- "I need to figure out how to get my people
to work harder." Wrong. You need to provide them with the
training, tools, procedures, and coaching they need to work smarter.
- "Multitasking is the answer." Wrong.
In fact, multitasking usually reduces productivity. One
reason each part of the brain can do only one thing at a time.
Dividing its attention between two tasks adds transaction times--and
delays. Another reason is we tend to do two things poorly if we
don't focus--we see this all the time when people are driving and
using their cell phones. Bruce Lee's famous one-inch punch came from
focus, not multitasking.
- "More sophisticated tools will raise
productivity." Maybe, maybe not. If the tools are too hard to
use (or the users just find them that way due to lack of training or
whatever), productivity will suffer. Consider what happens when you
automate a bad accounting system--you just get errors faster. Or, an
electrician buys a sophisticated meter and doesn't learn its
functions--no advantage.
- "Sticking to simple tools will raise
productivity, because people can do their jobs instead of learning
how to use and maintain fancy tools." Maybe, maybe not. If the
tools take more time for the user to do the same work that could be
done with a better tool, productivity will suffer. Consider what
would happen if a big electrical contractor replaced its power
conduit benders with manual ones--not a pretty sight. Or, an
electrician tries to track down a problem using a simple voltage
tester rather than a DMM with recording features.
- "Some people are naturally better workers
than others. The key to productivity is hiring the right
people." Hiring is important, but even good hiring decisions
can't make up for poor management, poor tools, minimal training,
poor procedures, and other failures.
- "The answer is putting new workers with
senior workers, so they get the right OJT." Wrong. Time on a
job has nothing to do with competency in that job. Some people learn
for a month, then have one month's experience a dozen times a year
for the next twenty years. Many "experienced" workers have
bad habits they simply pass on to younger workers. That said, senior
workers often have knowledge training typically doesn't provide. A
good approach is involve those senior workers in developing specific
training that builds on their experience, while also involving them
in the new training.
- "I don't have the money to invest in
productivity training." Wrong. While training incurs some cost
up front, not training incurs enormous costs later. If you spend one
hour training a crew how to do wire pulls (this is a case
where you can utilize the experience of the senior person), that is
much cheaper than paying that same crew a day's wages to fix a wire
pull gone wrong.
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