Job Instruction - Major Change to Session I

In my new role, I surveyed my team and asked them to independently list the top five problems in the organization that they could have influence over. When we met together to share our opinions and thoughts about the survey, interestingly, the top problem was Training, with Communication not too far behind.

This prompted me to run a quick JI Appreciation Session, to test the waters with the group. The response was that JI could work well in our organization so we decided to give it a try.

I scheduled six JI sessions of with six participants each. Team Leads were encouraged to sign up and the rest of the company was invited to voluntarily enter the program. The sign up sheet was full in two days.

One of the things Mark Warren discovered in the New Zealand program was the fact that the Training Time Table was moved into Session I, from Session III. I had tried this before, but found this change wanting, not fully understanding the change. The thinking was that supervisors should plan for training first, and not jump right into job breakdown sheets - a big temptation for many. But simply presenting the TTT as it is just didn't have the intended effect. People really struggled with the TTT. After some discussion with Mark and additional research into the New Zealand coaching guides, we made a small change.

I tried this change out today in my first of the six sessions, and I'm really excited about the results. The order of the Session is standard until the end:

Intro
4 Objectives
Five Needs
Who Needs Training
Problems in the Workplace
Job Instruction Definition
Telling Demonstration
Showing Demonstration
4 Step Demonstration
Establish 4 Steps
Present Time Table
Tree Example
Assignments

Trainers familiar with the JI program will not recognize the Tree Example.  Here is what this is and how it worked:

I presented the TTT just like in the JI manual, except not with the Bill Smith example, but with a fictional TTT that continues with the 4 Step demonstration in my electrical shop. This seemed to help the participants make an easy transition from the knot tying story to the nuts and bolts of how the Trainer prepared for training. Once the participants grasped the TTT, we moved onto the Tree Diagram.

The Tree Diagram serves several purposes:

1) Not all participants are supervisors, so not all are responsible for planning for training,
2) TTT are used to spot problems by the supervisor and to plan to prevent those problems through training,
3) The Tree Diagram serves the same purpose as TTT but in a form that anybody can use to spot problems in their work:

A participant was asked what his job was. He replied that it was Manufacturing Engineering Technician. I then used a tree diagram (i.e. like an org chart) to drill down to the next layer of work units. He listed three basic units: utility planning, facility layout management and fixture design and validation. Since these are still large units of work, we drilled down further - after I asked him which unit is the source of most of his problems. Once he identified utility planning, we broke that piece down further: electrical, air and developing specifications. I asked him which one of those was most problematic. Once he had indicated the task that has the most problems, I congratulated him on picking his practice job!

Using this method, we successfully gave ALL participants a method for learning to look at their work a different way - whether they are responsible for training or not. In addition, ALL participants could see that they now have a method that they can practice on a real problem that will make their work, and others, easier to manage and with improved communication.

As I complete the sessions over the next few weeks, be sure to check in and see what else becomes of this change. What do you think of this change? Does it sound like it could make a difference in your approach to training and communication?

TWI-Train-the-Trainer, New Zealand Style

My friend and fellow TWI geek, Mark Warren, has made available the full versions of the Organizing and Coaching guides from the New Zealand TWI group. A special thanks to Mark from all TWI Blog readers for sharing excerpts in the coming weeks...if you would like to purchase a printed copy of the NZ materials, go to this link and support Mark in his dedicated research efforts to uncovering lean lessons already learned - making today’s job easier for all of us.

It is important to note that the materials I’ll be posting on the TWI Blog represent 30 years of practical use in New Zealand industry and professional sectors. The New Zealand Industrial Training Services group developed a complete TWI solution for New Zealand companies over a 30 year period of ongoing continual development. One of the first projects for the New Zealand TWI Service was to establish a research group to validate and improve the TWI programs to improve the outcomes for their enterprises. In 1947 New Zealand had only 6 companies with more than 500 employees. The best examples of TWI use in the USA and England were with the larger companies. To state the obvious, the materials I’ll be posting over the following weeks and months are how-to’s for small business organizational excellence.

First up...a bit of a shocker...

How long does it take in the U.S. for one to become a Master Trainer in Job Instruction? If you read through the U.S. archive materials, the time commitment evolved from around 40 hrs to upwards of 80 hrs. If you include the attendance and observation as a participant in JI 10 hr sessions, one could argue that a Master Trainer needs to commit 80-160 hours. That’s a big commitment!

Or is it? Check out this NZ Timetable adaptation for staff training in the TWI programs:

Yup...two years!

Here are the questions that go through my mind when I read this timetable: is U.S. TWI training this intensive? Should it be? What are the trade-offs? What are the benefits? Take a close look at the information, why is this important? What would you change about your current train-the-trainer program in this light?

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Hidden Benefits of Job Instruction - Part 1

There are several basic things you do when practicing the skill of instruction:

1) Creating Timetables

2) Writing Job Breakdown Sheets

3) Readying the workplace with correct tools, materials, equipment, etc.

4) Organizing the workplace as it will be used,

5) Training using the 4 step method

6) Following up with people and adjusting plans

Let's focus on some of the hidden benefits of each of these Job Instruction components that come with experience in using the skill of instruction. First, what is the primary purpose of Creating Timetables? The primary reason we use a time table is to plan our training. A timetable plan is a record of our answers to the following questions:

Who will get trained?

When they will get trained?

What will they be trained in?

Who will train them?

But there are more benefits than just having a plan to operate to. When used with a bias towards continuous improvement, these planning questions are asked in response to workplace problems such as quality, productivity, delivery, safety or cost related problems that can be solved through standardization and training.

First Benefit to using Timetables: What gets your attention, gets done.

When your team sees you developing a plan that includes their personal skill develop, you are apt to get their buy-in. When you tie completion dates, improvement of quality, reduction of cost and improvement safety to their training and their development you will get more buy-in. And when you include them in the development of Job Breakdown Sheets - you are sharing in the ownership of the process with your team. Use the Timetable as a planning and management tool for your team and you will see things get done. Make it a part of your KPIs and you will see good things happen. Use the timetable as a rally tool around problems that involve training. This is not limited to operations departments...you can apply this skill to engineering teams, marketing, sales and other support functions. The objectives may change, but the skill of planning does not.

Second Benefit to using Timetables: Demonstrate Return on Training Investment.

If you use the timetable to help the team spot problems, record them and plan for solving them through training, you can demonstrate to others that training can pay off. Example: scrap is on the rise again on one of three shifts. A discussion with all of the shift leads reveals that adjustments are made by the operators during operation. Adjustments cause the product to drift out of spec from time-to-time. A review of the Job Breakdown Sheet reveals that the key point regarding the adjustment isn't specific enough to keep the process in control. The Job Breakdown Sheet is updated and the supervisor notes on the Timetable when each of the operators on the shifts will get retrained on the updated process. Too many times, these types of corrective actions go unaccounted for. By formalizing the planning, standardization and improvement cycle of how people train we can see in concrete terms how training pays off.

Third Benefit to using Timetables: Demonstrate a commitment to development of your people.

When people see that there is a plan for them, when they see that you are thinking about them and taking action, what do you suppose is going through their mind? For some they may feel uneasy. For others, they may be excited. A few may mutter, "It's about time!" If you follow through on your plan, in the long run the team will realize that we are in this together and for each other.

Summary: If you use a time table, you are modeling one of the high quality leadership behavior traits: duty. We need tools to help us do what is required of us for the benefit of our team. A time table is a concrete way of illustrating just how we are trying to compete in this world: by maximizing the potential of our people.

In Part 2 of Hidden Benefits, we'll uncover some of the gems found when writing Job Breakdown Sheets.