BECOMING LEAN by RICHARD KEEGAN

Author:RICHARD KEEGAN [KEEGAN, RICHARD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-84621-096-9
Publisher: NuBooks

12: LEVEL 1: TEAMS

The Lean approach places an emphasis on teams and team-working, which is essential in today’s highly competitive working environment, where the power of a well-functioning team can be the difference between success and failure.

Most companies can afford to buy or lease good equipment and machines. The difference between successful and unsuccessful companies often lies in how well they use these assets. The people working in a business or organisation add the value to its products or services. In the developing knowledge-based economic environment, businesses that harness the potential of their people will thrive, those that do not will find it difficult to survive.

We know this harnessing of individuals as building teams. There are clear and effective ways of bringing people together, to work together, for a common objective. This is the central point in relation to team-building – people need to have a common objective, a reason to work as a team, a goal. One can often see volunteers doing work, for free, that they would never do if they were being paid, because they are working to achieve an objective, a shared goal.

The same point applies in business. For people to work together as a team, there needs to be a reason to do so. Just bringing people together and calling them a team will not deliver teamwork.

It is essential that a real reason exists, or is created, for them to work together. Without this reason, they will continue to work as they had before – as individuals. The introduction of a shared objective, one that cannot be achieved by individual action, is useful to get the attention of all concerned.

A key factor for success, when trying to form a team in a business environment, is that management shows an ongoing interest in the activities of the team, as well as in the progress and results of the team. Unless people see that their efforts are both significant and important, they are unlikely to put much effort into developing this alien form of working. On the other hand, if management show an interest in the effort, if they monitor progress and introduce measures to ensure team-working is happening, people will respond and deliver on the benefits of team-working.

There is a lot known about the detail of team-building.

People in general fall into a number of categories:

Type A: Those who are inherently positive, who will try to deliver, who will take on new challenges and new ideas. These account for about 10% of a workforce.

Type B: The main body of people in a workforce, at both management and operational levels, accounting for about 85% of the workforce. These people want to see how things will work out before they commit to a new way of working. When, and if, they see the new way working, they are usually happy to join in.

Type C: The negative group, those who always seem to say “That won’t work!”. Quite often these are experienced people, with lots of skill and ability. Maybe they are right, maybe the new way won’t work, because they have seen a serious flaw.

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