(part of the Total Quality Leadership (TQL) series)
How an organization achieves world class quality excellence depends on its leaders within the organization, at all levels of the organization. Whether your organization has just started its quality journey with ISO certification or is ready to apply for the world renowned Deming award, the critical success factor to world class quality excellence…it’s all in the leadership!
I believe the leadership skills that make an environment successful are the same skills learned on the playground. Today's skill, team building.
Children love everyone! The eagerly want to join others and play. They pick their friends and others they believe will help them win the game for their side. They help each other out and they enjoy interacting with each other. They learn the rules of the game(s) and follow them. They learn what happens if they do not follow the rules of the game(s). Their parents or other adults are there to oversee they play agreeably.
Let's identify true team-based environments using one example of what should be a very simple process. Do your associates schedule their vacations and days off with the approval of their team mates (the people they work with 8 hours a day and who are the ones directly impacted by their absence?) or
is there still a signature process that involves a litany of people up the "management chain" - supervisors, managers, HR? if yes, why? Ninety percent of the responses suggest the "team" is unable to "make those kind of decisions".
If, as a supervisor or above, you are still spending your time signing off on vacation or time off requests (except for your direct staff) you are unnecssarily adding to the cost of a simple process and negatively impacting the growth of your staff to becoming a self-directed work team. (see blog, ABCM 7/14 and 7/19)
In a true team based environment,
1.) the associate team (those that work together 8 hours a day) would deliberate the "request for absences" at the morning associate team meeting. “Absences or request for time off” would be listed as an agenda item (daily, weekly, monthly— depending on the size of the business).
(the team leader would share the work or tasks for the week in a daily “data-exchange” agenda item)
2.) Together, the associate team would evaluate the team leader's input and make their "yes, no" decision. The team leader would assist in the process only if needed.
The prelude for the above team process is:
1. We have educated the associates on the process of “decision-making" in a team building class.
· We have implemented job / skill sharing (some still use the vernacular "cross training") with each member on the team.
2. We have educated the associates on the company policy specifics for “time off”. (identify the rules)
· My policy: we will not hire temporary worker(s) for the job; the work will not fall behind (read: job / skill sharing [cross training] has taken place).
3. My policy: All desk procedures are written and up-to-date. (identify the rules and what happens if they are not followed)
· "Your vacation will be interrupted if something happens and no one knows what to do. This will also negatively impact your request the next time you ask for time off. It will also be noted in your performance review."
Just as we do with children, if we share the rules of the game (read: set policy) with our team, they should be able to carry them out (read: implement the procedure) and be held accountable for their decisions. Decision-making is an invaluable skill for the team to learn. It is the basis for any problem solving technique. Vacations and time off is one that impacts them directly. Teaching them how to approve or disapprove this request is a good start to their skill set addition.
This is but one example of how true team-based environments should operate. Does yours? If not, why not?
No comments:
Post a Comment