Make it SMART…. and why that matters to your people!
2019 is coming and chances are you you’ve been planning for it for months.
It’s never a bad time to set goals. In manufacturing especially where you have a winter shutdown, the flip of the calendar can translate into some new motivation and energy.
You may have heard of the acronym SMART — great guideline for setting goals. You want to make sure your goal is Specific & Measurable: that is it’s tied to a metric that everyone understands. For example,
I want our OEE to go from 60% to 70%. It also needs to be Attainable & Relevant: something that’s doable, and to set it up that way you’ll want to
give them one section of the plant, for example one machining cell or one assembly line, so that they have a really actionable scope to tackle. You want to make sure it’s something that you value, as a manufacturing leader, and not just a make-work project.
Finally you want to add Timelines to the goal: for example do you want to see first past rejects from 10 percent down to 5 percent by April 1st, and then you want to build timeliness into the metric itself. In that example 10% to 5% on first pass rejects, is it a single shift average? Or an hour’s production? A week’s average production perhaps? The time and the target along with the unit of that metric is going to really help your team focus. They going to want to understand exactly how to win!
In addition to applying the basic principles of SMART, you want to consider what you’re giving your team when you set a clear goal: I call it the glory of a single metric. It’s focus and clarity and you’re saying to them without saying: “I understand you have a lot on your plate. Here’s something I need you to do and I understand that you’re gonna have to rearrange your world.” There’s always some pain or at least some temporary discomfort when you’re making a change, even if it’s for the best. When you give your people something to focus on like that it’s like clearing their desk. It’s a relief to them and ideally they will feel energized and motivated to tackle the goal.