The manufacturing niche is adrift. The fast-changing marketing dynamics and mindset of millennials have seen many manufacturing companies lag, with some hitting the edge of ebbing out. This has made some of the organizations reinvent themselves in order to survive and regain their competitive edge. Well, whether your company has been in operation for a long time or is at startup, here are the five habits of highly successful ventures that you need to adopt.
Fun Cross-Functional Exercises
One of the factors that help to drive high productivity is making the entire organization to feel part of the system in a fun way. Planning fun cross-functional exercises allow the staff to interact and learn how to address challenges and solve problems together. The challenge can be as simple as finding a hidden item or building skyscrapers using local materials. Consider holding these events about once every two to three months.
While these exercises might look simple, they are highly effective in building collaboration. Besides, they help in defining organizational culture and driving the wheel for organizational change.
Engage Staff in Process Improvement
When the time to implement change finally comes, one of the challenges that managers face is how to overcome resistance. Employees often feel the changes could ultimately drive them out. But this is not the essence of implementing change.
Change in manufacturing industries is aimed at improving the entire system, including staff. But you can only make the staff understand this by getting them into the change planning process. Therefore, how do you do this?
The most effective way is holding no-barred dialogue to easily identify needs for improvements. For example, if you plan to implement computer monitoring software for business optimization, you need to let your employees in on it. Consider holding regular meetings with staff, using suggestion boxes, and meeting with them often to listen to their views.. Consider holding regular meetings with staff, using suggestion boxes, and meeting with them often to listen to their views. This way, your staff stops being an obstacle and turns into the drivers of progressive improvement.
Empower Your Staff More
While it is true that your organization has clear structures such as departments and operational hierarchy, any effort to give the ordinary employees some power acts as a catalyst for growth. Your staff needs to feel they are valued and can be trusted. Even if it is just for a short moment, pick one staff and ask him/her to be in charge. This will inspire confidence not just to the staff you picked, but the entire team. Checkout Completion Products here.
By putting power on the hands of the staff, no effort is spared to make things work. Your staff will go out of the way to leave a mark. Other ways of giving staff some power is involving them in decision making and sharing plans of the company.
If you want to be successful in manufacturing, you need to be creative and learn consistently. Remember to plan well and involve everyone for successful progressive improvement.