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Support your internal problem solvers
Every organization has a need for firemen – groups/teams that fix issues for the success of the team and the business. I have never heard of a fireman giving the owner of the burning house a lecture or complaining they had to come out at night to put out the fire.
How do you hold yourself accountable?
What is it that you do to hold yourself accountable to your own actions? Do your words equal your actions? Now its personal and maybe uncomfortable. However, if we hold ourselves accountable – then others shouldn’t have to.
“Be Intentional” Little words. Big ramifications
“Be Intentional” is as much a reminder to myself as it is to “all y’all” reading this. Everything we do, we are responsible for our thoughts, emotions, actions, and motives. We own who we are and how we behave. Granted we can’t control what happens to us but we can control how we respond.
Let your actions equal the who, what, when, where and how of your team’s execution
Are various parts of your team struggling to work together? Make sure their targets and metrics are not at cross purposes. When team members are set up with conflicting goals, instead of rowing in one direction, you may end up rowing in circles.
Is the glass really half empty?
My dad taught me how to play checkers. We played and played until one day I started beating him. Then one day he showed up at the dining room table with a chessboard. All new rules. All new strategy. A whole new game.
The ever changing role of the SME
SMEs not only provide expertise, they do it fast. By recognizing that you might not get the answers at the speed you are used to, you can overcome the lag by adding time -where beneficial- to the schedule or maybe it’s hiring two people where you used to have one, etc. Organizing around the need will allow you time to re-establish the expertise you need.
3 strategies to clarify your communication
Like calling a time out, either person or even someone listening would say “I think we are talking past each other”. It meant we are not talking about the same thing, or we are not getting anywhere understanding each other. It meant it was time to reset the conversation so understanding and communication could take place.
Finding your circle’s touch points
Overlap is a catalyst to change. It creates an environment to share. It invites people to be curious and ask questions that could get you thinking about something you have never thought about. It promotes continuous improvement.
Learning how to play the “gray” scales
If an organization has no processes and uses only flexible solutions (one offs / different every time), it will soon overtax its resources. Over time the organization will drown in the urgent with no time for the important.
Priorities and Resources. Do you have time for one but not both?
Understanding your priorities is the starting place of prioritizing the resources. We all only have 24 hours in a day and while some things “just have to get done” – identifying those…
Leadership, and Then Some
This blog focuses on things that make a manufacturing team strong and healthy.
Meet the author.