assumptions or concerns about reputation. Treat both sides fairly and document each step of the process.
Taking action helps protect not just yourself, but also the wider culture of respect and safety at work.
There is one form of abuse and it is a misuse of authority that has its own BAMM and its own area in both the Myths of Busyness and Busting the Myths sections. Please recognise it as a misuse of authority and remove it whenever you come across it. Micro Management and Micro Managers are abusing their authority and getting away with it.
Let’s revisit out original comments on Micro Managers before continuing.
Busyness and Micro-Management
My experience in dealing with many and varied business types and business owners, as well as anecdotal eveidence shows that a great deal of micro managers are successful business people running successful businesses.
I know that if they were not micro managing and being busy that they could be more successful. Given their busyness they cannot scale up their business as there is only one of them.
The micro manager needs to put a structure into their business and most importantly, once this structure has been established and filled with professionals, allow the professionals to do their job, managing.
They have bought the dog, it is time to stop themselves from barking.
They have managers in place, it is time to go back to what they did best and what made their business the sucessful business it is.
It is time time to let your business and its success do the talking. It is time to stop telling anyone who will listen how busy you are.
What can the micro manager take from having a structure in place and letting that structure support itself.
On the Structure page, we looked at the HR and human processes that can be achieved by structure.
As a micro manager, here we list some examples where you can step back.
You need to be strong willed and determined to take on the Micro Manager and I wish you all the best. In my experience you need to firstly build trust in your micro manager and once this trust is built you have the chance for the micro manager to have confidence in you.
But be warned, the micro manager will ALWAYS think that they can do it better.
Initially, you will need to feed their inability to let you do your job and you will find yourself providing more status updates and seeking feedback to reduce their need to over-control your work.
Good Luck
The Micro Managing Management Team
(AKA as the Do Nothing Management Team)
Here is some anecdotal evidence of the harm this type of management presents,
“Prove it” he yelled across the conference room table when I told the company owner that had hired me that his Management Team where working like cavemen, albeit, well educated cavemen.
I explained, his hired bosses did what bosses always did. They put comfort and contentment above finding a solution.
The Management Team and I had just come out of a meeting, in the airconditioned conference room, where we sat in leather chairs and sipped chilled water for a conflab that went for over an hour.
And like cavemen, there were no records to prove that the meeting ever happened. There were no questions asked as to how the quality problem had occurred, why no person had picked it up during the manufacturing process nor any discussion taken on the steps taken to make sure the problem never happened again
There was no attempt to visit the factory floor and look at why the problem may have occurred and no thought to even question the floor managers.
Over 80 minutes wasted at a cost of what I anticipated would pay the production line responsible for producing the error for a week.
What I had witnessed was that the Management Team left their meeting satisfied that they would not be blamed for the workplace errors.
What I had witnessed would not be allowed to happen anywhere else in the business and if any other area of the business even remotely approached that way of performing it would be stopped imediately. Either the floor managers or the majority of the workers themselves would speak up and stop it.
About 100 years ago, the second of the Industrial Revolutions took place. Ownership of the way production was conducted underwent significant change.
Managers began to use the stopwatch at their assembly line to make improvement after improvement to better efficiency.
Engineers produced new and more efficient machinery. Their bridges didn’t fall down, neither did their docks and cranes made these docks more efficient.
Better production methods, better statistical records and better methodologies improved production and technology kept pushing the boundaries. We improved.
And as I explained to the rather patient owner, the only aspect of business that has not seem to be improved, that his Management Team is a perfect example of, is in fact, Management Teams.
And yet, meetings occur regularly, with no measurable outputs. If an agenda is prepared and distributed, which these days is nothing more than a touch of a button, few people read the agenda or prepare for what at the meeting involves them and many show up late, some not all.
No one is taking notes and afterwards preparing minutes and sending the minutes out so that follow-up action requests can be performed and then be discussed (at the next meeting without an agenda).
And then there is the worst of all meetings, the meeting where those assembled ll report on what they did the week prior to the meeting with the only person allowed to comment or ask questions is the chair.
The Solution
Firstly, you may want to go to the Structure & Comms section of this site to remind yourself how teams communicate between themselves and how they communicate and interact with other teams within the organisaton.
Because what I am going to do here is reiterate those details when it comes to having effective meetings. Meetings, as much as possible ahould only be attended by the personnel that the meeting is for.
If there is anybody attending the meeting that is not a member of that specific team they are either,
an interlocutor, there to ask questions and/or guide the meeting (Chairperson)
an non participant to record the minutes of the meeting (Secretary)
If the people attending the meeting need further information before they can make a decision, the interlocutor will bring the meeting to a close and the member responsible for gathering the further information will meet with their team or team member and gather the information required in time for the next meeting.
Again, our communicatons are up and down, sideways and down and up. We do not have diagonal communications. We do not have diagonal decision making.
We have informed decision making.
Now, there is one part of every decision making process, that comes from meetings, that in my experience is rarely instigated and that is appointing a person to follow up on the implementation of the decision that was made. Additionally, once the new process has been implemented it needs to be investigated to mke sure that the outcomes are what was expected.
The person appointed to implement and investigate must be recorded on the meeting minutes along with the date of the meeting on which they give their report on the implementation.
The process becomes accountable
The person responsible for the process becomes accountable
The meetings become accountable
Deniability often appears to some Management Teams to be more important than progress. Don’t let that happen to your Managament Team or to any team you are a member of.
Corporate culture can push people away from having their say, to prize the idea of busyness over improvement to accept the status quo over challenging the status quo, to become mute.
Good Management Teams will have effective meetings with those meetings being accountable. Accountable meetings means less meetings with better, measurable results.
Busyness and Multi Tasking Madness
I refer you back to the discussions that took place when we first spoke about this BAMM, Busyness And Multi-tasking Madness. Take another look if you need to reintroduce yourself. Just a tiny scroll down from the Pareto Principle and on the left of the page.
The American Psychological Association state on their website that,
Doing more than one task at a time, especially more than one complex task, takes a toll on productivity. Although that shouldn't surprise anyone who has talked on the phone while checking E-mail or talked on a cell phone while driving, the extent of the problem might come as a shock. Psychologists who study what happens to cognition (mental processes) when people try to perform more than one task at a time have found that the mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking. Psychologists tend to liken the job to choreography or air-traffic control, noting that in these operations, as in others, mental overload can result in catastrophe.
Most people use a lot of their mental energy simply keeping track of the tasks, which leaves them with less focus for working on the tasks let alone finishing the tasks.
Simply, every time you need to restart a task you are wasting time, wasting time not on only on the task you are currently performing but on all the other tasks that are now waiting for you to start again.
So multi tasking is the biggest myth of all the Business Myths as you are really task switching when you re attempting to multi task, you may be switching very quickly but switching is what you are doing.
Task switching is inefficient, stopping & starting again is inefficient, multi tasking is inefficient.
“multitasking is functionally equivalent to distraction.”
Busyness and Modern Media