Aligned Area Owners are the glue that holds things together – Part 1

I took a site visit to a new client that runs a paper mill in Oklahoma. After a full day of meeting the leadership team and touring the factory, we agreed to a series of Kaizen events, starting with two 5S events, one in the paper mill building, and the other one in the converting building. Talk about night and day! Here’s the first story about what happens when the area owner wasn’t aligned. (And to learn about the experience when the area owner is aligned, be sure to read Part II.)

I should have seen the warning signs. In the weeks leading up to the first Kaizen event, Joe, my team leader, and Frank, my sponsor, spoke about how they originally wanted Julie, responsible for the area, to be  team leader. She wasn’t on board with the idea of leading the event, or even working to improve the productivity and safety of her  storage and supply areas. She was going to be on the team, but it didn’t sound like something she wanted to do. I advised Joe to try to bring her on board willingly, as this event would directly impact the work she did in a positive way. We had two team members from the other side of the plant who would be involved in the following month’s Kaizen event.

On the first day, it was immediately apparent Julie didn’t want to be there. She was the resource the maintenance technicians relied on to acquire supplies for their work orders. Julie was very guarded when she spoke and said little, unless called on directly (which happened a few times). When we took our Gemba walk, every space looked like a tornado hit, including Julie’s office. Our measure for success was equipment find and retrieval time. Our goal was to cut it by 75% or more. I knew it should be an easy win. Except for Julie’s continued negative comments and lack of enthusiasm for the work. Her toxic attitude was impacting other team members. I spoke with Joe at an early break, just to stay aligned. Julie worked for him, so he was aware of her general attitude at work.

Once we started sorting through tons of equipment and supplies, the team became engaged and was having fun. We removed more than 50% of large and small items throughout three critical spaces. Now it became easy to organize things in a way that made finding items quick and safe. We were able to take everything off of the floor, so access to shelves didn’t require the movement of items out of the way to get to what was needed.

At the afternoon break on the first day, Julie made a negative comment about the work we were doing. I talked with Joe and asked him to speak with her to understand what was behind her comment. He rolled his eyes, but agreed to talk with her. When he returned from the conversation, he tried to shake off her comment as if she was concerned our efforts wouldn’t be sustained.

As the week progressed, Julie’s negative comments were more frequent, and other team members were affected by her negative vibe. On the evening of the second day, I spoke with our overall sponsor, the plant manager, to make him aware and also to understand what could be going on with Julie. After all, the space now looked fantastic and the rest of the team was excited about the changes they made. He said he’d keep an eye on things and speak with her directly, if needed. He even spent a few hours helping the team out cleaning up the areas. This was true leadership commitment.

On the third day, something set Julie off, and she stormed out of the meeting room. She felt the need to speak with the plant manager. He reminded her of how critical it was for her to participate and support the work of the team. It was directly beneficial for her job and the jobs of those she supported. She came back to the team in a slightly better frame of mind.

The rest of the week went well, but things went sideways when it came time to put the Area Owner board together. Julie didn’t want to be the official owner, but we didn’t let that stop us. Joe knew it had to be her, in order for our work to be sustained. So, we mounted the board, daily audit, weekly audit and tracking, and Julie’s photo and contact details on the board and did an initial assessment of the space. We also timed six random individuals to find and retrieve materials and supplies in the space. We easily beat our Kaizen objectives and the team was excited. Everyone, that is, except Julie.

At the report out, it wasn’t surprising that Julie didn’t participate by presenting part of the team’s story. She sat in the audience quietly and didn’t even make eye contact with any of the presenters, who were telling a very positive, winning story.

At the wrap up with Joe and Frank, we reviewed the great efforts and results by the team, in spite of Julie’s toxic behavior. We were hopeful she’dcome around, once she realized this effort was directly going to help her daily work. But we also knew there would be extra effort to support this first 5S space and keep things moving forward.

I left the plant feeling conflicted. On one hand, we had a strong win and team members were inspired to take this work forward to other locations. On the other hand, we had an owner who didn’t demonstrate the leadership behavior required.

I believe Julie felt exposed. In the past, she was the “go-to” person for any needs from the maintenance organization. Now, they would be more self-sufficient and not need her as much. Continuing to act and feel the way she did and does (2 months later), the system won’t be sustained without intervention or the introduction of a new Area Owner.