By J.R. McGee
\nMaster Black Belt, Founder and CEO, X-Stream Leadership Group<\/p>\n
Most of us today are comfortable with understanding and using Lean and Six Sigma tools for developing new processes and gaining control of our data. We get to practice them daily, and for the most part, it\u2019s not really that hard to use the tools!\u00a0 What is<\/em> difficult is implementing and sustaining the new processes and changes our teams come up with during their events and projects for the long-term!<\/p>\n I\u2019ve now lead, facilitated, and\/or coached more than 750 improvement projects around the world as a Master Black Belt Sensei. \u00a0I\u2019ve trained and certified 73 Master Black Belts, with three more in a current training wave.\u00a0 I\u2019ve experienced much of the sustainability issues firsthand and have struggled with them just like you! Because of that experience, I\u2019ve learned that there are techniques you can use and a structure you can put into place to go from a 60% to 80% failure rate for new ideas, to a 70%+ rate of success for sustaining new ideas and changes for 12 months or longer.\u00a0 The real key to all of this is what happens after<\/u><\/strong> the event!<\/p>\n Failure Mode 1: Believing that the things discussed in the Project Out-Brief will happen just because they are good ideas and everybody \u201cliked it\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the most common failure mode and the one that is easiest to overcome.\u00a0 The main problem is that people believe that they can \u201cget things done\u201d on top of<\/u><\/strong> what they are already doing.\u00a0 Forgive me, but very<\/u> few people show up to our events \u201clooking for something to do.\u201d\u00a0 Without exception, getting the people you need is like pulling teeth!\u00a0 They are already so busy with their regular jobs that they often have a problem attending the project meetings.\u00a0 And we think they are going to have all kinds of time to put the changes in place?\u00a0 Far from it!\u00a0 We have to adapt an \u201cinstead of<\/u><\/strong>\u201d approach if we are going to have any chance of success.\u00a0 Just like when these people go on vacation or are out sick, somebody should be covering for their work.\u00a0 If there is nobody, shame on you!\u00a0 That is simply poor management 101.\u00a0 Actively find someone who can cover for your\/their schedule a couple of hours a day or for a 4-hour block during the week so that you have specific<\/u> dedicated time to work on your Action Items. Waiting until you have \u201cfree time\u201d is a plan to fail!<\/p>\n Failure Mode 2: Having a poor (or worse, no<\/u>) effective Communications Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve lost track of how many times a Team Lead has told me \u201cI\u2019ll just send out an e-mail to let people know what we\u2019re doing.\u201d E-mail is great to transmit status, provide proof you did or said something (CYA of the first magnitude), and for reaching out to friends to make informal plans.\u00a0 However, e-mail is horrible<\/u> for communicating information!\u00a0 Everyone who is going to use or be affected by the new changes to the process needs to get first-hand information about the Who, What, When, Where, How, and How Often so that they not only know what<\/u> to do when the time comes, but they know when<\/u> to do it as well. Do not just read PowerPoint bullets \u201cat\u201d them or give them a hand-out; make your communications personal and tailor them to how each person wants to receive information.\u00a0 Make it hands-on; let them do a simulation of the new process.\u00a0 Walk them through it and have them \u201cwork through\u201d the new way so that they can generate questions and develop a solid situational awareness of what is going to change, what they specifically are going to need to do differently, and when these changes actually take place.\u00a0 Just telling people that something is going to change is another gold-plated road to failure.<\/p>\n Failure Mode 3:<\/strong> Having little or no effective accountability.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is most often reflected in identifying who is responsible for each Action Item.\u00a0 If more than one person is listed, or worse, \u201cthe team\u201d is listed, you are truly on track to fail spectacularly.\u00a0 As Admiral Hyman Rickover once famously stated, \u201cIf you can\u2019t put your finger in the bellybutton of the person responsible, NO ONE<\/u> is responsible!\u201d\u00a0 He was precisely correct.\u00a0 When responsibility is shared, accountability disappears.\u00a0 More than one person may be required to accomplish an item or an action.\u00a0 But I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that each Action Item has one, and only<\/u> one person responsible to answer for the success or failure of that item!<\/p>\n Failure Mode 4:<\/strong> Allowing the \u201cTyranny of the Urgent\u201d to overwhelm the execution of the important!<\/strong><\/p>\n This is most often reflected in having little or no effective follow-up or follow-through.\u00a0 I see this most often when the Facilitator or the Team Lead does not hold regular and routine meeting to report status and discuss progress and problems.\u00a0 Remember, people already have plenty to do every day!\u00a0 I find that meeting every two weeks for an hour seems to be ideal for most situations.\u00a0 Meeting every week can become a burden, and every three weeks or more tends to allow things to become forgotten or be overwhelmed in the day-to-day struggle.\u00a0 Also, color-code the status of your Action Items.\u00a0 Blue can represent 100% completed, Green says everything is on-track and on schedule; Yellow indicates behind schedule or you\u2019ve encountered unexpected resistance; and Red indicates a major failure or an inability to implement with current resources or permissions.\u00a0 For your hour-long meeting, only focus on the Reds, then the Yellows if you have time.\u00a0 It is a serious de-motivator for your team members to sit and listen to the Greens and Blues, especially if they do not affect them.\u00a0 Wasting people\u2019s time is not a good way to get them to come to future meetings!\u00a0 Last, do not spend time letting people \u201cexplain why it won\u2019t work.\u201d That is a complete waste of everyone\u2019s time.\u00a0 Only allow people to discuss what they are going to do to solve the problem and how they are going to achieve the desired outcome!<\/p>\n These are just a few of the things you can do to significant improve your success in actually implementing major change in your organization.\u00a0 Now go out there and change your world!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Learn more about the ways we can help you with your\u00a0Six Sigma<\/a> and Continuous Improvement needs<\/a>, or\u00a0contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By J.R. McGee Master Black Belt, Founder and CEO, X-Stream Leadership Group Most of us today are comfortable with understanding and using Lean and Six Sigma tools for developing new processes and gaining control of our data. We get to practice them daily, and for the most part, it\u2019s not really that hard to use […]","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":31021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n