The innovative products of a commercial enterprise led to a surprisingly high demand. This, together with a change of ownership, unsettled and overwhelmed the loyal workforce. Our interim manager and lean management specialist brought back calm and confidence with the introduction of lean basics.
Surprised by the great demand
The innovative products of a commercial enterprise with about 50 employees were suddenly in high demand on the market. So much so that many of the long-serving employees were overwhelmed by the increased order volume - the previous principles and procedures no longer worked, and new ones were not yet in place. The situation was aggravated by the recent sudden death of the company's patron. The associated change of ownership further unsettled the very loyal workforce.
In this situation, our interim manager and specialist for lean management was hired as COO to find solutions together with the employees on how the company could once again appear positively on the market.
Introduce innovations, retain know-how
Our interim manager immersed himself in the smallest details, which created great trust among the employees and thus got the workforce on board right from the start. This enabled him to quickly introduce new procedures and operational changes that incorporated existing know-how and were supported by all employees. He established sales & operations planning and daily store floor management, which brought significantly more calm to order processing and increased the company's ability to act.
At the same time, he had the task of rebuilding the organization. Here, it was important for him to proceed with a great deal of tact: The long-standing and extremely loyal managers were to be able to contribute their extensive know-how and be actively involved in the rebuilding process without being overburdened. On the contrary, they should be relieved so that new ideas and capacities could be well received by the management team.
Building trust at all levels
Crucial to the success of the measures in this company was the decision to be satisfied with an 80/20 result instead of dreaming about a perfect solution for far too long but not introducing any concrete changes. In addition, greater importance was attached to the experience and know-how of the employees than to stringent processes imposed "from above". Both of these factors created the necessary trust among the workforce, so that everyone was pulling in the same direction right from the start.
The introduction of jour fix meetings, at which sore points could be addressed calmly and regularly and critical situations discussed, helped to build trust with business partners. Open communication and pragmatic documentation of key results and plans ensured a great deal of clarity.
The principles of Lean Management can be applied in a wide variety of situations. We can quickly provide you with Lean Management specialists who are familiar with your industry and have a lot of experience in implementing change processes.
Contact us at office@top50interim.com or +41 (0)41 412 02 02
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