Lean Leadership for Ops Managers

As Ops Leaders, how do you collaborate with internal business partners to better know your customers? Operations Managers are uniquely positioned to understand what is important to the customer and what they value.

In today’s episode, Javan Lapp joins us to discuss how Key-Link Fencing and Railing has kept a customer-focused mindset through their innovation processes and encourages Ops Managers to be strategic business partners with other teams across the organization. 

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

• Innovation Through Vertical Integration and Scaling
• Keeping a Customer-Focus in Improvement Thinking
• Viewing Ops Managers as Strategic Business Partners within the Organization
• People Development in a Culture of Collaboration

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/058

How does your organization respond when a crisis occurs? Many times, the focus shifts to production lines and getting done "what we can," shoving innovation and improvement to the side.

In today's episode, Gary Peterson joins us to discuss how they have used improvement thinking as a strategic advantage and have woven those strategies into the foundation of their culture so that they were able to lean into those principles and systems during uncertain times instead of pushing them away. 

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

• Gary Peterson’s Philosophy on Lean Leadership
• How O.C. Tanner Integrates Improvement Thinking as a Strategic Advantage
• Doubling Down in Times of Crisis
• Strategic Advantage: Moving Beyond Command and Control
• Using Leader Standard Work to Be a Better, More Strategic People Leader

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/057 

Our podcast is now one year old! And I’m featuring a special edition anniversary episode time for all of you.

But first, let me extend my sincere gratitude for being along with me on this ride over the last year. Thank you for tuning in, for taking action, for providing feedback or reviews and ratings, and for sharing the episode every single Wednesday of the year. Thank you so much for your continuous support.

Now, in this special anniversary episode, I want to share with you the Lean Leadership Podcast Host Chris Burnham interview with me. I want to give you details and insight into not just my story, but also my transformation story, setbacks, struggles, as well as advice for those who are new in their journey.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• How shifting your framing on trust can help you be more effective as a leader
• One major setback I experienced with lean as a senior operations manager
• The ah-ha moment when I understood the positive impact of lean thinking and lean leadership
• The piece of advice I would give to someone new to a lean journey and someone that’s further along with their journey.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/056

Grasp the Current Condition. It sounds easy enough. Turns out, there are some nuances that can make a big difference in how effectively the step aids you in your improvement kata practice. Explore four key lessons I discovered when in the role of learner in my Kata Girl Geek Learning Group experience.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

• The starter kata within Step 2: Grasp the Current Condition that you might not have used before
• Which improvement kata resource I use every day in my current role as learner
• Two things you can say as a coach to effectively transition between teaching and coaching
• How to learn the right size and scope for your improvement kata next step
• My big Aha! learning about grasping the current condition that I missed in my previous understanding of improvement kata

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/055 

Do you remember a time when you were learning something new? What about a time when you had to retrain your brain because you were learning new ways of problem-solving or new ways of thinking? Think back to that experience. How did you respond? 

In today’s episode, Jamie shares her experience as she faces a challenging learning experience in her Kata Girl Geeks-Learning Group. As a leader, being in a learner role not only helps us improve but also helps us connect to people with empathy as they go through a similar experience.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• Jamie V. Parker’s Story Practicing Improvement Kata, Grasping the Current Condition
• Her Two Biggest Takeaways and How They Can Help You Lead Your Team
• How We’re Conditioned to Make it Difficult to Systematically Grasp the Current Condition

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/054 

How do we create a culture of improvement? I’m not just talking about adding another continuous improvement tool that managers check off the list, but how do we create an environment where the team members want to achieve the same goals as leaders and know they are contributing? 

In last week’s episode, we talked about the right side of the model with Purpose and Participation, which could be considered the respect for people side. In today’s episode, we are focusing on the left side with Performance and Progression and how they can create a culture of improvement and agility. 

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• Culture of Improvement Through Performance
• Problems with Implementing Performance
• Leadership Practices to Build Performance
• Culture of Agility Through Progression
• Common Problems with Progression
• Leadership Practices to Build Progression
• BONUS: How all of the Cultural Enablers Work Together

Get full show notes and more information here: 
https://processplusresults.com/podcast/053

Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to inspire a team to be engaged and aligned? Imagine if everyone in your organization shared the same vision, had the same values, and actively participated as a result. How would this impact your culture, creativity, problem-solving, execution, and value creation? 

Throughout the last few episodes, we’ve been discussing what makes an organization a “Best Place to Work.” We are continuing the conversation this week and focusing on the right side of the model. The Cultural Influencers, Purpose and Participation, are absolutely necessary for inspiring an engaged and aligned team. 

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• What Organizational Purpose Means
• Gaps in an Organization’s Purpose
• Three Leadership Practices to Build Purpose
• Employee Engagement Requires Active Participation
• Reasons Leaders Don’t Get Engagement
• Three Leadership Practices to Build Participation

Get full show notes and more information here: 
https://processplusresults.com/podcast/052

When team members leave their roles, what happens to all the institutional knowledge they have in their heads?

How much of a disruption is it when people move positions, retire, or go on extended absences?

Dr. Cynthia J. Young shares how everyone in the organization can use knowledge management to make these situations better.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

• What knowledge management is, and why organizations need it
• How knowledge management applies to managers and individuals
• The connection between knowledge management and how you take vacations
• How you can get started with knowledge management

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/051 

It’s one thing to “keep” team members. It’s another to keep them while they’re also fully engaged and contributing their best. Creating a workplace culture that helps people thrive is the answer to the current challenge: how do we compete in the employment market. 

Back in Episode 049 we talked about a model that makes organizations “best places to work” - what team members want in their workplaces. In this episode, we talk about the same model but from a leadership point of view - what executives want for their respective organizations. Notice how we can achieve both in this episode.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

• How to build an organization where people will want to work - and even tell everyone how great the organization is!
• Key elements that inspire an engaged, aligned team
• The two necessary components for a culture of systematic improvement and sustained agility
• Why putting people at the center to achieve success is important
• Moving Past Tradeoffs: Serve People PLUS Deliver Results

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/050

“How do we build an organization where people want to work & tell others how great it is?” 

Organizations are struggling to fill open positions, and with more virtual job options available, people are no longer just looking to work at companies in their local areas. So executives are asking this question as they try to tackle the “labor shortage.”

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

• Current Challenge: Attracting and Retaining People
• The 4 Elements of the Best Places to Work
• Combining The 4 Ps to Create Workplaces People Love
• How Team Members’ Desires Match Up with Organizational Goals

Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/049