Roadblocks
As I have previously mentioned, the imlementation of 5S or any other Lean methodology will provide many benefits to your organisation but like any change in their circumstances, people do not always react favorably and some even fret and/or become disruptive at any mention of change.
It is common to people to be reluctant or simple refuse to readjust to new ways of doing tasks or even just the idea of having to change their behavior. It could be a fear or uncertainty as to the effect it will have on them or could be the desire to protect existing habits. Whatever it is, you must recognise it and be prepared to act on it.
The oft used words of wisdom are,
When we hit a road block on an actual road we automatically think to what is causing it and what route we should have taken to avoid it. It is too late to rethink our decision to take that route on this occassion but we make a mental note to take another route the next time we are headed for this destination or at least make some enquiries as to whether we face delays if we want to take the same route on the next ooccassion we travel this way.
Then why do we accept personal ,personnel or procedural road blocks in the workplace? Why don’t we recognise these road blocks and change the direction we want to take or have others take? Why don’t we make enquiries, find a root cause and fix the problem? Is it just human nature? Are we scared to make difficult decisions?
Below you will find what I feel are avoidable road blocks in the work place that may hinder or even derail the implementation of 5S. You some to remedy these situations to get the traffic flowing freely and in the right direction.
Lack of Buy In
The Key Stake Holder
For those of you considering having a look at the 5S methodology or indeed any other Lean methodology please consider the following before doing so, especially if you are making the final decisions or are the major contributor in making the final decision.
You are most likely to be the biggest road block to either deciding to implement change or you will decide that you know better than all the Lean implementation people and that you only wish to implement part of the methodology.
That will not work.
Implementing a Lean program is not just a one time project or part of a full package, the addition of the words Continuous Improvement indicate that.
As I say when running the training course as well as whenever discussing Lean, prticularly wit the key stakeholders, “Lean in much more than a cleaning exercise”.
All senior management need to buy into a full, in this case a 5S methodology, being implemented or probably do not consider the implementation at all. The term “moving the deck chairs on the Titanic“ comes to mind.
“If you need a new process and don’t install it, you pay for it without getting it”
Lack of Buy In
Other Key Stake Holders, misalignment
Okay, so we have the company owners buying in to a full and complete investigation into the possible (likely) implemenation of 5S or other Lean Methodology. How does the CEO feel? How does the Production Manager feel? Are these the new (and will they be continuing) Road Blocks?
Without buy-in at every level, even the best strategy stalls before it starts.
Be prepared, as the person leading the charge toward to 5S implementation, to be constantly chanting the mantra, as to “the need for ALL being engaged in the change at all times”. Your senior managers maybe the hardest people to convince that change is required as more than likely it is their system(s) you are trying to change.
You need to keep pointing out how the current system fails to add the Value that our customer deserves. You will do that by pointing out that the costs of reworks, the productivity losses and the customer claims their system provides the impact for needs to be fixed.
At this stage you must be prepared to lose people and you are going to lead the chopping off the head of the snake.
But it does not stop once you have buy in from your senior mnagement if their visions are not all the same. If they cannot agree on what success will look like and how that success will be achieved. You as the driver of this 5S methodology must drive and arrive at agreeance on three things,
What are WE trying to achieve?
How will WE measure it?
When will WE declare the implementation a success?
Once we have the leadership alignment fir those three points, our Road Blocks will be a thing of the past. While we want and need Buy In from everybody, without the Buy In from senior management being able to be seen, the implementation will lose the confidence from the middle manangement and the work force.
(Re) Building the Team
and outmoded communications
Distributed teams present one of the most common workplace road bloacks today. Decentralised workplaces make a 5S imlemenation that little bit more difficult. When people are not physically together, the informal communications disappear and the comraderie built also disappears. Conversations on the factory floor, lunch room banter and those moments of collaboration that just happen stop hapening when true leaders are in remote environments. As a result, you have to create them on purpose.
That means having the team get together in person as frequently as the business can handle, maybe you need to make the business be able to handle it more. It also means building structured opportunities for remote team connection.
A regular golf day, trips to common interests or even just a beer once a month for these leaders to become and stay a Leadership group.
How you communicate with your team is just as important as what you communicate. An inbox full of corporate emails prounouncing new SOP’s produces disengagement (and derision) rather than connection. Therefore, leaders who want to remove these obstacles at work need to think carefully about the channels, formats, and frequency of communication that actually reach their people.
People need to be made to feel human and important humans at that so relax a little from the fill on corporate “blah, blah“ hard sell with your leadership group at times.
Finally, it means making sure remote team members are genuinely included in projects and decisions, not just copied on emails.
The Budget
The budget is a actual factor but it is rarely the real roadblock. In fact, many of the most effective ways to remove these common roadblocks cost very little. What they require instead is time, intention and leadership consistency.
Before concluding that budget is the problem, examine whether the real issue are the points we have mentioned above.
That said, engagement does require investment. If your organization is not willing to allocate resources to the people who drive its results, that is a leadership values problem. No Buy In framework will fix that on its own.
“Real obstacles don't take you in circles. They can be overcome. Invented ones are like a maze” — Barbara Sher - Lifestyle Coach
Leaders Who Have Not Developed Engaging Habits
Hire a Consultant
Hiring a consultant will help you overcome what is the biggest roadblock by a significant margin.
Genuine employee engagement requires leaders to show up differently than most were trained to or what they have developed and shown as their “style“ on the job. A change in that style at tis point may have others questioning them.
Specifically, it requires vulnerability, consistency, honest feedback, and a genuine investment in people that goes beyond task management. For many leaders, that means changing deeply ingrained habits. Something that cannot be done
Change at that level rarely happens without structured support. This is exactly where and why a 5S consultant will normally produce better returns and a more fluent implementation for you returns. The right consultant accelerates the behavioral shift that makes engagement possible at the team level. In turn, that removes this roadblock at its source.
Some of the roadblocks you come up against will be easily fixed, some not. Over coming road blocks may require you to or others representing you to find the root cause of a problem before it can be fixed.
Next, we have a simple explanation and method to conducting a root cause analysys. It is well worth the time to take a look.
We will also need the ability to conduct a root cause analysis during the very important and long term S5 part of the 5S implementation, Sustain
Discover Root Cause Analysis
Recap and what is the next step