WK 3 – 06 DISCUSSION “Strategy Deployment”

[Mike Hincks]

In Chapter 10 of Lean For Dummies, on pages 192-197, the hoshin planning method is introduced.

What elements from hoshin planning could we introduce at MasterControl that would have a positive effect on our strategy and alignment?

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Thanks!

[Ryan]

Within Hoshin, the cross functional planning will allow us to work closer with QA and Development to streamline our processes and allow for greater knowledge sharing among all groups. This would also lead to the company being one big team instead of several individual groups being teams and keeping to themselves. Having a common vision and goals is also a key element as it means we all want each other to be successful and are more willing to assist each other to make our joint goal. Then measuring performance and evaluating the measurements helps to tell what progress if any is being made and how it is effecting the company. 

[Ely Mcginty]

I think just mapping out our business strategy between departments would help employees in a specific group know what business strategies another group might have. It would be nice to know what my strategy is with our group but it would also be nice to know the direction that sales/QA/development is going with as well. This would just give a single employee an expansion of knowledge in terms of knowing where this organization is looking to go.  

[ajones]

Establish measurable business objectives - We have determined the goal is to be a world class support team. We should define the steps needed to get there and by making them measurable, we will be able to determine how close we are to meeting our goal.

[estolberg]

No matter what "long-term goal" Technical Support is working towards, a key element is the information contained in the Strategy Implementation table. This information defines what will be needed to implement the strategy, who will be involved and what they will be doing, a timeline showing milestones, and measurements to determine what strategies are being achieved.

For example, if we are looking to reduce our dropped calls, we need to generate specific objectives and milestones (say near-future cutting the % in half, long-term reducing to <1%), generate a timeline to achieve it in, then come up with specific measurements to track it (Shoretel data). The last key piece that is necessary for this puzzle is the determination of peoples' roles and their exact responsibilities. TSEs in Q1 are responsible for keeping calls short and monitoring the queue. TSEs in Q2, however, have the responsibilities of watching the queue and grabbing calls ASAP when Q1 is busy. Team Leads should be responsible for the overall monitoring of both queues, and be more proactive in enforcing the responsibilities of these other parties, as well as taking calls when necessary. If everyone does their part, the number of calls dropped could be accurately tracked and milestones should be easy to come by.

[David Healey]

The need to establish and maintain direction is ever growing.  Usually, the tasks that seem to be difficult to begin, let alone to complete, usually just need a little bit of direction.  The translation of the Hoshin is the compass needle.  The Hoshin is designed to help us find and maintain a true heading so as to better help us follow our goals and maps. 

[Chanse]

A little more cross-departmental discussion would probably help.  TS, QA and dev having more discussion about where the MC product is going and maybe quarterly meetings to discuss what's going on in the respective departments would be a great benefit to us all.  It would be a way of aligning our prioities and give us all a different perspective of what the different departments are seeing and hearing.  Tying these together could have a positive effect on our everyday operations.