Managers Must Attack the Process, Not Just the Problem

By: Bill Lee
Submitted: 2007-01-17 11:53:48
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A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to accompany a manager on a tour of his physical facilities. As we walked around the yard and through the warehouses, the manager spotted several housekeeping issues that disturbed him. Each time this happened, he would seek out an employee, angrily point out the problem and tell him to take care of it.

"I get so frustrated with these people out [on the yard]", he told me. "Every time I'm out here, I find material that has not been stored properly, piles of trash that should have been picked up and thrown in the dumpster and bunks of lumber that are not stacked correctly. I don't know what else to do to motivate our people to pay attention to detail. It's little things like this that eventually lead to big problems."

The problem I saw with this manager is that he is attacking the problem instead of the process. He is dealing with surface issues, not the root cause.

When you dig a little deeper into situations like these, you usually find that the employees are accustomed to a management style that doesn't establish performance standards and hold workers accountable for maintaining those standards. Instead, management has gotten into the habit of taking potshots when something is spotted that is not exactly right.

In my work with lumber dealers, I've found that the managers who get the best results are the ones who sit down with their middle managers and agree on the big picture; that is, what the yard is supposed to look like. Once agreement is reached, standards are set.

One of the most effective managers I know carries a small camera on his belt and takes a quick photograph of anything he sees on the yard or in a warehouse that doesn't meet agreed-to standards. At his weekly operations meeting, he displays the photographs and asks these kinds of questions:

• Do you agree that these conditions do not meet the standards we agreed upon? (Let's assume that the middle managers agree.)

• What action have you taken to correct these inconsistencies?

• Are housekeeping standards given enough attention during the orientation process for new employees?

• Do our people have the resources they need to meet the standards we agreed upon?

• Are our housekeeping standards being covered in weekly operations meetings?

• Are our systems and procedures manuals up to date?

Lines of authority: Managers who make it a habit of giving orders to employees who don't report directly to them are usurping the middle managers' authority. In an emergency, of course this is acceptable, but not if this kind of behavior is routine.

Try this: When you spot a problem, something that violates agreed-to standards, focus on the process and not just on the individual problem. When the process is fixed, odds are the problem will be fixed, as well.

Bill Lee is author if 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot ($21.95) plus $6 S&H for the first book and $1 for each additional book. To order, see Shopping Cart at http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com Or if you prefer to order via telephone, call Bill Lee's private voice mail box (800-808-0534) and leave your mailing address and credit card number.

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