During one of my recent client visits, a Team Leader told me that one of his Team Members “refuses” to follow the Standardized Work for the daily production process. The TL explained that he’s reminded the team (and this individual) several times to follow the current best-known process steps. Despite this, the “guy keeps doing the process his own way.” The TL went on to show me the written process and some time-study data he had taken. The rest of team follow the process and get the expected job-times. This individual does the process “his own way” and it takes him about 25% more time.

In our wrap-up meeting at the end of my visit—which included the TL, Production Manager, and General Manager of the Company—we discussed what to do.

Before I share what we decided, here are two “Juicy Quotes” on this topic from Lean turnaround expert Art Byrne. If you are experiencing a similar situation, perhaps these will reassure you that you are not alone in your challenges.

“Standard work refers to the standard way in which any value-adding job (the work) needs to be done. Everyone who is doing this job needs to do it in the exact same way.…Establishing standard work is extremely important for your Lean transformation…For most companies making the Lean transition, getting people to follow the standard work is the hard part.”  The Lean Turnaround by Art Byrne (McGraw Hill, 2013) pp. 42-43.

“Another issue you will have has no simple fix: getting everyone to adhere to standard work. There will always be a few associates—at every level of an organization—who are incredibly reluctant to follow standard work. Don’t expect to solve this overnight, either. This one will test not only your leadership, but also your perseverance. You have to constantly stay on top of this.”  The Lean Turnaround by Art Byrne (McGraw Hill, 2013) p. 105.

We decided to do 3 things:

1. I will conduct a training session for the team on “The Purpose and Power of Standards.” We realized that members of this team were almost all fairly new employees. Most of them have joined the company AFTER my initial teaching on Lean. They therefore missed some of the material on Standardized Work. In the training, I will cover that the “Lean” approach expects everyone to follow the current standard process. I will attempt to convince the team of the many powerful benefits of all following standardized work. I will also share that if Team Members find a better way, we will test it and quickly adopt it if it is proven to be better.
   
2. The Production Manager and General Manager plan to attend my training and will jump in with comments affirming to the team that they expect workers to follow existing standardized work.
   
3. After the training, the Team Leader will keep an eye on the worker. If he continues to NOT follow standardized work, the TL will get the Group Leader involved. (At this company—as with many Lean companies—the Team Leader doesn’t have authority to discipline a Team Member. But the Group Leader does.)

I don’t know much about the individual worker who was failing to comply. Perhaps he IS being insubordinate. But we should maximize the chance that he can come around. People CAN change. We decided to take our time and make sure the expectation is clear that Standardized work should be followed.

I like the approach that this company decided to take. In my view, it’s people-centered and patient. It’s a good response to a challenging situation that will “…test not only your leadership, but also your perseverance.”