Lead from the front !

What is Leader’s role when things are not happening?

It is not uncommon in the Business that you do not get results as you want them. Sales may not be happening as you planned. You would have got into a new market and things are not happening on the ground. The team seems to be doing everything well. But you still do not have results. The growth in the sales that you thought will happen is simply not happening. Sometimes, when the demand is very good the Production may not be taking off at all. You seem to be doing 85% of the target. All your expenses are happening for 100% of the Sales. Your profit is getting washed away. Your customers are actively searching for new sources as they are tired of chasing your team. 

This can happen in any of your functions. Service may not be improving. The customers are complaining of delays in response from your team. The team is working hard. But improvement in the eyes of Customers is simply not happening. 

The R&D team is working hard with the back log of the products that they have to productionize. The Customers are complaining of constant delays. The Production team is complaining about the products that are pushed to them. They seem to have unending problems with the new products. They are not able to get the Quality and Quantity as per plan. 

In all the above scenarios, the results would have been happening in a status quo environment. But things are changing, and the Company and the team has to adapt to the change and modify their systems. The Sales team would have got into a new market, the Production team may be facing a hiked-up demand, the Service team may be facing larger population of our products on the ground. R&D Team may be facing an increase in the demand for new products as customer increase is higher in the company. 

Angry and Frustrated Leaders 

Normally, a Leader may be having a set of reviews with the team. Most of the Leaders do not understand the purpose of reviews and how they have to be conducted. In the normal reviews that I have seen, the Leaders do the following:

 -       Question the team about the targets.

-       Express their frustration in forceful manner (Read as shouting at the team)

-       Warn the team that they have to achieve the targets.

-       Express the worry that business is going away.

-       Plead with the team and try to please the team.

These Leaders feel that it is the responsibility of the team to achieve the targets and if the targets are not achieved, the team members have to be punished. Very often the Leaders fire the team members. For the new team members to come in and settle down, they lose another 6-9 months. But they still feel this is necessary. The cycle of ‘sub-optimal performance’, ‘firing’, ‘recruitment’ keeps happening several times. But the leaders may not learn as they feel they have to do something.

I would like you to look at this video of Late President Kalam narrating a Leadership situation:

When things are not happening, the Leader needs to step forward and assume charge instead of blaming the team.

Leader’s role when things are not happening

“Management creates the System. People work in it.”  This is what Edward Deming famously said.  When something is not happening in a Company, what it means is that the team has not found a ‘way’ to make things happen in that area. They do not have a ‘proper way’, a ‘systematic way’ of getting results. 

In this situation, contrary to the belief of many Leaders, they have to step in. They have to help the team to achieve these results. They should help the team to put this ‘systematic way’ for achieving consistent results. 

Leaders have to use a Coach-Mentoring approach for this. They need to guide the team and at the same time let them discover on their own too. If the situation requires urgent results, they need to play a directive/mentoring role. If they have the time, then they can play a Coaching role where they guide the team and they find their way. In both methods, the Leader should be capable enough to ‘think thru’ the solution. 

The Leader can follow some of the following Best practices that I have seen work and deliver on the ground. 

01.  Identify the Lead and Lag measures of the situation. Look at what is causing what and identify the Lag measures to get the result. If Daily Production is not happening, then look at what are the other parameters that need to be improved. For example, if the Raw material / Parts availability is affecting it, then this is one parameter. If there are high rejections in specific parts, then this is another parameter for getting this result. If there are suppliers who are doing part of the processing, then you have another parameter that needs to deliver. 

02.  Identify the right way of measurement for each parameter. How these parameters have to be monitored has to be defined. For example, every evening the Parts availability for the next day may be checked and a graph showing ‘shortages’ may be plotted. ‘Shortages’ is the measure for this parameter. If Rejections is another parameter, then ‘Shift wise Rejections’ may be another parameter. The Rejections have to be monitored every shift.  

03.  Work with the team to monitor these parameters. The team should monitor these parameters at the interval that is needed. Monitoring should be as micro as possible. Look at hourly production, shift wise and product wise shortages, product wise rejections and so on. We need to understand the behavior of each parameter up close. 

04.  Walk with the team. The Leader need to go to the Suppliers from whom the supplies are not happening. Go to the machine where the breakdowns are higher. Participate in Problem solving of parts in which rejections are high. The Leader needs to slow down the team, reduce their anxiety for results and let them do what is needed to understand and solve problems. 

05.  Use scientific tools. Very often our teams start shooting from hip once they face a problem. They try to implement solutions without looking at the data. It is the Leader’s job to teach them about using proper scientific tools like 8D Problem solving methodology, 7 QC tools, Why/Why analysis, DOE and other tools that are needed. A crisis is a good time to learn these as the application of the tools is immediate and the team can see the result from using the tool. 

06.  Look for consistent results. When you have found the causes for the problems and addressed them, the results will start happening. The Leader has to ensure that the system is in place for consistent results. If Supplies from a Supplier is the issue, the Team should ensure that they establish a few parameters for monitoring once the supplies improve. They may monitor the Raw material stock at suppliers, shift wise output at supplier end, the stock of finished parts at the supplier end on a daily basis. 

By doing this, the Leaders will gain credibility with the team. They should be knowing how to guide the teams. 

By saying this, we are not saying that Leaders should know every aspect of Business and how to handle every area of business. We are talking about the instinct to know the right direction and help the team to travel towards the goal. We are talking about the ability of the Leaders to build ‘Effective Systems’.

If you do not have this instinct and ability, you can try to develop it with the help of a Coach. 

Are you Leading from front?