Management Consulting

Sometimes it helps... to have a trusted outside party review and discuss operational, financial or organizational problems, solutions and execution strategies. With 35 years of experience working with senior managers, site managers, production superintendents and supervisors, maintenance superintendents and supervisors, and administrative managers and their departments (accounting, marketing, HR, purchasing, IS, environmental, engineering, etc.), I will work with you to increase effectiveness in the following areas:

General Management: Change Management, Continuous Improvement (see Sustainable Improvement Consulting for details), Management Team Effectiveness (see Management Training (ICI) for details), Performance Measurement, Capturing Intellectual Property, Strategic Planning, Operational and Financial Analysis/Reporting, Communications.

Operations: Plant Management, Maintenance Management, Performance Improvement (cost reduction, revenue enhancement, productivity), Key Measures tied to opportunity and expectations, Quality Improvement Programs, Budgeting and Cost Control, Capital Investment, Asset Productivity and Performance Improvement.

Human Resource Management: Organizational Development, Training and Development, Organizational Efficiency. Culture and Change Management.

Sales, Marketing and Customer Service: Customer Satisfaction, Customer Requirements, Key Measures, Departmental Relationships, Workflow and Communications.

. . . . THE TWO DIMENSIONS OF IMPROVEMENT . . . . .

Most consultants specialize in the what I call the 1st Dimension of improvement - the tools and methods that come with most improvement initiatives (flowcharts, trend charts, control charts, root cause analysis, project management steps (DMAIC), etc.) These tools and methods are essential to understanding problems and analyzing improvements. However, the power for delivering results to the bottom line and sustaining change is in the 2nd Dimension - the "People Side of Improvement". Because this dimension contains the barriers to success and the keys to culture change, I have developed processes that help clients remove the barriers, achieve sustainable improvement and experience real culture change. My implementation approach intentionally balances the two dimensions.

I offer several options to help clients with both dimensions:

Customized Improvement Systems to meet your specific needs and areas of emphasis.
Review of Existing Improvement Systems - "Improvement Make-Overs" to revitalize existing tools and processes and modify beliefs and behaviors to promote change.
Management System Assessment - Identity management barriers to change.
Management Team Coaching/Training - Managers learn to be great improvement leaders and teams make better choices to build management credibility.

CUSTOMIZED IMPROVEMENT SYSTEMS
I can help your employees to develop and implement design and implement a customized operations improvement system that will work for your production, maintenance, administrative groups and management teams using the systems that you already have. I use a balanced approach between conventional tools and methods and the "people side of improvement". All tools are implemented to help people change the way they work and promote sustainable change. Strategies for applying tools and methods are based on a core goal of intentionally sustaining change:

Mobile/Fixed Plant Equipment (delay management, throughput, hidden capacity, expansion capital)
Key Measures (selecting/charting/communicating KPIs, setting optimums, changing culture)
Process Control (setting optimums, control & response plans for mobile/fixed plant equipment)
Process Mapping / Documentation (capturing intellectual property, connecting people to the "big picture")
"Surgical" Cost Reduction (connect excess costs to problems that cause them)
Lost Opportunity Identification/Project Prioritization (Cost of Quality)
Customer / Supplier Requirements (between departments, with customers)

IMPROVEMENT MAKEOVERS for Existing Improvement Programs
Do you have an improvement system that is not delivering the expected value? I can help you identify the barriers that are preventing your success, recommend strategies for barrier removal, and facilitate changes that help you achieve your improvement goals. Solutions will involve process design/execution, culture change, and/or management team effectiveness. As your partner, I will help you improve what you have put in place, not start with something new.

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ASSESSMENTS
Management Systems are processes that help management teams make decisions and solve problems. These processes seldom include the pieces that release barriers or promote/sustain change. My assessments reveal the weak links in your management system that sabotage improvement efforts.

MANAGEMENT TEAM COACHING/TRAINING
Managers are often relegated to spectator roles in the improvement process (see Management Training (ICI) for details). I help them sustain change and become great improvement leaders:

Manage improvement like they manage operations - redefines their role in change.
Intentionally remove barriers between departments (they are the only people that can do this).
Evaluate budget goals and expansion capital requests based on process potential ("Can we do it?" and "Is it really needed?") to maintain credibility.
Execution / follow-through - the final step in capturing improvement benefits.
Convert staff meetings from information updates to interactive work sessions with the team. Performance trends and improvement projects are reviewed, action plans are assigned and concerns about executing action plans are addressed. Honest and open communication becomes part of the process.

OPPORTUNITY: An odorless invisible element defined as a favorable set of circumstances in business. The only element with an infinite atomic number and weight. When discovered and captured, it reacts with improvement programs and corporate cultures to produce a desirable green substance found in financial institutions.