Who is Bill Gaw?
And why should we listen to him?
Manufacturing Management Training
Strategic Planning
PART VI.
|
Team Selection At the beginning of Phase 1, the MIS organization reported separately through three different parts of the Company (Operations, Finance and Customer Service.) Since reporting was split and our leadership was not clearly defined, we carefully selected a small team (six of us) representing all parts of the 125-person department. No area was excluded, ensuring support from all department constituencies. When planning Phase 2, we decided to balance empowerment with personal accountability by naming team leaders for each issue. The team leaders, we stressed, would be personally responsible for their issues, and would deliver the presentation to top management themselves. This "created a crisis" and made it personal for each of them. We asked for volunteers, who submitted a statement of qualifications; we hand-picked the leaders by consensus of the Phase 1 veterans. We chose a combination of well-established MIS leaders and those we believed were future leaders. Loose/Tight Work Plan Work plans were developed for both phases. These work plans drew on a formal MIS strategic planning methodology (see Figure 4) for the approach and early (data gathering) activities. Later activities, however, were intentionally left open-ended (loose). In this way, we avoided the "fallacy of formalization" discussed earlier. Our group worked hard not to over-structure the plan (and thus prejudge the outcome of the project). But we needed enough structure to guide the project and keep it moving toward a timely conclusion. Missing deadlines would risk our credibility. Modest adjustments to the work plan were made throughout the project, as we learned from experience. The final deliverables of both phases were different than any of us could have envisioned in the beginning (a good measure of true learning!)In Phase 2, our workplan started with the presentation date we had committed to, and backscheduled the tasks that must produce it. We established key milestones around the presentation but left detailed planning up to the project leaders. We stressed their autonomy in running their teams, subject only to the macro dates we had signed up for. Team leaders chose their team members, set their own meeting schedules, and ran their teams as they chose. The core group coordinated and assisted individual teams as needed. Keep the End in Mind One early lesson learned by all successful project managers is the need to maintain a vigilant focus on the desired project outcome. As Steven Covey says, "begin with the end in mind."6 For change projects, this means identifying the target audience (the person or group who must approve or implement the desired change). It also means identifying outputs or outcomes from the project during the planning phase, and building tasks into the plan to ensure that all outputs will be produced. Finally, each output must be adequately time-phased so that the project will meet its overall deadline. The change project manager is responsible for seeing that this focus is developed and sustained throughout the project.World Class Manufacturing Menu lean
six sigma success six
sigma presentations success Survey of Key Leaders Early in Phase 1, we recognized the need to assess top management's mindset toward MIS (before seeking to change it.) To do this, we surveyed and interviewed key top and middle managers. We mailed an interview questionnaire containing specific questions, and followed with a personal interview. The questions began with specific business issues and directions, and subtly (we thought) moved to attitudes toward MIS. Though these interviews yielded few truly new issues, they effectively revealed the mindsets operating at the senior management level. This proved to be critical when we later set to change those mindsets. It helped us understand our target audience. Literature Search and Sharing We read everything we could find that related to our subject. This included MIS and business publications, periodicals, books, consultants' briefings, business and technical research reports, financial analysts' reports, competitor analyses, futurists' predictions, vendor propaganda, and more. Everybody was copied on everything we found. In this way, we educated ourselves, focused on the "whole system," and built a database of research that supported our findings. Use of Graphics and Metaphors Given management's preference for left-handed style material, we borrowed and created metaphors and relied on graphics for the presentations. This was both more interesting and more effective for our audience. When people enjoy a presentation, they are more open to its influence. To be Continued STAY CONNECTED To stay current on lean manufacturing process and best practices, you can subscribe to our free weekly bulletin, "Manufacturing Basics and Best Practices (MBBP)." Simply fill in the below form and click on the "Subscribe Now Button." We'll also send you our free Special White Paper Report, "8-Basics of Lean Manufacturing for Personal and Company Success." Your personal information will never be disclosed to any third party. privacy policy Here's what one of our subscribers said about MBBP Bulletins: "Great articles. Thanks for the insights. I often share portions of your articles with my staff and they too enjoy them and fine aspects where they can integrate points into their individual areas of responsibilities. Thanks again." Kerry B. Stephenson. President. KALCO Lighting, LLC Manufacturing
Knowledge you’ll not find at offsite
Lean
Manufacturing Training for anyone ... anywhere ... anytime Email: Click
here Privacy Policy |