Globalizing Processes and Documents

We are near the end of a two week swing through France and the UK, reviewing processes and documents for regionalization.  There is no question this work needed to be done, and we have learned much.

The biggest learning, though, hasn't been about the regional needs for process changes.  It has been about the number of changes and improvements to our prime documents that were identified just by reviewing the process with global teams.  They ask not only great questions, but different questions that the ones we get in the US.  And different from each other, as well.  Some are purely terminology ("hourly" vs. "blue collar" vs. "non-exempt").  Some are technical (creating org charts in Visio from an Excel report).  Some are common sense ("Why would you do that?  It makes a lot more sense to do this instead.")

None of these are Earth-shattering concepts or insights.  But many are new, despite months of review in the US.  There is really no substitute for getting the team around a table for a week.

Any great success stories from working through your global teams?

2009 Lessons Learned

Rather than another posting asking what you'll do different in 2010, let's talk about what we learned in 2009.

What's the most valuable thing you learned this year?

What's it worth to you...or them?

We talk a lot about ROI and the value of the work we do the business.  We've recently gotten some data back from our partners in the Finance group on this issue (sorry, nothing we can share at this point), which is the only source you can trust in these issues.  While it obviously doesn't encompass everything we do, it's nice to be able to have a method of quantifying at least some of the work.

Anyone out there getting good, valid feedback on the ROI of your work?

What's your latest project?

We all, to some degree, have a project in play.  Redesigning your compensation package?  Putting together a new training program?  Working furiously to meet your budget numbers for the year?  Looking for a new place to peddle your wares?

It's a busy world out there.  What's everyone working on, and what help could you use?

Pick a skill!

Let's pretend you are adding one person to your staff.  You have several qualified applicants, but each has an "extra" skill set that doesn't translate directly to the role (whatever it may be; the role isn't important here).  The "extra" skills are:

Sales experience
Second language fluency (though not one that will be useful for their client base)
Statistics/Data analysis
Non-profit group grant writing/fund raising
Stand-up comedy experience

Which skill would you most likely add to your team, and why?

LSS Deployment Benchmarks - How do you stack up?

Karen Welch from Abbott Nutrition presented in October at the 4th Annual Global Lean, Six Sigma and Business Improvement Summit. She quoted a few interesting (or depressing, depending on how you see it) statistics from Leap Technologies. I thought I'd share the ones that really caught my eye.

• Close to 50% of organizations making a significant investment in LSS complete fewer than 10 projects in the first two years despite significant training investment.
• Less than 15% Green Belts trained in LS methods (80 hrs classroom time) actually complete a project.
• Close to 40% BB training is devoted to teaching DOE, yet the majority report never using the tool in an actual project.
• Despite a goal of changing the culture, employee participation in LS projects average less than 10% of the workforce

How does this compare to your organization? We’ve spent a great deal of time on these very issues, and I’d like to think we’ve made progress in our organization, but I’m curious as to the state of the practice in other companies.
So how many of these four items would you dispute on your team?

Diversity vs. Inclusion

Worked with a team last week to brainstorm policies that promote inclusion. The discussion went in an unexpected (but very interesting) direction. But the question we first dealt with was the difference between inclusion and diversity.

Diversity is generally seen as compliance with US requirements along the lines of Affirmative Action Planning, or about making sure you recruit and hire people of different backgrounds and ethnicity.

Inclusion, as we discussed it, is more about making sure all those disparate and "diverse" individuals are turned into a truly blended workforce, and are able to work together as a unit. On a macro scale, it is about everyone understanding the direction of the company and how each business unit contributes. At a more micro level, its about how each individual plays a role in getting there.

How does your organization define diversity and/or inclusion? Are you making progress on both fronts, or do regulatory requirements alone drive your actions?