Coaching continuous improvement

The last several months we have followed the fictitious manufacturer Typical Fabrication Co. (TFC) in its lean journey. Each month we looked at the before and after of a lean transformation through the eyes of people we can all relate to: Sarah, TFC’s production manager; Carl, the production supervisor; Harry, the veteran laser cutting operator; and Mary, the welder fresh out of technical school.

This month we dive deep into what has become a common theme: coaching. It happens everywhere, from the top floor to the shop floor, and TFC’s lean transformation couldn’t have happened without it.

Objectives

Traditionally, managers simply dictated employees to do something differently without taking the time to build skills and make the new way of doing things sustainable. When the manager came back around to check, he invariably saw the old way creeping back, and holy heck broke loose! We can hardly expect to win hearts and minds in this manner. The coach must be patient, consistent, and empathetic.

A lean transformation often involves massive procedural and behavioral changes that require lots of work. How those changes are introduced and reinforced affect how well those changes will be sustained. Good coaching positively engages the person being coached (the learner). It builds capability and understanding about what is important, and it shows how to follow through and consistently perform work to meet business needs. This applies whether the person welds a part, supervises a department, or manages an entire plant.

A coach has three primary objectives:

1. Teach a specific topic. Coaching is most effective when it involves a single topic, and in the lean journey that topic usually involves process-oriented, technical, or interpersonal changes. Process changes can be about different part flows, previously spread-out work now captured in a cell, and new ways to handle information. Technical changes can be about tooling or machinery speeds and feeds. Interpersonal changes can involve new information flows with less paperwork and fewer reporting points, requiring people to interact with each other in different ways. In all these cases, the coach helps the employee build a skill around a single topic.

2. Create a learning environment. An effective coach creates a learning environment so that the employee has the greatest opportunity to be successful—that is, doing what’s expected consistently and correctly without a great deal of oversight.

Reasonably quiet surroundings ensure that both the coach and learner can focus. The coach can work with drawings, diagrams, or other visual examples so that the learning is tangible and visceral. Finally, the coach must be attentive, pick up on signs that signal how well the learner understands the content, recognize when the person may be intimidated, and understand when the person has reached his or her limit.

Sometimes coaching takes place on the shop floor, like for Harry and Mary (the laser cutting operator and welder, respectively). Other times it occurs at a shop desk, such as for Carl, the production supervisor. And other times it takes place in the front office, such as with Sarah, the production manager.

Sometimes coaching occurs during walks around the facility (gemba), both on the shop floor and around the office. Sometimes it happens in conference rooms and training rooms. The place really depends on where the most effective coaching can occur so that the new knowledge and behavior changes stick.

3. Expect results. Coaching is an investment in people. And as with any other investment, you should expect positive returns on that investment. Both the coach and learner should expect results that apply to the topic at hand. The coach asks questions to assess whether the person being coached understands exactly what needs to occur to make the new procedure and behavior happen. If, say, Carl does not understand what is expected from Sarah’s coaching, then Sarah has failed as a coach.

When Carl coaches Mary on a technical topic, such as a new welding procedure, he needs to make sure she understands how to perform the weld sequence in a different order, at different weld temperatures, or at adjusted feed rates. Not only this, Carl needs to make sure she understands that this is the new standard work process and that anything different will likely introduce variation.

Most important, Carl must help Mary understand why she needs to perform her work in a new way. It may improve quality, increase production rates, or create balanced flow. Whatever the benefit, Carl must make sure Mary understands and appreciates it. Through effective coaching, everyone at TFC should be expected to contribute to improved plant performance.

Coaching Effectively

As the people at TFC went through the lean evolution (although improvement never really stops, of course), they began with rather crude and elementary coaching. Some caught on quickly; others went through the motions; and still others kept their heads down, thinking that these crazy ideas would pass sooner or later.

As the lean journey progressed, more people took coaching (both giving and receiving) seriously, and the coaching process became more refined. You should expect this same sort of coaching maturity as you progress in your lean journey.

To ramp up the coaching efforts at your company, consider the following:

• Set an acceptable pace. As a coach, you must evaluate the person’s ability to absorb and respond to information. This is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Some will respond quickly, while others may need more time. To ensure a quality outcome, work with the person you are coaching to set an acceptable pace for both of you.

• Reflect. Great coaches take time to reflect on coaching and how they contribute to the process. Take a deep inward look and ask, What did I accomplish? What were my coaching weaknesses? How will I do this better next time? and What did I learn from coaching the other person? The answers to these and other questions can be quite humbling!

• Understand the learner’s needs. Do they need more input? Is the topic something completely new or is it a refresher? Have they been coached before or is it the first time? Do they catch on quickly to conceptual ideas, or do they need tangible examples and evidence? Do they respond well to critical input or get defensive and dig in their heels? The better the coach understands the person to be coached, the better the outcome.

• If roles were reversed, would you do it differently? If you were the person being coached (and you will be at some point), what would you do differently? Your answer may help you develop as a coach and keep you from overlooking things you take for granted. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. The person you coach is, in effect, the “customer” of your coaching process.

• Be patient. This can be a real challenge for the traditional supervisor or manager. In the command-and-control environment, you tell someone what to do and expect it to get done. If that person cannot do it, you get someone else! Moving along the lean maturity curve, companies replace command-and-control structures with processes that inform and develop employees, then expect results. In other words, supervisors become coaches.

Each coaching interaction is looked upon as a development project, whether it is a lead person showing an assembler a new job, a supervisor introducing a process change to the material handler, the production manager guiding the supervisor on how to better appraise employee performance, or the CEO helping the vice president to more effectively communicate the company’s operating principles. In every case, the coach needs to be patient so that the person being coached has time to absorb, learn, and act.

• Define what’s in it for the learner, the coach, and the company. In other words, “What’s in it for me?” The clearer your answer, the more effective the outcomes will be.

As to what’s in it for the person being coached, it may be about learning a new skill to open opportunities for increased compensation or a different career path. For the coach, it may be about finally getting absolute clarity about how a job is to be performed. For the company, it may be about increased employee satisfaction and improved economic performance.

Who’s Coaching Whom?

Who does the coaching? In the beginning of the lean journey, it is a few people; later in the lean journey, it is most people. Coaching changes how everyone at the company, from the CEO down, interacts.

Who is coaching at TFC? In previous columns, we explored how Harry worked with his second-shift counterpart in the laser cutting cell to rearrange materials to improve flow and reduce waste. Harry may well have coached his peer to get this accomplished.

Carl, the production supervisor, changed from being an iron-fisted boss to a leader who pushed decisions down deeper into the organization and, in doing so, built up the capability of his team. Carl was coaching to make the changes sustainable and effective.

Finally, we saw Sarah, the production manager, be a coach as she helped the leaders at the plant understand and implement overall flow improvements in the shop.

Once TFC was well along its lean journey, most people, from the top floor to shop floor, became coaches. Are you developing coaching skills at your company? Who are your Harry, Mary, Carl, and Sarah equivalents? Are they being developed to be effective coaches?