By Jo Umberger
Umberger Development Partners Inc. | 214.697.0242 | JoUmberger@TrainSpeakCoach.com
Simon’s team of analysts was the best at the plant. They required little supervision and turned out mounds of quality work on time. But the level of interpersonal conflicts negatively affected productivity on a daily basis.
If this sounds all too familiar, take heart. Issues that disrupt productivity in the aerospace and defense industry span a large spectrum. Over the past couple of decades, we have fine-tuned a method that increases productivity by facilitating necessary behavior changes.
Team members have differing motivations and value systems and are at varying levels of development and readiness, yet collectively they may need to make some significant changes in order to meet performance standards and your expectations.
Our proprietary process, the Umberger Change Method, facilitates behavior changes which often leads to increased productivity. As a leader, you can incorporate these steps into your regularly-scheduled team meetings to improve the output of your current team.
1. Increase buy-in to management’s objectives for the team in order to lay the ground work for change. Knowledge transfer is the beginning of the behavior change process because people often need new information and/or a new perspective on information they have already heard in order to help them think differently and creatively.
Break down this necessary information into bite-sized bits which can be discussed and digested. Don’t overwhelm them with too many details! Group discussions will be stimulating for both the new employee who has never been exposed to it and for the more seasoned employee who has heard it and may be using it.
Ask well-articulated, stimulating questions. Those in the group who believe what you are espousing to be true will join with you in giving examples and offering their insight about why the information is right. Now you have allies within the group. Don’t miss this opportunity to get the group selling the group on the key ideas!
To increase the chance that the ideas will be taken seriously, increase the probability of participants’ buying the ideas by processing the information at the meeting.. There are two primary ways to accomplish this purpose.
First, welcome their objections. Ask the group how and why questions. Be prepared to outline the benefits that are likely to come from putting the information into practice or negative outcomes that are likely if the information is not used.
The second way to help people process the information while at the meeting is to provide an emotional connection with the material. Ask this question, “If you were to put these ideas into practice, how will they help you achieve your personal goals?” The most
obvious answer is that by making the desired change, a person has the greatest possibility of being rewarded with extra time off and/or extra money, both of which can be used to reach one’s personal goals. Don’t promise what can’t be delivered, however.
A longer-lasting motivation for trying out the ideas is to make a connection between the new concepts and the participants’ personally-held values. When you know the motivations of your audience, you have a much greater opportunity of showing them how that by engaging in the desired behavior, they will benefit personally and collectively!
2. Facilitate each participant’s creating a personal, pertinent, and practical plan to achieve the pre-determined desired outcomes. If you clearly articulate the desired outcomes and allow each person to determine what he/she will do during a short period of time (such as within a week or two), then and only then does the person own the Action Plan. Of course one idea implemented over one week is not sufficient. This process takes time.
But don’t let them shoot for the moon and a couple of stars. The Action Plan must be reasonable and it must be broken down into granular steps. It must be practical.
3. Give them time to implement their own plans and showcase their “Success Stories.” How many adults do you know who long to have regular accountability meetings with their co-workers? Not many. Our experience indicates they would much rather have an opportunity to share a Success Story while sitting around a conference table sipping coffee.
As you know, the real difference between these scenarios is the perceived difference between judgment and rejoicing. When told ahead of time that they will have an
opportunity to share their successes with the group, we have found that nearly 100% of participants are prepared to do so.
The stories encourage all the team members and most become convinced that the process works. If they are putting the ideas into practice and sharing info, this is a good sign that they have bought into the process.
4. Guide them in calculating the value of their team’s results for two reasons—to assess the team’s direct contribution to the organization’s top line and to increase their motivation to continue the process.
Here are a few examples of our clients’ individual participants’ results after following the Umberger Change Method:
a. “We formed problem solving teams and a Material Review Board to reduce scrap. Cost savings for one month was $75,000.”
b. “I reduced the amount of time on each manufacturing run from 18 to 12 hours by reducing scrap. This should save approximately $72,000 per year.”
c. “I made use of 30 minutes of downtime in one department on each shift by rearranging lunch schedules. The increased production value equals $171,600 per year.”
d. “The results of working with the team that was the ‘hot spot’ are incredible. Frankly, we weren’t sure the problem was fixable.”
e. “Typically I research and provide 5 new leads for the sales team per week. (After going through this process,) I am generating 17 – 22 new leads per week.”
Leading participants through the process of calculating the dollar value of their individual changes piques their curiosity and increases their motivation. Frequently we hear responses like, “Wow! I can’t believe this one action that takes thirty minutes a week can deliver so many thousands (or millions) of dollars!”
5. Finally we encourage celebrating out loud! One department manager threw a party, took lots of pictures, and highlighted her team in the company newsletter to celebrate the team’s successes. A Plant Manager designed a custom crystal paperweight that showcased the signatures of the team members. A year later, the Human Resources Manager reported that the team was still performing according to the standard they had achieved during the time we worked with them.
Here are a few of the verbatim quotes from Simon’s team of analysts after working with them.
“The previous stress level we experienced does not exist now. We work great together with better communication and the atmosphere makes work the place you want it to be.”
“Everyone is working better together, sharing the work load, communicating, and getting along.”
Knowing the changes that need to be made is most assuredly the first step in increasing productivity. Leaders can positively affect the desired outcomes by providing significant information in digestible portions, ask for the group’s input on the ideas, give them an opportunity to plan their own actions, and provide opportunities for Success Stories to be told. Now that’s a formula for success.
© Umberger Development Partners Inc. All rights reserved. JoUmberger@TrainSpeakCoach.com
Umberger Development Partners Inc. | 214.697.0242 | JoUmberger@TrainSpeakCoach.com
Simon’s team of analysts was the best at the plant. They required little supervision and turned out mounds of quality work on time. But the level of interpersonal conflicts negatively affected productivity on a daily basis.
If this sounds all too familiar, take heart. Issues that disrupt productivity in the aerospace and defense industry span a large spectrum. Over the past couple of decades, we have fine-tuned a method that increases productivity by facilitating necessary behavior changes.
Team members have differing motivations and value systems and are at varying levels of development and readiness, yet collectively they may need to make some significant changes in order to meet performance standards and your expectations.
Our proprietary process, the Umberger Change Method, facilitates behavior changes which often leads to increased productivity. As a leader, you can incorporate these steps into your regularly-scheduled team meetings to improve the output of your current team.
1. Increase buy-in to management’s objectives for the team in order to lay the ground work for change. Knowledge transfer is the beginning of the behavior change process because people often need new information and/or a new perspective on information they have already heard in order to help them think differently and creatively.
Break down this necessary information into bite-sized bits which can be discussed and digested. Don’t overwhelm them with too many details! Group discussions will be stimulating for both the new employee who has never been exposed to it and for the more seasoned employee who has heard it and may be using it.
Ask well-articulated, stimulating questions. Those in the group who believe what you are espousing to be true will join with you in giving examples and offering their insight about why the information is right. Now you have allies within the group. Don’t miss this opportunity to get the group selling the group on the key ideas!
To increase the chance that the ideas will be taken seriously, increase the probability of participants’ buying the ideas by processing the information at the meeting.. There are two primary ways to accomplish this purpose.
First, welcome their objections. Ask the group how and why questions. Be prepared to outline the benefits that are likely to come from putting the information into practice or negative outcomes that are likely if the information is not used.
The second way to help people process the information while at the meeting is to provide an emotional connection with the material. Ask this question, “If you were to put these ideas into practice, how will they help you achieve your personal goals?” The most
obvious answer is that by making the desired change, a person has the greatest possibility of being rewarded with extra time off and/or extra money, both of which can be used to reach one’s personal goals. Don’t promise what can’t be delivered, however.
A longer-lasting motivation for trying out the ideas is to make a connection between the new concepts and the participants’ personally-held values. When you know the motivations of your audience, you have a much greater opportunity of showing them how that by engaging in the desired behavior, they will benefit personally and collectively!
2. Facilitate each participant’s creating a personal, pertinent, and practical plan to achieve the pre-determined desired outcomes. If you clearly articulate the desired outcomes and allow each person to determine what he/she will do during a short period of time (such as within a week or two), then and only then does the person own the Action Plan. Of course one idea implemented over one week is not sufficient. This process takes time.
But don’t let them shoot for the moon and a couple of stars. The Action Plan must be reasonable and it must be broken down into granular steps. It must be practical.
3. Give them time to implement their own plans and showcase their “Success Stories.” How many adults do you know who long to have regular accountability meetings with their co-workers? Not many. Our experience indicates they would much rather have an opportunity to share a Success Story while sitting around a conference table sipping coffee.
As you know, the real difference between these scenarios is the perceived difference between judgment and rejoicing. When told ahead of time that they will have an
opportunity to share their successes with the group, we have found that nearly 100% of participants are prepared to do so.
The stories encourage all the team members and most become convinced that the process works. If they are putting the ideas into practice and sharing info, this is a good sign that they have bought into the process.
4. Guide them in calculating the value of their team’s results for two reasons—to assess the team’s direct contribution to the organization’s top line and to increase their motivation to continue the process.
Here are a few examples of our clients’ individual participants’ results after following the Umberger Change Method:
a. “We formed problem solving teams and a Material Review Board to reduce scrap. Cost savings for one month was $75,000.”
b. “I reduced the amount of time on each manufacturing run from 18 to 12 hours by reducing scrap. This should save approximately $72,000 per year.”
c. “I made use of 30 minutes of downtime in one department on each shift by rearranging lunch schedules. The increased production value equals $171,600 per year.”
d. “The results of working with the team that was the ‘hot spot’ are incredible. Frankly, we weren’t sure the problem was fixable.”
e. “Typically I research and provide 5 new leads for the sales team per week. (After going through this process,) I am generating 17 – 22 new leads per week.”
Leading participants through the process of calculating the dollar value of their individual changes piques their curiosity and increases their motivation. Frequently we hear responses like, “Wow! I can’t believe this one action that takes thirty minutes a week can deliver so many thousands (or millions) of dollars!”
5. Finally we encourage celebrating out loud! One department manager threw a party, took lots of pictures, and highlighted her team in the company newsletter to celebrate the team’s successes. A Plant Manager designed a custom crystal paperweight that showcased the signatures of the team members. A year later, the Human Resources Manager reported that the team was still performing according to the standard they had achieved during the time we worked with them.
Here are a few of the verbatim quotes from Simon’s team of analysts after working with them.
“The previous stress level we experienced does not exist now. We work great together with better communication and the atmosphere makes work the place you want it to be.”
“Everyone is working better together, sharing the work load, communicating, and getting along.”
Knowing the changes that need to be made is most assuredly the first step in increasing productivity. Leaders can positively affect the desired outcomes by providing significant information in digestible portions, ask for the group’s input on the ideas, give them an opportunity to plan their own actions, and provide opportunities for Success Stories to be told. Now that’s a formula for success.
© Umberger Development Partners Inc. All rights reserved. JoUmberger@TrainSpeakCoach.com
"HOW TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY IN MANUFACTURING"
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