MDP789 - Leading the Transformation to Sustainable High Performance
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Course description

Deploying a high performance program such as Lean is an effective way to optimize operations, reduce costs, cut cycle time and increase customer satisfaction. However, Lean is experiencing the same fate as its operations optimization predecessors. Lean does not withstand the test of time better than any other program despite its proven value. For the past century organizations have been on a quest for a high performance approach that is sustainable. During that time many worthwhile techniques have come and gone. We have studied this phenomenon and believe we have discovered several root causes. Most optimization programs are implemented without building a solid foundation to support and sustain the effort over time. Foundation elements include effective leadership, change management, building the proper culture, understanding resistance to change, communication and project planning/management.

To address the issue of sustainability we have developed a 3 day workshop titled, "Leading the Transformation to Sustainable High Performance." The workshop takes participants through a series of activities which yield usable outputs that may be deployed in making a seamless and sustainable transformation to Lean or any other high performance program. For example, when we have completed the change management module, the client organization will have a change strategy ready to deploy for the transformation.

Every organization is unique and has distinct cultural issues. Prior to the session we will work with the client organization to identify cultural and implementation issues. Next, we will modify the workshop to ensure a seamless transition to sustainable high performance.

Who should attend

The leadership from an organization that is about to implement or re-implement a program that will take the organization to high performance status.

What you will learn

• This workshop is designed to help organizations successfully make the transition to high performance status and to sustain that level of performance over the long run. The outputs of many of the activities from this session will be given to top management. The information contained in the activity outputs will contain valuable information on how to successfully transform your organization to, and sustain, high performance status. Participants will learn the importance of:


• Understanding why the quest of the "Holy Grail" of sustainable high performance is so elusive.


• Knowing how crucial effective leadership is in making and sustaining the transformation to high performance status.


• Understanding and accepting resistance to change, as well as the use of change management tools, to make a seamless/painless transition to high performance.


• Communicating effectively before, during and after the transformation.


• Knowing how to use project planning and management tools to plot the course toward sustainable high performance.
  
  Day I: Workshop introduction and the leader’s role in the transformation
  1. Introduction
     • Learning Objectives
     • Agenda
     • Expectations
     • The Pegboard Game: Teaches lessons about the culture necessary to make a successful transformation to sustainable high performance
  2. The history of the pursuit of the elusive "Holy Grail" of sustainable high performance
  3. The secret of effective leaders: "Know yourself and know your people." Prior to the workshop participants will take an online TTI "Managing for Success" behavioral style assessment. Participants will print, read and bring their assessment reports to class. Leadership occurs through influence. This module will give the participants the self- awareness, as well as awareness of different styles, to improve effectiveness in influencing and communicating with others.
     • Gain self-awareness
     • Understand and read the styles of others
     • Adapt behavioral styles
     • Enhance leadership effectiveness
     • Improve the effectiveness of communications
     • Leverage and cascade the Assessment throughout the organization
  4. The role of the leader
     • Discussion Group Activity: Best Leader/Worst Leader
     • Characteristics of a successful leader
     • Leadership styles (includes a leadership style self-assessment)
     • Adapt your Leadership/Behavioral Style to different situations
     • "The Leadership Alliance" video case study: Examines 4 leaders who have transformed their organizations to high performance status
     • Case study debrief activity.
     • Developing the leadership skills necessary to make the transformation
     • Activity: Participants will identify the skills and competencies necessary to develop organizational leadership to the level of effectiveness necessary to make the transformation.
     • The difference between leadership and supervision
     • The self-fullfilling prophecy
     • Develop the workforce with coaching plans
     • Coaching plan activity
     • Day I summary activity. Participants will brainstorm and prioritize what leaders must do to ensure a seamless transition to sustainable high performance in their organization.
  
  Day II: Understanding change and establishing a high performance culture
  1. Understanding and managing resistance to change
     • Resistance to change model
     • The power of WIIFM and DITM (What’s in it for me? Does it threaten me?)
     • The Force Field Analysis
     • Discussion Group Activity: Participants will conduct a Force Field to analyze the organization’s transformation
     • Contingency diagram
     • Discussion Group Activity: Participants will analyze a restraining force using the contingency diagram
     • The emotional wave
     • Discussion Group Activity: Participants will construct an emotional wave for the organization’s transformation
  2. Worker Focus Group Activity: Day II PM will start with a stratified group of 18 workers. We will explain the concepts of WIIFM and DITM to the workers. Next, we will break them into 3 discussion groups and brainstorm and prioritize the lists. This will identify the actual things that fuel support and resistance to the transformation. The leadership participant group will reconvene.
  3. Processing the WIIFM and DITM lists: Participants will review worker WIIFM and DITM lists and determine a strategy to decrease resistance and increase support for the transformation.
  4. Cultural transition discussion and activities. Small discussion groups will examine different job functions as they currently exist and how they should change to support a high performance culture.
  5. Discussion Group Activity, Planning for the cultural transformation: Discussion Groups will consider all of the leadership, resistance and change management tools, techniques and organizational specific issues discussed or surfaced to this point in the workshop. Groups will brainstorm things the organization may do to successfully transform the culture of the organization to initiate, deploy and sustain high performance. A spokesperson from each discussion group will debrief the activity.
  6. Day II Summary
  
  Day III: Planning the Transformation and Communications
  Note: If the organization has engaged a consultant to install the high performance program, the consulting firm may actively participate in Day III, the Planning Module.
  1. Communications and the transformation
     • Improving personal effectiveness
     • Elements of an organizational communications plan for a seamless transformation
     • Activity: Participants will draft an organizational communications plan for the transformation.
  2. Considerations in making the transformation:
     • Selecting the approach to high performance that best suits the organization: This will cover the pros and cons of the proven approaches to attain high performance status
     • Options to deploying a high performance program
     • Building an organizational infrastructure to support high performance
     • Selecting the first projects
     • Selecting the first teams
     • Using the PDSA Cycle in deploying the approach
  3. Developing an Implementation plan: During this module participants will write a detailed plan to initiate, deploy and sustain a high performance program.
     • Write a Project Goal Statement for overall launch and deployment of the program
     • Develop an Affinity Diagram: This activity will use a structured process to brainstorm all of the action steps the organization must do to initiate, deploy and sustain high performance. The output of this activity will be a series of sub-projects that will get the organization to its goal state.
     • Develop a Relationship Digraph. This tool prioritizes the sub-projects.
     • Form sub-project teams to staff each of the sub-projects.
     • Appoint sub-project owners.
     • Write SMART project goal statements for each sub-project.
     • Create a Gantt chart for each sub-project.
     • Develop a strategy to monitor and report on the plan as it rolls-out
  4. Summary