by Lee Fried, on 31 Jul 2007 07:45 am
The Journey
Checking
I had an interesting debate last week with a manager that believed that by instituting a checking process for management we were embedding waste into our process just like an inspection step on a work team. This manager was frustrated, because she felt that by “checking” she was disrespecting her employees and showing that she did not trust them. I countered that if done correctly checking was about showing respect for employees. It was about seeking to understand the challenges of the system from the customers perspective and removing them. Its about making worker smarter, simpler and more enjoyable. Its about having opportunities to make problems visible, to learn, to teach and often most importantly to listen.
I understand why the manager is frustrated with the idea of checking. She is a good manager and has invested a lot of time and energy in building up her team. In the organization the work “check” has a negative cogitation, because in our traditional management system it has most often been associated with performance management, employee appraisals, etc. So when a group of consultants start asking her to follow a new process she is bound to resist. In order to win her support we need to teach her why this form of “checking” is not about finding people performing poorly its about finding system performance issues.
While from an ideal state the manager might have an arguement that the checking itself is waste, but I believe there is a high value if it is done correctly. In fact, from my perspective our focus on establishing standard work for management with a regular checking process is one of the most important things we are doing this year in the Model Line area. Why? For many reason, but most important is the short-term we need to change management behavior at all levels by getting them more involved in the actual work. They need to understand what happens in their departments from a system perspective and why it his happening. With checking comes understand and the best opportunities to learn and teach.
In order to force this behavior change we are asking managers to follow a standard checking process. Once every eight weeks the VP over the Division visits every work team under him and seeks to understand by asking a standard set of questions. In order to support the process each work team has a visual system up, which tracks measures and shares improvement activities. The VP is seeking to teach managers through out the Division how to manage with data and facts, how to identify root causes and how to take responsibility for problems. The first time he visits a team and asks a set of questions they really don’t know what to do, but when two month later he comes back and asks the same set of questions they begin to take him seriously. Over time we have found a correlation between the teams that have visited and the highest levels of improvement. The VP is also requiring that all of his direct reports institute their own checking processes and many of them are requiring their managers to do the same.
As the entire Division begins to embrace the checking process I believe the rate of learning will greatly increase as will our ability to sustain improvements. I guess time will tell…
on 31 Jul 2007 at 6:51 pm 1.Mark Graban said …
Lee, are you referring to what some call “standard work audits”? You’re right, this is a necessary role for leadership at all levels, since we can’t (for the patient’s sake) just assume that standard work is going to be followed because we said so, as leaders.
It might seem to disrespect the employee you’re checking, but I’ve found that if you emphasize that it’s for the patients and to make sure EVERYONE is following the standard work, it gets more acceptance. Every employee seems to have the complaint that other people aren’t doing it the right way…
on 02 Aug 2007 at 7:31 pm 2.Ted Eytan said …
Hey Lee, just a remark of how cool it is that the people you serve are now so passionate about improvement.
You mentioned that you were going to force a behavior change. Is there a way to enable the change to come from within?
on 06 Aug 2007 at 10:50 am 3.Lee Fried said …
Thanks both of you for your comments. I agree with Mark, that often at first standard work and systems changes need to be forced. Maybe forced is not the right word, rather reinforced might be better. In the current environment of large scale change problems become visible often and quickly. The natural reaction by managers and staff is to go back to “old ways” that are comfortable. The checking process allows management to identify sustainability issues and then put counter-measures in place. Over time, if reinforced the checking process will become simply part of the management system. In order to enable the change from within it is our job and the job of the leaders to demonstrate why it is important through leading by example.
Thanks again,
Lee
on 06 Aug 2007 at 11:12 am 4.Anon Consultant said …
Yes, you do have to check employees. And someone HAS to be checking the managers!!
It’s very, very, VERY common for managers to NOT hold their people accountable. Why is this? It’s very frustrating. Managers will complain, “so and so isn’t following the process.”
Hello! Do something about it.
The way some managers “disempower” themselves (”I can’t do anything about it”) and then play the victim (”my people won’t follow a process”) is incredibly dysfunctional and I’ve seen it in many hospitals. These “managers” are an embarrassment to the profession of management. They’re certainly nowhere close to being leaders, which we need more of, too.
Hospitals have a huge advantage, over the manufacturing sector, in that the supervisors typically move up the ranks. They know (or did know) the jobs being done by employees. But, they are weaker in terms of management skills and backbone. They’re not given training in how to be a manager. So, a lot of times ‘lean’ work is really just basic ‘management 101.”
How do we improve the level of management in healthcare? One manager at a time, I guess.
on 13 Aug 2007 at 2:59 am 5.Jeremy Seerveld said …
Getting management onboard is key, as is getting them the proper training. Every manager has there own “ways”, of enforcing/monitoring there people. Standardizing the way work/progress is checked is very important in my opinion. Leading my example is not only for the employees, but for other managers. Once things become standard it will be obvious who is not “onboard”.