One of the first things I like to do in when I take on a new client is to visit the company’s IT department.
Over the years, I have discovered that CEOs value Information Technology (IT) managers more than any other manager within the company. The reason for this? Most CEO’s have no idea what IT does most of the time, this department is often viewed as the one organization within the company that can save the day when computers crash, systems need debugging, or viruses need to be eliminated. Most of the time, IT departments are tucked away behind locked doors, not to be seen from or heard from until a computer problem is reported, then it is “Super IT” to the rescue!
This begs the question, how much of the computer system do we really need? Are you a major corporation networked to the world, or a small business with 25 employees? IT is a valuable component to any sized company, however, I feel that sometimes, companies give too much responsibility and authority for the fragile IT systems is given to IT personnel.
In most companies, about 25% of the employee computer time is used for personal use. The fact is that most workstations don’t even need computers. Many are simply micro managing real-time work hours. Who cares if 25% of an hour is lost? It always works out to the same amount of time to produce a product. Sometimes minor problems occur and time is lost, but sometimes there are no problems and production finished ahead of schedule.
For example, for many years now, one of my defense clients has had a consistent turnover time for refurbishing communication equipment for United States Navy ships. Documented to the time to replace each component, this process cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to establish, and hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain. After 9/11, there was a rush to get the fleet underway with a backup for each communication system. This meant that every piece of communication equipment had to be repaired, refurbished and installed or shipped pronto! When I reviewed the records, I found that production increased by a whopping 500%. This needs no explanation, the bottom line is that when driven and motivated to perform, a workforce can make or break a company.
The limitations for production are placed on the workers by the management system. Management systems think they establish the time it takes to a job, but the time to do the job is measured the worker. Workers are not dumb. They always outsmart management because they come from a different mind set than the manager. The worker is in a survival, family protection, and breadwinner mode.
Most workers operate based on fear, i.e. fear of work layoffs, fear of working to hard and finishing before the shift ends, fear of working themselves out of a job, or fear of anyone else knowing the details of what they do to produce a good part.
A correct and just workstation is important, but not a workstation being told they lost 10 hours of production last month. Personally, I have encouraged many companies to remove computers from workstations, and remove time limitations on production. If you have Capability Maturity Model (CMM)-driven equipment that is one thing, but if you don’t, most of the computers are simply causing more work interruptions, rather than supporting work production.
Point To Ponder
Are you at the mercy of IT, or is IT another department under your leadership?
