How can you ensure team members stay on task in a manufacturing plant?

Ensuring that team members stay on task in a manufacturing plant requires a combination of effective leadership, communication, and operational strategies. Setting clear and achievable goals is a must but it is also paramount to break down larger objectives into smaller tasks with well-defined deadlines. This provides a more suitable roadmap for team members to follow and accomplish on time.

Imposing goals and objectives on the team might work short term but soon enough there motivation will probably fade. In my experience, the best way to determine what the goals and objectives are to be is to engage in conversations with the team members and allow them to come up with the goals and objectives. It is the first step towards giving them some skin in the game and it will reap rewards later down the line in terms of sustained motivation. As we all know, the human condition means that we strive to achieve the goals that we set ourselves much more than those that are imposed upon us.

As a manufacturing professional with 43 years of experience, the biggest issue in my opinion is the lack of involvement of shop personnel. Manufacturing problems are very rarely solved in the front offices! My manufacturing path started as a manual machinist & finished as a general manger. Along my path, I received my Bachelor’s & Master’s degrees but I never forgot my roots. When many a problem occurred, the first placed I headed was the shop floor & almost 100% of the time, they had the answer! I also made sure they received the credit & properly awarded them! My advice to all manufacture mangers, you have 2 ears & 2 eyes but only 1 mouth, so you can listen & see twice as much as you can talk!

Setting reliable and realistic goals is crucial for keeping the team members aligned and focused. When the goals are both achievable and meaningful, team members are more likely to understand their importance and commit to them. Unrealistic or vague goals can lead to confusion, demotivation, and a lack of direction.

I agree however, coaching is a key action that is missing in this response. It is crucial to evaluate individual performance and provide regular feedback to ensure continuity. In addition, regularly scheduled meetings to review performance and ensure progress is made as outlined on the (RAIL) rolling action items list, is essential.

Me ha funcionado establecer indicadores medibles los cuales se le comparten al equipo y se les entrega para que alimenten las bases de datos y establecer la meta a la que se quiere llegar esto genera retos dentro del equipo.

Garanta que todos saibam o que fazer em cada posto, e equipe os com procedimentos ilustrativos fáceis de se compreender coloque também instruções de trabalho com tempos e padrões efectivos de realização. Se cada um sabe bem o que fazer e em quanto tempo se faz você ja deixa equipe focada nas actividades.

You need to understand what drives your team members and set SMART goals that match their strengths. Leadership is not always being the best but getting the best out of people

Setting clear and concise goals that the team understands is the first step for a productive team. Without it the team will create their own that may or may not give the organization the needed output.

A definição de metas e expectativas claras é fundamental para a gestão eficaz de equipes. A abordagem SMART (específica, mensurável, alcançável, relevante e limitada no tempo) estabelece critérios objetivos para as metas, promovendo a clareza, a objetividade e a responsabilidade na execução das tarefas. Isso permite que os membros da equipe compreendam plenamente o propósito de seu trabalho e sejam avaliados de forma justa com base em critérios predefinidos.

Providing regular feedback is an important part of your role as a leader - formal and informal feedback and recognition matter! Establish formal time to provide feedback so your teams can “plan and prep” but sometimes the informal opportunities to offer feedback matter most, especially when something positive is achieved - don’t wait! Your feedback should be balanced and supportive.

To keep the team on track, regular interviews are the best way to evaluate what has been done and prepare for the next moves. Giving a feedback for each team member helps assess the effectiveness of our actions and what need to be done to improve it. The daily business without any guidance from management often leads to a loss of visibility on what next and where are we today. Appreciate the hard work of the team and intervene to adjust deviations continuously, is the best way to keep the motivation and the focus on the vision.

I could not agree more! This is easily accomplished by having daily speed checks to understand the team’s 3 main tasks/goals for each day. It also allows leadership to understand and assist in any potential roadblocks during cross functional team activities.

Regular feedback provides the closed loop system for everyone to flourish. Without it people wander in their own direction and get surprised when their hard work is not appreciated simply due to the leader not sufficiently guiding and checking the course of improvement. But also a leader needs to be mindful not to do it too frequently to be overbearing.

O feedback construtivo e o reconhecimento consistente são pilares fundamentais para manter a motivação e o engajamento da equipe. O feedback oportuno e específico orienta o desenvolvimento individual, enquanto o reconhecimento sincero fortalece a cultura de valorização mútua. Essas práticas não apenas contribuem para um ambiente de trabalho positivo, mas também promovem um senso de valor e estímulo, impulsionando o desempenho e a satisfação dos membros da equipe.

I feel following tasks will help to keep teams on track and motivated in manufacturing plants. 1. Daily 5min morning stand-up meeting before starting the work. 2. Appreciating even smallest achievement. 3. Encouraging for kaizens, continuous small improvement. 4. Having competitions like performer of the month. 5. Lastly giving the critical feedback on yesterday's shortcoming. Creating a healthy working environment always boost the end results.

Good point. One more thing that I would add is that any performance issue shall also be addressed promptly. Quick corrective action is essential for continuous improvement.

Team members working on a task in a manufacturing plant should be recognized for the value they are contributing to the success of the task so they that should have a continuous sense of belongingness in the plant and also that they are also important in the whole team structure like others.

O feedback diário ou instantâneo é a melhor maneira que um gestor tem para se manter próximo dos seus colaboradores, além de mostrar os pontos a serem melhorados, é possível engajar, incentivar o crescimento do profissional, através da confiança adquirida pela proximidade diária que está ferramentas proporciona.

Uma das coisas mais importantes para manter a equipe motivada e focada na entrega desejada, é sempre tratar os feedbacks e reconhecimentos de forma bem direta e verdadeira. Muitos líderes evitam dar feedbacks negativos preferindo uma melhor aceitação da equipe. Essa prática é extremamente destrutiva a longo prazo, pois a relação de confiança entre líder e equipe, torna-se superficial, sem credibilidade e baseada no medo. Com isso, dar feedbacks positivos ou negativos, faz parte do processo de desenvolvimento profissional de todos. E os reconhecimentos quando os profissionais superam as expectativas da empresa, devem sempre ocorrer de forma natural e direta.

This is especially true for any remote workers or teams. An employer easy to implement strategy would be using daily check-in sheets that show leadership progress on individual/team tasks. What’s on the agenda for the next day, etc.. it could be as easy as an email sent to leads to compile for leadership or could be synchronized through a project management platform such as ClickUp. I have found keeping it simple works best and leads to follow through but it can become more in-depth as the project requires.

Em qualquer tipo de organização, quando se trabalha com diferentes times em um mesmo projeto, uma boa prática são as reuniões chamadas "flash meetings" ou "stand-up meetings", que não passam de 15 minutos e servem para alinhar as expectativas, compartilhar o progresso e atualizar metas. Essas reuniões também são excelentes para manter em contato pessoas que não trabalham diretamente juntas, mantendo o espírito de equipe.

Existem diversos tipos de ferramentas que ajudam no controle e qualidade na manufatura, como: PDCA, SMART, 5W2H, FMEA, além de teams, skype, whatsApp e sistemas integrados.

Stay connected with them and take regular feedbacks. Level of responsibilities and line of actions should be clearly defined. If required, role and responsibilities should be changed as per need basis. Employee should remain motivated in all designated rols.

Yes, but don’t have too many. I have seen where critical information is communicated by “Texts” “Teams” “WhatsApp” and “Emails” etc. just have one and maintain a one stop shop of comms!

Importante dar entera responsabilidad al trabajador, en la que cumplirá integralmente con sus obligaciones, que se derivan de su talento y capacidades según la posición en que se desempeñe.

This is an epic concept! Allowing your team to take ownership gives the team intrinsic motivation naturally. They want to excel and providing them buy-in and ownership will do better than any extrinsic motivation leadership could provide.

Se as metas são claras, tangíveis e você fez seu papel como líder na capacitação da sua equipe, permitir que façam seu trabalho com certo nível de autonomia. Quando o colaborador se sente empoderado, ele também tem mais chances de garantir que o resultado seja positivo, pois se sente responsável pela decisão que tomou. Além disso, dessa forma o líder não tem a necessidade de microgerenciar cada passo das pessoas de sua equipe, podendo focar em desenvolvê-la com base nas necessidades individuais de cada um.

In so many manufacturing sites I visit, good workers are very hard to find. Those that would benefit and perform better under autonomy and empowerment can be quite limited. So many workers do not care about the business or the work but are just there for the money and move on after short stints. If they are given freedoms they can abuse these resulting in costly issues for the business (seen this often). While in a good workforce this sounds great and is very valuable it may not always be practical when greater than 50% of your workplace is not engaged and is there to pay the bills only and move on quickly. Sorry to be negative but I see the above so often and while I support this in some organisations, it is not always practical.

A Balance between autonomy and guidance is crucial. Empower your team while providing the necessary support, and you’ll create a motivated, self-sufficient workforce. 🌟

When I assumed the Lead of an assembly from the Pilot Engineer Manager one of the priorities was to enhance the process documents. To say The Operators' input was vital is an understatement. On a new & very complex assembly, in just 2 months as a team we had a process that was achieving goals consistently despite the issues that were still being ironed out. They exercised ownership of their roles to the benefit of the team & company.

Great productivity can be achieved within teams in any manufacturing plant by staying on top of equipment availability through scheduled predictive and preventive maintenance thereby minimizing equipment downtimes. This helps in ensuring teams stay on track and be productive.A good process quality assurance culture that reduces variability in the process is also important .Allowing for buffers and standby resourcing with employee cross training are also ways to ensure that teams stay focused with less distraction. Ensuring that processes have clear operating procedures or work instructions also helps eliminate frequent interruptions and reduces rework in the process.

Oferecer as condições ideiais de trabalho às equipes é responsabilidade da liderança. É essencial garantir que a equipe tem o que precisa para fazer o trabalho bem feito. Ao mesmo tempo, é importante considerar o fator humano e entender que, ocasionalmente, interrupções podem sim acontecer e, desde que não sejam a regra, muitas delas devem ser acolhidas.

Il est important de noter que pour que l'autonomie et l'autonomisation soient efficaces, elles doivent être soutenues par une communication claire, une formation adéquate, et des systèmes de soutien. Cela garantit que tout le monde comprend ses responsabilités et a les ressources nécessaires pour réussir.

Además, alentar el establecimiento de metas claras y medibles contribuirá a mantener la concentración en los objetivos principales, minimizando las posibles desviaciones causadas por distracciones.

From my perspective, understanding the factors that impact the abilities of team members is crucial. By identifying these factors, we can mitigate disruptions caused by personal matters or customer complaints, ensuring that the quality of our products, services, and machinery remains unaffected. Additionally, providing adequate support and resources to help our team cope with distractions and interruptions is essential for maintaining productivity and overall well-being. When we invest in our team’s resilience, we create a more resilient and efficient work environment. 🌟

Teamwork is very important in team building and team success, a culture of respect and common goal has to come from within and you only build that with appreciation of your team and a common goal, to achieve as the leader, they need to know you depend on them and you are counting on them and any feedback is welcome…

A frequent and narrowly focused incentive plan can motivate teams to stay focused and deliver as teams. High frequency, such as monthly, is essential and akin to immediate feedback.

From my point of view, another vital thing not to overlook is to provide adequate supervision and support. It is essential to ensure that the teams have the necessary resources to complete tasks. Furthermore, in this new era where technology is becoming more integrated in our lives, every company should take advantage of it. As such, it is crucial to consider leveraging technology to streamline processes and monitor productivity. Tools such as project management software, time-tracking systems and manufacturing execution systems might be considered. Lastly, it is also indispensable to foster a culture of continuous improvement where team members are encouraged to suggest and implement improvements in processes and workflows.

Along with all the listed points, there should be some monetary reward for those who are performing well in the plant based on certain parameters like peer rating, output, target achievement etc.

In my opinion following are some of the important points to consider: 1. Team members should be sufficiently well trained to perform the task they have been assigned to execute. 2. Skill gap analysis with proper training schedule would be helpful. 3. Regular feed back is of prime importance. 4. Deviations from the plan need to be identified and corrected at the earliest. 5. Incentive for timely execution with minimum variance should be awarded.

Most attempts to help seem to have been pulled from pages on How to Train Your Dog. Offering incentive based rewards if they follow commands properly. Although, it is nice to earn extra, it is best to offer Only if TM goes above the expected. Otherwise, thoughts of "you could be paying me more than my current wage" sets in. In my experience, developing a comprehensive production plan, distributing tasks in a manner which creates a Across the board Team Effort, domino approach. As team A completes their part, team B performs their part, then team C... until production tasks are complete. Similar to automotive production line. One team relies on previous team efforts. Peer reward brings confidence, pride, and reinforce a team mindset.