February 01, 2007
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Tip
CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF… When presenting RCA recommendations, we must take into consideration who we will be presenting to. Creating a “boilerplate” presentation to give to all audiences may not be advisable. When we are pitching our final results, our objectives are to get the resources and funding that we need to implement our recommendations. In order to accomplish that, we must strategize about how best to present our findings. Part of this strategy involves researching how the decision-makers are compensated (provided incentives). Why? We must demonstrate a benefit that will interest the decision makers in order for our recommendations to be considered seriously.
For instance, if my analysis concludes a need for the purchase of new laser alignment equipment and associated training, then I do not just want to present that this package will require funding of $10,000. If I know that the decision makers are compensated based on throughput performance, then I will express my savings in those units. So instead of asking for $10,000 for new testing equipment and training, we will say that if we are able to stop failures due to misalignment, our analyses show that we will cut downtime back by 15% which equates to an increase in production of 20,000 units over the year. The net increase to corporation would be about $750,000/year. so Mr. Decision Maker our request for these funds is minimal compared to the projected returns based on increased throughput!
Tip provided by the Reliability Center Inc.
http://www.reliability.com
February 01, 2007
The Dirty Dozen: 12 Ways to Wreck Your Maintenance Program
Put Your Fingers in Your Ears if You Are Given Feedback (11 of 12)
If you remember back to the first tip in this series, we discussed the importance of communication to any healthy maintenance organization. Communication includes listening skills, and the destruction of the maintenance process requires you to completely ignore any feedback you receive.
People who care about their work, and want to improve their workplace will come to you with ideas and suggestions for changes that could be beneficial. Wave them off, close you door and forget about it. When they are talking, constantly look at your watch, and change the subject often. If someone says that they have something important to tell you, ask them if they would like to hear a story about your childhood, or what you had for dinner a few weeks ago. Make sure they understand that you don’t want to hear anything they have to share.
In the extreme case where you have to endure a person giving you feedback about your own performance, it is OK to receive positive comments, particularly if someone else is listening. If the feedback is negative, put your fingers in your ears and sing a song loudly until they give up and walk away. After all, negative feedback must be inaccurate, since you are invincible.
Tune in next week as we continue to expose the secret lives of seriously disturbed maintenance “professionals” with The Dirty Dozen Tip #12: Walk Away From the Challenge.
“Tip” provided by NoBreakDowns.com
Tel: (218) 327-3114
http://www.NoBreakDowns.com
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