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Because of the rapid changing market demands it is
important to use basic organizational principles to establish a dynamic
culture. People need to learn and know how to apply these principles
naturally. Edward Deming new this fact yet it has taken years for many
of us to grasp this basic precept. By having the basics well developed
this allows organizations the mobility of rapid changing market demands.
In designing your organizational culture you must
have a clearly developed sense of your identity. This identity is whom
you are and can be expressed in a few words by every member of your
organization. You need to know the goals that support this identity and
you need to be flexible enough to modify and or change these goals as
market demands dictate. Everything must be measurable so that every
member of the organization knows exactly how their production is
affecting the work process.
Two final elements go into the design of a vibrant
organizational culture. One is knowing the natural and technical skills
of every employee and where to best maximize their efforts in the
organization. Again flexibility to move people must always be part of
the design. The last element of designing this culture is training every
person in knowing their job, knowing the organizational philosophy and
expectations, and training only in the areas necessary to get the work
done. With this simple design process the Spirit of individuals rises to
meet the demands of global markets.
- Direction
- The first level in designing an organization’s culture that
can compete in the Global Marketplace, is to “Set the
Direction”. This is a primary role of an organization’s
leadership.
- How do you “Set the Direction”?
- By:
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Defining the organization’s Mission, Vision, and Quality
Policy.
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- Setting Leadership and Employee Expectations.
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- Defining Strategic Directions to guide the organization.
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- Developing Key Measures to determine how well the
organization is doing.
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- These are the key elements that must be communicated to all
people in the organization so that everyone knows why they are in
business and what goals they are striving to meet.
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- People
- The second level in designing an organizational culture that can
compete in the Global Marketplace is to focus on the People that
are needed to put the organization's Direction in place. This
level is about:
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- Personality Styles
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Defining the people skills and traits needed to meet the
directions and then selecting the right people that match the
skills and traits defined.
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- POA - Politeness, Openness, Autocracy
- CAC - Clarity, Alignment, Commitment
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Determining how each person in the organization needs to
interact so that communications are effective resulting in
actions that meet organizational and customer requirements.
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- Leadership Styles
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Providing the appropriate Leadership styles that will enhance
efforts for creating an environment of Continuous Improvement.
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- Tools
- The third level in designing an organizational culture that can
compete in the Global Marketplace is to provide the people with
the Tools needed for Continuous Process Improvement and meeting
Quality commitments. The Tools are:
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- Effective Meetings
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Continuous Improvement and taking corrective action to maintain
quality requirements, usually involves the need for work groups
and process owners to meet in order to identify issues or
problems, determine causes, develop solutions and implement
solutions. For this to be time efficient and productive for the
organizations, people need to learn how to run effective
meetings.
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- Methods
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Methods for improving processes will greatly enhance the
organization's ability to develop timely and effective
improvements or resolving issues that are barriers to meeting
goals and customer requirements. An organization pursuing
Continuous Improvement needs to provide its people with a
Problem Solving Model including basic improvement tools.
- Six Step Problem Solving Process
- Brainstorming
- Fishbone Diagrams
- Check Sheets
- Pareto Diagrams
- Run Charts
- Decision Matrices
- Implement Change
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Following the initial training and education of the key
leadership group, a plan for implementing Continuous Process
Improvement must be developed with careful consideration given
to whom should be involved, whom should be trained, the
resources required, and the time frame for implementing. If this
piece is not done properly and thoroughly, it will be difficult
to sustain an environment of Continuous Improvement.
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- Engage
- The fourth level in designing an organizational culture that can
compete in the Global Marketplace is to engage and involve the
natural workgroups in Continuous Process Improvement. This will be
done by following the implementation plan developed in level three
which includes the following steps.
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- Train Natural Workgroups
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Provide people with the Directions, the People Skills, and the
Methods. It is important to check for understanding and clarity,
especially on items such as Mission, Vision, and Quality Policy.
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- Key Measures for Natural Workgroups
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The Natural Workgroups must be involved in working with the
organization to accomplish the Strategic Directions and Key
Measures. The Strategic Directions are met through meeting
annual objectives tied to the Strategic Directions. In order to
determine if the goals are being met or at least making progress
toward them, Key Measures must be defined. Every person's work
at the organization is tied to one or more of the annual
objectives. It is leaderships' role to get all employees engaged
in meeting the annual goals and determining each workgroup's Key
Measures for determining progress toward meeting goals. If this
is not done, all the people are not Engaged in Continuous
Process Improvement.
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- Anticipate
- The fifth level in designing an organizational culture that can
compete in the Global Marketplace is to anticipate the needs of
the organization so that the Mission, Vision and Quality Policy
can be achieved.
- This is accomplished through defining Resources and Time needed
and by continually Scanning the Global Marketplace to prepare for
change.
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- Resources & Time
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Senior Leadership is responsible for ensuring that resources are
available to support Continuous Improvement and meeting the
Quality Policies. The people in the organization must be
supported with the necessary resources and the time to make the
changes or improvements. If resources are held back, the people
will not support Continuous Process Improvement.
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- Scanning
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Senior Leadership must scan the Global Market place environment
to keep up with the marketplace changes. Leadership needs to
constantly look for and anticipate the changing needs and wants
of the customer. The information gathered may require the Vision
of the organization to change. It may change the Strategic
Directions required, along with the products and services to be
delivered. If Scanning is not done, the organization may find
itself without customers to serve.
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- Sustain
- The sixth level in designing an organizational culture that can
compete in the Global Marketplace is to sustain the effort and
momentum of the Continuous Improvement Process. This the Keystone
to the Continuous Process Improvement structure.
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- Senior Leadership - Review and Support
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Senior Leadership must review the entire Continuous Improvement
Process on a systematic regular basis. Just as the
organization's financial status is reviewed at monthly
leadership staff meetings, the Continuous Improvement Process
and all the components need to be reviewed on at least a monthly
basis. Leadership must check on progress being made on meeting
annual objectives and meeting quality commitments to all
customers. If Senior Leadership neglect this piece, Continuous
Improvement efforts will not be sustained, but will turn into a
wasted exercise.
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