ABSTRACT
The key to performance improvement is the timely and effective resolution of the primary problems that are impacting on a team’s ability to attain its performance targets. In many organizations, teams are hit with the same problems day after day, week after week. This is largely due to sticking plasters (adhesive bandages) or “work-arounds” (circumventions) being put in place to address an issue, as opposed to pulling the problem up from the root. I can recall one such company that manufactured mini chocolate rolls. The rolls fed down a motorized conveyor belt, which in turn fed the rolls into an automated packaging machine. As these rolls were feeding down the conveyor, every so often one or two of the rolls would be misaligned, causing a defective pack or even a jam at the packaging machine. To prevent this from happening, a corrective action was agreed upon. A person was allocated to ensure that all of the rolls were straight on the conveyor. This meant standing next to the conveyor straightening approximately four cakes every twenty seconds by hand throughout the entire shift.
