Keeping the Ogres at Bay Part I Recently, I took some time off and started to reflect over the last few years at the work I had done with small and medium sized businesses. During this process I started to categorize the various improvement opportunities that were a constant at most organizations I worked with. Generally these opportunities were not the result of any one circumstance, but rather a collection of different opportunities to be worked on. Some opportunities were simple and just needed someone to help them document and standardize their processes or clarify roles and responsibilities other opportunities involved a little more time and strategy and included topics such as how to develop a training program, implementing a planned business culture or even how and where to gather and use data to help in decision making. Together these opportunities caused a lot of “pain” in the organizations because they did not have the tools to stop or recognize these opportunities as they showed up or how to address them. So they turned into what I like to call the “Ogre”. The Ogre is this monster of issues that slowly grows overtime because people find a way to work around the opportunity and either do not address or know how to address the Ogre when it appears. The Ogre is the first step of causing a business to spiral out of control, and it creates a dysfunctional work environment. Below is a little story based on my personal work experiences and those of some companies I have worked with. My hope is that I can demonstrate in a fun way how the Ogre gets into an organization and causes the mayhem that it does. The Ogre likes to sneak into an organization out of the blue. It prods and pokes at an organization until it can get inside and hide in the shadows. The Ogre is patient and will wait until no one is looking. Then the Ogre will come out quietly creeping around the shadows waiting for the opportunity to start is mischief. It finds a tool lying on the table it takes it from one location to another and leaving the tool on the other side of the building in an area that it doesn’t belong. Next the Ogre finds a storage area unlocked it start to get hungry and eats up all of the supplies and breaks the tools and leaves the pieces on the self in the storage area. The Ogre lets out a deep dark laugh as it spots a customer’s order request out on a desk. It needed it to wipe the drool from its foul mouth and is even so bold as to leave it crumpled and soaking wet a useless piece of paper back on the desk. At first no one notices that they have been invaded by the Ogre, the employees just move on with work like nothing has happened, even as it starts to take them longer to get their jobs done. As the jobs start to take longer and longer, the Ogre feeds off of the confusion and lost time leaving messes all over the work areas as the employees scramble trying to get things done. A crooked smile appears on the Ogres beastly face as employees spend their time looking for items that they don’t have and waiting for parts to be delivered that were never ordered. The poor customer a victim as well sits by their phone constantly checking their email wondering if they will ever get what they ordered. The customer thinks to themselves. “Did I make the right choice using this organization?”, “Should I use them again?” The Ogre sensing the chaos starts to turn up the heat by whispering half-truths in the dark corners of the organization meanwhile it looks for ways to fulfill its appetite for more waste. The employees start to hear the faint grumbling of voices from down the hall, “profits are down”, “Our order fulfillment is down”. The employees start to feel sick as they make their way back to their work areas. Next the Ogre waves its hand and as if magic the staff and management start finger pointing at each other. The owner(s) start yelling at the management team and the management team starts yelling at the staff. Employees start working longer hours and calling out more, material consumption starts to go up, mistakes start to happen, production goes down and overall expenses start to rise. The Ogre laughs as the staff spend all their time fighting fires and the customer starts to fall further and further away; until the customer is no more. The Ogre boldly walks out the front door. Mission accomplished. Now the Ogre searches for the next business to plunder as its appetite still needs to be fed. Does this sound familiar? This does not have to happen; most business owners and managers can raise defenses to help keep the Ogres of the world from entering their business. By implementing a few process tools businesses and employees can help keep the Ogre at bay. One of the most easiest and effective process tools is the idea of the 5Ss’. The 5Ss’ is a great tool to use to improve performance, customer satisfaction, and implement repeatable processes. The first step is to implement a 5S audit and make sure it becomes part of your company’s culture. 5S is basically the process of organization and standardization of the workplace. The 5S is based on five Japanese words each having a simple to understand but profound impact to both personal and work life. The five words are: a) Seire b) Seiton c) Seiso d) Seiketsu e) Shisoka The first word Seire (1S) means to sort and or clean out your work space. It implies that items that are alike or belong together should be grouped together and items that are not alike need to be removed. The second word Seiton (2S) is the concept of straightening out or to make sure items are “Shipshape” This is the idea that once items have been grouped together, each item needs to have a specific / defined location and the items are not just lying around randomly. The third word Seiso (3S) considers the relative condition of each item in the area and the area itself. This concept asks the following questions: 1) Is them item or area clean? 2) Are the items broken or do they need service? 3) Do the items need to be refilled or replaced? This concept is about looking at what you have and then making sure that what you have is correct and will serve your business needs. The fourth word Seiketsu (4S) refers to the ability to standardization and systemization of the work place area. It does not matter were the work place area is but rather where you work. It could be in a cubical, on a truck, or even a kitchen. The work area place should allow for anyone to come into the area and use the area. Finally the fifth word is Shisoka (5S), This is all about self-discipline, how well you can sustain, train and implement team work. Usually this is the hardest of the 5s theory to implement. In Part two of “Keeping the Ogres at Bay” I will discuss some simplified examples of how each S of the 5S theory works. If you want to get hold of me sooner you can email me at [email protected], phone me at 908-339-1293 or like my Facebook page to keep abreast of latest articles or pose a question. Thank you, Cory J. Hefner MIS, LSSBB Facebook page https://facebook/SigmaSmartConsulting
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 18:56:17 +0000
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