You can sit this one out, boss

Each shop and business is wired differently in terms of communicating and accomplishing tasks. Some hold daily meetings or rely on computers and paperwork to spread the word. Our shop communicates mostly through word-of-mouth and drawings with notes.

Because we don’t have a huge paper trail or email hierarchy, jobs often can be processed almost instantly, which can be an advantage over some larger shops. As we become busier, that’s when it gets a little hairy. Quality and due dates become issues, and ultimately we can suffer from rushing jobs through the shop.

Sometimes bad things happen, and when it happens to us, all we can do is shake our heads, work through it, and try to prevent it from happening again. We had some issues recently with quality. These were mainly issues on minor bullet points that were missed as parts were about to leave the shop. These parts should never have been put on a pallet to ship, and when we discovered that they were and confronted employees, each said, “I didn’t know.”

It came down to everyone being so busy that they were relying on the next guy to do it. A business can’t operate like this, and ours normally doesn’t. We had to nip it in the bud. My dad, the boss, held a meeting to talk about current jobs in the shop and others that were on the horizon. This helped in some areas, but we weren’t as focused on some of the issues as I would have liked.

Dad came from a corporate culture where meetings were held consecutively for days on end. He doesn’t want his shop to be run like that, so we don’t hold meetings regularly; he would rather be doing instead of talking. I agree with this principle, but some of the guys feel the pressure of putting product out the door and can’t focus on other areas that would help their job flow.

We decided to hold a meeting without the boss there. I picked a day when he was going to see a new customer a few hours away. It was the perfect time to get some things off my chest. I put up a couple signs in the shop by the water cooler and the time clock so there was no excuse for not knowing about it. I had plenty of bullet points written down, and I asked the shop supervisor, Nick Trueheart, to give me some ideas.

The day of the meeting, dad said his appointment had been moved to the next week, so he would be there. In the best way possible, I told him I would rather not have him attend. As with any business, the employees would be more open in discussion without the person who signs their paychecks standing there.

During the meeting, I went through my bullet points, which included cleaning, job flow, working as a team, eliminating simple questions, and other items. The meeting went well, and one of the biggest things we learned was that the guys felt so much pressure to get parts out the door that they were missing things between the lines. The answers to many questions were on drawings and displayed on our digital signage, but they were overwhelmed with tasks piling up on their plate. Ultimately, when completing jobs, the guys needed to step up and stop relying on the next guy to finish the task.

There was no finger pointing in the meeting because we made it very clear that our company name was on our parts and products, not an individual’s. It was nice not having the boss there; the guys definitely let their guards down a little and weren’t afraid to talk about anything that was bothering them. There was a little better flow to jobs after the meeting. Parts were moved to the next process accordingly, and there was more communication. It is better to keep a consistent pace, making sure parts are completed correctly rather than rushing through the job.

I think weekly or biweekly meetings would be a happy medium for a shop of our size. I’m not saying the boss doesn’t need to be there, but an occasional meeting without him or her may clear up some haze within the shop. In the end, every shop is different, but communication is the key to making any job flow smoothly.

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