ABSTRACT
The leader and the group in a case were very impatient. They had short-circuited the problem-solving process, had gone straight to possible solutions and believed that they had completed their work after only four weeks. The facilitator decided that she should avoid any confrontation with the group and work through the leader. She arranged a planning meeting and started by stressing the gains that the group had made. She suggested that the leader start the next meeting by tabling these benefits and congratulating the group. A food processing factory had decided to apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) to their production lines. Training had been given to the operators and the system had been put in place, but without the use of a facilitator. The facilitator decided to arrange a meeting to review progress with SPC, and used it to discuss people's attitude to the technique and also whether the organization was achieving the best results possible from it.
