Why Is So Important for Managers to Listen!

In lean, there is a lot of talk about “learning to see,” with the goal of better understanding the shop floor. This is, of course, important. However, another important aspect is listening, both on the shop floor and elsewhere. This blog post goes deeper into why and how to listen to the shop floor, or generally the gemba.

Introduction

For any manager related to the shop floor, or generally any type of operations, it is important to have a good understanding of the operations. This does not mean that he needs to know everything… that is simply impossible, and any manager who has an answer to everything is simply lying. But the manager needs to understand the shop floor on a high level, which requires occasional deep dives into the fine details of the operations.

There are different ways to do this. One way is by actually going to the shop floor. This may be the most important one, and “go to Gemba” is a common encouragement in lean manufacturing. The advantage of going to the shop floor is that it is so much harder to lie to the manager when he is on the shop floor. Visual management is a huge help here, as is a chalk circle, or—most time consuming—actually doing the job for some time.

A second option is through data and diagrams. This can be a shop floor dashboard, generally KPIs or also schematics like a shop floor layout or a value stream map. The data is usually aggregated and hence easier to understand… assuming that the data is correct and does not contain unintentional mistakes or intentional misreadings.

And finally, there is the option to listen to your people. This can contain a lot of valuable insight, albeit it may not always be well structured. Additionally, people often confuse opinions with facts, even when they are not trying to influence you or even intentionally trying to mislead you.

How to Do Active Listening

Unfortunately, you usually cannot expect for people to just come to you and tell you things. While this happens, it is much better to ask. This way you can also reach people who would not normally approach you with information. Even more important, you can control the topic of the discussion, rather than have others approach you with what they think matters (albeit there is value in this too).

One key ingredient for a good exchange of information is trust. The person you are listening to should trust you, at least to some degree. If the other side is wary about how you will be using the information to his disadvantage, then the conversation will go nowhere. Obtaining the trust of someone is not easy, and worthy a whole other (series of?) blog posts.

Managers have a tendency to take control of a conversation and steer it in a desired direction. You don’t want this here. You want to have input from your workers. Hence, try to ask open-ended questions. Don’t ask details, at least not at the beginning, but try to let the speaker pick a direction or detail on the general area you are interested in.

Listening is just that: listening. Active listening includes more. Give regular clues that you are actually listening (e.g., by nodding, saying “I see”, etc.). Occasionally summarize and paraphrase what the speaker said. Ask follow-up clarifying questions where applicable. Still, try not to interrupt the speaker.

Also, don’t just listen to what the person says; also try to understand their feelings. Observe their body language and other nonverbal clues to get the full picture. On a side note, also make sure your own body language is open (i.e., no crossed arms).

Chances are, you will hear a lot of problems. Equally likely, you will not be able to fix all of them, or may not even want to fix them (e.g., because you need to allocate resources and money somewhere else where it is even more urgent). Hence, you may want to do some expectation management. What will you do, what can you do, and what won’t you do? If the speaker expects the moon but won’t get it, he may be upset. Hence, try to convey a realistic image of what is possible.

Why Listen?

Overall, listening to your people is an important source of information about the shop floor, or generally the operations. You may get information on details that can’t be seen directly on the shop floor and may not show up ion any data or diagrams. Not everything on a shop floor can be measured. This information will help you with decision-making.

Of course, when listening, you will get a lot of opinions mixed in with facts. These opinions are also valuable, but just because someone says it is so, it doesn’t mean that it actually is that way. I had one project where the operators were huge fans of a job shop–style assembly, but, while this might have be easier for them, it would have been terrible for the factory. See also my post series Why Are Job Shops Always Such a Chaotic Mess? Hence, while you should listen to the operators, you should not take everything for the truth. Judge and compare based on your experience what makes sense and what doesn’t.

But there is a lot of good and useful information. Back during my McKinsey times, one of the first steps for optimizing a shop floor was often to ask the people on the shop floor. We collected lots of ideas, and then sorted them and put the (in our opinion) useful ones in presentations for the management. Hence, listening to your employees will give you a lot of information on the shop floor.

But there is more! Listening to your employees is also a sign of respect. It is one way to build up trust and to get the employees engaged into their workplace. It also helps employees to develop in their workplace by thinking about their work in the first place.

Overall, listening to your operators and employees is an undervalued but very beneficial skill that will help you to improve your system. Now, go out, listen to your people, and organize your industry!

PS: This post was inspired by conversations with Colleen Soppelsa on Linkedin. Thank you, Colleen!