The quickest path to failure in implementing
improvements would be to exclude the team that does
the work. A dictatorial approach to change will
erode trust, setup barriers and ensure that the
change will not produce the desired results. The
team has the answers to your issues - you must draw
them into the solution!
To create effective improvement you must act only
in
the role of facilitating change. You don't have the
answers to improvement; your team certainly does.
Your job is to implement areas for improvement by
taking a process/procedural view of how things are
getting done by your team. Every one on your team is
familiar with certain aspects of project execution.
You need to take on role of seeing the big picture
view, looking for disconnects in flow/information
between steps. Keep an eye out for tool capabilities
as you do this. Review any disconnects with your
team, discuss them and be open to ideas the team
generates about how to deal with them.
Without team participation, any work you have
identified to improve effectiveness will most likely
end up gathering dust on the shelf, even if it's a
great idea, only because you did not get the
necessary buy-in. What's good news is that buy in
comes as a natural byproduct or your team working
together jointly, with a common goal of improving
their efficiency. If they are a part of the solution
the odds are in your favor that the solution is
going to bring the desired results.
