ImagesMagUK_May_2021

76 images MAY 2021 www.images-magazine.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT KB 10: Develop exceptional people and teams that follow your company’s philosophy Teams should consist of four to five people and numerous management tiers. ■ Success is based on the team, not the individual. 11: Respect, challenge, improve Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve. ■ Toyota treats suppliers much like they treat their employees, challenging them to do better and helping them achieve it. ■ Toyota provides cross-functioning teams to help suppliers discover and fix problems so that they can become a stronger, better supplier. 12: Continuously solving root problems drives organisational learning Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation. Toyota managers are expected to ‘go and see’ operations. Without experiencing the situation first-hand, managers will not be able to have an understanding of how it is possible to improve it. Furthermore, managers use Tadashi Yamashima’s ten management principles as a guideline: ■ Always keep the final target in mind. ■ Clearly assign tasks to yourself and others ■ Think and speak on verified, proven information and data. ■ Take full advantage of the wisdom and experiences of others to send, gather, and discuss information. ■ Share information with others in a timely fashion. ■ Always report, inform, and consult in a timely manner. ■ Analyse and understand shortcomings in your capabilities in a measurable way. ■ Relentless strive to conduct kaizen (continuous improvement) activities. ■ Think outside the box, or beyond common sense and standard rules. ■ Always be mindful of protecting your safety and health. 13: Decision making Make decisions slowly, by consensus, while thoroughly considering all options; then implement your decisions rapidly. The following are decision parameters: ■ Find out what is really going on (go and see) to test. ■ Determine the underlying cause. ■ Consider a broad range of alternatives. ■ Build consensus on the resolution. ■ Use efficient communication tools. 14: Become a learning organisation through relentless reflection and continuous improvement The process of becoming a learning organisation involves criticising every aspect of what one does. The general problem-solving technique to determine the root cause of a problem includes: ■ Initial problem perception. ■ Clarify the problem. ■ Locate area or point of cause. ■ Investigate root cause. ■ Countermeasure. ■ Evaluate. ■ Standardise. Stop the ‘Mother may I?’ syndrome Toyota doesn’t operate in the ‘Mother may I?’ way, and you don’t have to either. Work on empowering your staff with training, development, standardising processes, and more clarity. Take things one thing at a time and simply start by asking your staff more questions. Take time to identify what’s going on and begin working on getting things turned around. You can do this!. Marshall Atkinson is a production and efficiency expert for the decorated apparel industry, and the owner of Atkinson Consulting and co-founder of Shirt Lab, a sales and marketing education company, with Tom Rauen. He focuses on operational efficiency, continuous improvement, workflow strategy, business planning, employee motivation, management and sustainability. www.atkinsontshirt.com Toyota doesn’t operate in the ‘Mother may I?’ way, and you don’t have to either