For continuous improvement journey to thrive at organizations, organizational leadership must be dedicated towards development of team members and orienting change agents. Once the organization understands the philosophy, then the time is ripe to move to the next step, implementing the actual tools and engaging all the employees.

The following things are required to be drawn together by the organization:

Create a vision

Try to create a vision for your organization based on its current position in the market and emphasize why this is the time to initiate a new operative direction for the company’s upcoming ventures.  Also, there are ever-increasing pressures in the global marketplace for cost reduction, intense international competition on similar kinds of products.  This is the chance for senior leaders to stand in front of each facility’s workforce and to communicate the path that is being planned for everyone’s involvement.

Craft a Top down plan

Organizations need to produce a top down plan to train the workforce according to the new strategy and understand the tasks required to accomplish within strict timelines. The organizational workforce should learn to think, work and behave differently. Moreover, furnish their needs with the necessary resources, e.g. training costs and time, to enable everyone to be successful in transitioning towards a new way.

Tools Training

It is recommended to start by getting the supervisors and engineers involved in tools training program first. Because, their education and training needs should begin shortly after managers, supervisors and engineers have been groomed for the upcoming development.  Also develop a training calendar with expert for equipping the team members with right tools, fundamental as well as advanced.

Outcomes of tools training

Start by the change leaders leading the early improvement projects and people on those teams will learn a lot by ‘learning by doing’ while they continue to receive more formal training. The leaders will finally learn the technique of implementation, which 1) It causes them to set the example of learning and applying new processes as the leader; 2) It puts them in position to coach and help their people on the shop floor.

Bold objectives for improvement

Improvement is most important for business/ factory issues and requires that our people take “the leap of faith” that the new way of thinking, working and behaving is better than the old way.  That simply won’t happen unless they are challenged and expected to do it. If the organization is heading towards right direction and works hard to learn the new paradigm having full support of the leadership, they will become successful.

So start communicating Continuous Improvement in a broader sense, which includes everyone (especially the operators – value adders) and will give long term gains. So train, empower and engage in organizing the continuous improvement journey. Let us embark on a journey of continuous improvement.

Written By Faber Devna Chaturvedi