Kaizen Skills of an Operations Leader

Stephen Ondoro is a newly appointed operations leader who asked:

“I have been chosen as an operations leader yet it has not been clarified as to the role and scope. What kaizen skills do i need to lead my team successfully? Please take me through some lesson.”

Let’s Start with the Basics

In this blog and those listed in the Blogroll section, you’ll find many tools and skills for kaizen. But what’s most important for new operations leaders are the following three actions:

1. Model the behaviors you want to see in your team. Small actions like punctuality and keeping the workplace clean can have a big impact. Remember, every action is like an advertisement and it takes time to change behaviors.
2. Work through teams to set and achieve goals, solve problems, and learn. A leader is only as good as their team, so help your team increase their skills and knowledge.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Listening, speaking, and doing can make your goals and intentions known well in advance. Even if your team doesn’t agree with you, being fair, open, and honest builds trust. Once you prove you’re there to help them succeed, they’ll provide you with useful communication, feedback, and ideas for improvement.

Improving Operations Leaders’ Skills with Training Within Industry (TWI)

Effective leadership is crucial for any organization to achieve success. This is especially true for operations leaders who oversee the production of goods and services. While having technical expertise is important, there are also specific skills that operations leaders need to master in order to lead teams, communicate effectively, and model behaviors that promote success. Let’s examine a powerful approach that can help develop these skills with TWI: Training Within Industry.

The Origins of Training Within Industry (TWI)

TWI was developed nearly 60 years ago by the U.S. Department of War during World War II to rapidly train supervisors in job instruction, job methods design, job relations among workers, and job safety. TWI was so effective that it was adopted by Toyota and other Japanese companies in the post-war era to develop their operations leaders. TWI is still widely used today in organizations that seek to improve their operational excellence.

Resources for Learning TWI

If you are interested in learning more about TWI, a great resource to start with is the Training Within Industry blog. This site provides a wealth of free and highly useful information to get you started. Here is a quick navigation guide:

1. Click on one of the red buttons on the top left of the page to access useful information.
2. Download the Adobe Acrobat Reader here if you don’t have it.
3. Look for a link to a PDF of the original TWI manuals available for download. These manuals are valuable resources for learning the key skills of an operations leader.
4. One example of a TWI manual is the Job Instruction manual. This manual provides a comprehensive guide on how to train employees effectively. However, it is important to note that Job Instruction is just one of several key skills for an operations leader.

Advice for New Operations Leaders

For those who have learned their lessons (the easy way or the hard way), what is your best piece of advice to a new operations leader? Speak up! Share your experiences and insights with others. It is important to learn from each other to continuously improve our skills and become better leaders.

The Importance of Developing Operations Leaders with TWI Approach for Organizational Success

Effective leadership is critical for the success of any organization. Developing the skills of operations leaders is essential for achieving operational excellence. TWI provides a powerful approach for developing these skills. By leveraging resources such as the Training Within Industry blog and sharing our experiences and insights with others, we can continuously improve our skills and become better leaders.

 

 

 

 

 

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