Honda Vs Ford

This morning saw two automotive news stories run by the BBC.

On the one hand, Ford's still apparently on the back foot.

Interviewed on the Today Programme, their European president seemed far from gung-ho about the company's prospects, saying the cuts in the US were a mirror of what happened on this side of the pond over the last few years. He tried to sound up-beat about the company's re-connection with its market, having right-sized its production capacity and model range to customer demand. Customer demand that's calling for smaller, more economical, less polluting cars like Ford's Ka, Fiesta and Focus. Of course, this is on the day that they're unveiling the new Mondeo . . .

And then there was Honda's announcement that it's going to expand the Swindon plant that produces the Civic. The BBC sites The Sun as its source for this story (so a pinch of salt may be needed), but apparently the expansion will will increase capacity by almost 30%. And manufacturing in the UK (/western Europe) is 'in decline'. Obviously not, when you really do figure out what it is your customers want, and how to deliver just that.

It's Not About The Money - Addendum

Found this video tonight on Dvorak.org/blog/ - kinda funny, but also makes the point about the motivational ladder. If you can watch for ten minutes, do!

It's Not About The Money (1)

Why it’s Important

Early on in most client projects, this is a question I put to the management:

“So, why do people come to work here?”

I always have a private bet with myself that someone in the team will give the answer:

“For the money”

And so far, I’ve won the bet every single time.

This of course, isn’t the right answer at all. Don’t get me wrong, we all go to work in general for the money. Without money, it’s pretty hard to keep a roof over your head, pay the bills, and feed the family. And there are probably very few of us who, if we won the lottery (and really won - I mean several million pounds, not three numbers for a tenner!), would keep going to work.

But the question wasn’t about work in general. It was about your specific organisation, and could be re-phrased as:

“Given that unemployment’s low, so most people could find an alternative job that pays more than you do, why do they stay here, and how do you motivate them to get more out of them?”

Now that’s not such a snappy question, but probably one that’s far more useful to ask. Properly motivated people will achieve the impossible.

So if you can figure out what makes each of your team members tick, you’ll be astonished by what they can do, and how little it often costs.

It's Not About The Money (2)

Seven Tips

1. Motivation Is Like A Ladder
Each of us has a set of ‘needs’ arranged in a hierarchy - like the rungs of a ladder. If a ‘need’ is not being met, we cannot progress to the next rung, and are motivated to find a way to have the ‘need’ satisfied. On lower rungs, getting ‘enough’ is a motivator, while nearer the top, the more we get, the more we tend to want.

2. The Bottom Rung - Biology
Basic biological requirements. Air, water, food, and time to rest. The first three are largely taken as given, but what about the last? Work your team too hard, with too many weekends lost to overtime, and I guarantee problems.

3. The Second Rung - Money.
You have to pay people ‘enough’. If they can’t afford to live on what you pay, they’ll move on. Having more tends not to motivate. Think of the last time you got a pay rise - for the first few weeks, you felt great. Then you just got used to having the extra money, and stopped noticing it!

4. Employment Benefits & Security
People will leave good jobs if they feel insecure, or are offered benefits that they value more than the money they’ll miss out on. Benefits can include aspects such as workplace safety, so pay attention to this.

5. Friendship Is On The Fourth Rung
With enough money, and a safe, secure job, people look for a sense of belonging. Use daily team briefings to emphasise this, and regular social events to cement it.

6. Recognise Achievement
We all need to know our place in the social structure of the fourth rung. So make sure that you positively recognise each team members achievements on a regular basis, and reward them with appropriate levels of responsibility.

7. Creativity At The Top
Once you’ve climbed the first five rungs, you need a continual stream of challenges and opportunities for creative expression. Use regular kaizen activities to provide this, creating a spirit of continuous improvement.

It's Not About The Money! (3)

What Next
This edition of TeamTips is concerned with the motivational side of Team Leadership. There are three things you can do if you’re interested in finding out more about this:

1. Read a Book
We recommend “The Harvard Business Review on Motivating People”, by HBR Paperbacks. This is a great collection of articles, including Frederick Hertzberg’s 1968 classic, “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?”. It’s available from the Sevenrings book shop at www.sevenrings.co.uk/bookstoreandlinks.asp in the “Management Books” section.

2. Read Our In-Depth Management Briefing Paper on team management.
We publish a series of more detailed papers - just visit www.sevenrings.co.uk and click on the ‘free stuff’ button.

3. Call Sevenrings
We’ve helped dozens of individuals and organisations improve their performance through improving team motivation, and we’d be happy to talk to you about your particular situation at no initial charge.
We specialise in helping people to get better results by changing the way they work. We can provide training from 1/2 day taster sessions focusing on just one aspect of the Team leader’s role, up to comprehensive programmes over several months.

Our phone number is 0191 2522 335.

One At A Time Please AAC Version

A little later than I'd intended, here's the AAC version of the TeamTips Podcast for issue 16. AAC is Apple's file compression format - this file's less than 50% of the size of the MP3 version, so it'll download quicker.

Most of us have more things to do than there are hours in the day. So to cope, we try to do a little of everything that needs to get done . . . and hope that sooner or later one of our tasks will actually get finished, so that it can be crossed off the ‘To-Do’ list.

Just click on this post's title to download the file.

One At A Time Please MP3 Version

A little later than I'd intended, here's the MP3 version of the TeamTips Podcast for issue 16.

Most of us have more things to do than there are hours in the day. So to cope, we try to do a little of everything that needs to get done . . . and hope that sooner or later one of our tasks will actually get finished, so that it can be crossed off the ‘To-Do’ list.

Just click on this post's title to download the file.

One At A Time, Please (1)

Why It's Important

Most of us have more things to do than there are hours in the day. So to cope, we try to do a little of everything that needs to get done . . . and hope that sooner or later one of our tasks will actually get finished, so that it can be crossed off the ‘To-Do’ list.

You can recognise that you’re doing this if . . .

• On your desk there are several different ‘jobs’ all in different stages of being finished.
• On your PC you’ve got several different applications or documents open, relating to different things that need doing.
• You have an In-Tray that’s full of stuff you’ve started, but not quite finished yet.
• Your ‘To-Do’ list is just that - an unstructured list, with no sense of what should take priority when everything’s due today.

The thing is, that we frequently value action and activity over planning and thinking. So when faced with a stack of things that need doing, most of us just get busy. We try to nudge everything along, and trust to luck that sooner or later something will get finished. In itself, this isn’t such a bad thing - after all, you’re paid to work!

The problem comes when the boss / customer / colleague needs to know when a specific item will be finished. With everything moving along little-by-little, it’s really hard to judge exactly how much of the job has actually been done. Or how much time (and money) you’ve actually spent on it so far.

So its better to spend a little time planning, and you can focus your efforts on the things that matter, one at a time. You’ll be astonished at how quickly things can get done, and also how much easier it is to manage priorities and the unexpected.

One At A Time, Please (2)

Seven Tips For Focus and Flow

1. The One At A Time Mindset
Remember the old-style banks? You’d always join what looked like the shortest of the eight queues, only to find yourself behind the man from the penny arcade. Now there’s only one queue but it moves much faster. As a teller becomes available, you’re directed to them.

2. For your own work . . .
Look at your ‘To-Do’ list, and prioritise it, using the methods we’ve talked about in previous editions of Team Tips. What’s Important, and what’s Urgent? What doesn’t actually need doing at all, and what can you delegate? Schedule the remaining items into your diary, if at all possible, in time block’s that’ll see them finished.

3. Communicate
Tell the people who’re expecting work from you when it’s going to be done.

4. FOCUS the Team
If the team routinely works on several similar items in parallel, consider how you could re-organise things to focus their efforts on only one job between them.

5. Scalpel! Forceps! Suction!
When there just isn’t space for everyone to work on the same job, think about an OPERATING THEATRE. You’ve seen ER / Casualty / Days of Our Lives - usually there are only two people up to their elbows in the work, while the rest of the team supply materials and tools. This is highly effective - how can you copy it?

6. If You Can’t Focus, FLOW
If the team’s work is largely repetitive, can you organise it into a production line? You’ll need to break the job down into equal segments, and link these together. It’s essential that work is passed along as it’s completed - don’t allow batches at any stage, as this’ll slow things down.

7. Takt and Diplomacy
If you’re setting up a production line, work out the TAKT time - the rate every stage must run at to meet your hourly / daily target. Where a stage is too slow, involve the team in figuring out a solution to the problem.

One At A Time, Please (3)

What Next? More About Focus and Flow

This edition of TeamTips is concerned with the performance-management side of Team Leadership. There are three things you can do if you’re interested in finding out more about this:

1. Read a Book
We recommend “Cellular Manufacturing: One-Piece Flow for Workteams”, by Productivity Press. This is a great book from the ‘shopfloor series’. Very manufacturing oriented, but full of useful techniques for office, or service-sector teams. It’s available from the Sevenrings book shop at www.sevenrings.co.uk/bookstoreandlinks.asp.- just click on the Amazon.co.uk logo to order.

2. Think About Organisation With Either Focus or Flow
Look at the incredible focus of a Formula One pit team when they’re doing a tyre change. If you’re in Tyne & Wear, go to Porcelli’s fish & chip shop on the Team Valley. How they cope with the Friday lunch-time rush is a superb example of flow. To see how bad things can be without focus or flow, visit almost any busy pub, and just watch the chaos at the bar!

3. Call Sevenrings
We’ve helped dozens of individuals and organisations improve their performance through creating focus and flow, and we’d be happy to talk to you about your particular situation at no initial charge.

We specialise in helping people to get better results by changing the way they work. We can provide training from 1/2 day taster sessions focusing on just one aspect of the Team leader’s role, up to comprehensive programmes over several months.

Our phone number is 0191 2522 335.

I've just got back from my summer holiday, so we're aiming to record the podcast to accompany this article on Wednesday 6th September.