Dating back to Frederick Taylor (Scientific Principles of Management), Standardised Working is a process task/activity that is organised in the best known sequence and by using the most effective combination of people, materials, methods and machines. Standardised Work should be consistent and repeatable and is an essential component in removing variation and enabling continuous improvement. “Without standard work, there can be no improvement.” - Taiichi Ohno. 

Standardised Work is a great learning and communication tool and provides an excellent method for engaging employees to document and/or map the best way to perform the process activities. 

Standardised work documents may include:

• Standard operating procedures (SOP).

• Work instructions.

• One-point lessons.

• Process flow maps.

• Check lists.

• Photographs.

• Videos.

Standardised work elements should include:

• Takt time.

• Safety requirements.

• Tools required.

• Materials required.

• Sequence of work.

• Specifications of work.

• Quality requirements.

• Process time - operator and machine.

• Ergonomics.

Standardised or Interchangeable Parts are said to have been introduced in 1801 by Ely Whitney. 

These are parts (components) that are made to specifications to ensure that they are so nearly identical that they will fit into any assembly or manufacture of a machine or component. The part can also replace another without any custom fitting. This interchangeability allows easy assembly of new devices and easier repair of existing devices. 

(See Whitney (Ely) - Ford (Henry))

Statistical Process Control is the application of statistical methods to monitor, measure and control processes, equipment and activities to ensure they are operating at optimal performance and to flag when there is a problem.

(See Deming - 6 Sigma - 7 Quality Tools - Control Charts)

A Strategy Deployment Pyramid is a process that visually shows how a company’s values, vision, aims and objectives (purpose) are passed down through all levels of the business and how all staff and resources are aligned to meet these objectives. 

The Manufacturers Network vision is “To have a recognised, vibrant network of manufacturing professionals who are achieving results from our services.” 

(See Hoshin Kanri - Vision - The Golden Thread - Organisational Alignment)

Sympathy is about describing your feelings about another person’s situation. 

(See empathy)

A System is a whole process that consists of parts, each of which can affect its behaviour or its properties. Each part of a System is dependent, for its effect, on some other part. In other words, the parts are interdependent.

Transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, over-production, over processing, defects. 

(See 7 Wastes)

The TPS House was developed by Toyota in the 1980s as a means to spread the TPS thinking internally and externally to suppliers: 

Foundation: stability. 

Second level: teams to conduct Kaizen events to improve the level of Heijunka and develop and improve work standards. 

Pillars: just-in-time and Jidoka. 

Roof: goals - highest quality, lowest cost and shortest lead time. 

In summary, the TPS House is about gaining competitive advantage through customer satisfaction by achieving highest quality, lowest cost and shortest lead time. This is done by increasing the level of just-in time and Jidoka, engaging people in Kaizen to improve Heijunka and standardised work, and all resting on a base of stability.

Takt Time is taken from the German word ‘Takzeit’, meaning music or rhythm of music (beat).

In 1973, Tannenbaum and Schmidt came up with a range of leadership behaviours, from ‘boss-centred’ (task orientated) to ‘subordinate centred’ (relationship orientated).

The continuum illustrates two extremes of leadership on the far left and far right of its diagram. Autocratic leaders act like dictators and tell their team what to do. With the other extreme, the leader removes themselves fully from all decision making, giving complete freedom to the team.

Within these two extremes, the leadership style a manager uses can fall at any point on the continuum. However, Tannenbaum and Schmidt described seven points on the continuum to make it easy to understand how different leaders behave at different points on the continuum:

1. Tells.

2. Sells.

3. Suggests.

4. Consults.

5. Joins.

6. Delegates.

7. Abdicates.

Frederick Taylor (aka the Father of Scientific Management), 1856–1915, was an American mechanical engineer. He was widely known for developing the science of best initiative, or standard work, and his methods to improve industrial efficiency using his theories and principles. Taylor was one of the first management consultants and was Henry Ford’s first consultant.

(See Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management - Ford (Henry))

In 1911, Frederick Taylor published his book, The Principles of Scientific Management, and identified four principles to support his theory. Management should: 

1. Develop a science for each element of work (standard work), replacing the rule of thumb method.

2. Scientifically select, train, teach and develop the worker, rather than the worker selecting his own work and training themselves.

3. Heartily co-operate with the worker to ensure all the work is being done in accordance with the principles of science that have been developed.

4. Ensure the equal division of work and responsibility between management and worker (in the past, almost all the work and a greater part of the responsibility was thrown upon the worker). 

These principles (documented and timed procedures, staff/job selection, training and development, management roles and responsibilities, equal distribution of work and responsibilities), I believe, set the course for the ensuing industrial revolution. He also believed that worker and manager must work in harmony and share the same purpose. “In the past, the man has been first; in the future, the system must be first... The first object of any good system must be that of developing first class men.” 

(See Fayol’s 14 Management Principles - Deming’s 14 Management Principles)

Team dynamics are the forces that influence how the team works together and acts or interacts with each other, impacting on feelings, behaviours and performance. 

These dynamics can be positive, with everyone helping each other, sharing and building knowledge and relationships to achieve the desired goal. Alternatively, teams can be negative, or have an atmosphere of mistrust, secrecy and filled with self-agendas. This can lead to conflict and demotivated team members, which may then impact on:

• Individual and team performance.

• Company reputation.

• Engagement levels and willingness to put the team and organisation first.

(See Team Dynamics Model - Team Maturity Continuum - Belbin’s Nine Team Roles - Honey’s Five Team Roles)

Manufacturers Network research has identified key influencing factors that affect the team dynamics, these include: 

Team leader approach: strong and focused leadership is critical to team dynamics - getting the ‘right people on the team’ in ‘the right roles’ and ‘all headed in the right direction’. The team leader must also set and clearly communicate the direction and hold members accountable, understand the leadership style to use in specific situations, understand the differences in his team members and choose the correct approach to maximise their potential. Failure to provide such leadership approaches will create confusion, conflict, mistrust, frustration and underperformance.

Team size: the ideal team size is said to be five people but this depends on the team purpose (project or objective). Too many team members can lead to subgroups (cliques) and create confusion and mistrust. Alternatively, too few team members could be detrimental when providing ideas and suggestions, possibly leading to overburden of the few or creating a firefighting environment. 

Team members: individual personalities, cultural differences, skills or expertise, roles and responsibilities all have an impact on team dynamics. 

Team roles and responsibilities: it is important to identify who is good at what and put them in that role (position) - clearly defining what they are accountable and responsible for. For team roles, see Belbin’s nine team roles or Honey’s five team roles. 

Team processes and measures: a lack of clear roles and responsibilities, codes of conduct when working as a team (solving problems, developing solutions, performing FMEA, process mapping, meetings) and objectives and milestones (including the collection of accurate measurements, statistics and information on the problem or issue that the team is trying to resolve) will prevent the team from achieving its full potential. It will also create a lack of ownership, as well as disharmony, uncertainty and ambiguity. It is vital to ensure the team helps to co-create the leading measures that have the greatest impact on the lagging measures (KPIs).

Team conflicts: within any team, there will be conflicts at any given time. However, inherent conflict derives from the poor selection of team members or the poor allocation of roles and responsibilities. 

As mentioned previously, ideal team members will all be at the interdepended level of maturity, but this is rarely the case. It is therefore essential that dependents (those who depend on others to do everything) and independents (those who want to do everything themselves) are identified and assigned specific roles and responsibilities to suit their level of maturity. This is not a reason to remove them from the team, contrary to the beliefs of many academics and consultants (remember vested interest) - Stephen Covey is quoted as saying, “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities”. These people can add value, they can be your specialists, administrators and planners.

Team communication methods: how the team communicates is vital to its effectiveness and ultimately, its success. Open, honest and timely communications build a feeling of confidence, shared purpose, trust and interdependency. Poor communications results in mistrust, secrecy and rumours and leads to misalignment and confusion. 

(See Team Maturity Continuum - Belbin’s Nine Team Roles - Honey’s Five Team Roles)

The Team Maturity Continuum is based on Stephen Covey’s maturity continuum from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The maturity continuum is the concept that looks at maturity through three paradigms (you, I and we). 

Dependency: the paradigm of ‘you’ - needing others to get what you want. 

Independency: the paradigm of ‘I’ - relying on yourself to get what you want. 

Interdependency: the paradigm of ‘we’ - relying on co-operation with others to get what I want and help others get what they want in teamwork. The highest level of maturity is understanding that by being interdependent, we can achieve our greatest success.

(See Covey (Stephen) - Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)