**5.1 Operational teams**

*Concepts, Applications and Emerging Opportunities in Industrial Engineering*

continuous improvement.

encourage his attitude.

there is no excuse for suggestions not to be given.

**5. Main features of effective CI systems**

(Key Behavioral Indicators) [25].

their identification, the generation of creative ideas will not be exhausted". The idea of making very frequent small improvements seems counterintuitive in the culture of most of our companies. In many companies we are always looking for a very good solution that makes us have significant performance gains and we do not give much credit to insignificant or sometimes intangible gains but that, in the long run, by their frequency, are extremely powerful. This is a key idea for the sustainability of

In 'Human Resource Development in Toyota Culture' [24] the authors mention that the relationship of trust created between the employee and the company or institution is extremely important and perhaps that is the reason why 90,000 suggestions per year are presented by Toyota employees. It is also curious to note that, according to the same authors, Toyota intentionally does not give emphasis to cash rewards. This is consistent with Devine's work stressing recognition rather than reward [14]. Generating ideas is supposed to be part of the work and as such does not reward a person for having done only his work. The ideas generated are part of the relationship of trust between the parties and this relationship of trust is the currency of exchange between employer and employee. Employees individually can and should place suggestions in suggestion boxes placed in specified places. They are encouraged to write them or ask for help from more experienced engineering personnel to write them if necessary but can also give suggestions verbally so that

Toyota handles the suggestion system in a very similar way to how the system was originally implemented many years ago. There is a committee that evaluates all the suggestions of the workers. Whenever a worker has an improvement idea in his work, he first talks about his idea with his direct boss, as a team leader, and tries to implement it as a test to find out how the idea works. If they find it would work, the worker will put the idea in a specific predefined format, with the support of the boss, if necessary, and formally send the idea to the committee. The committee then assesses the suggestion very quickly and decides whether it is implemented or not and what the reward should be. However, it is important to emphasize that the main objective of the system is NOT to give money to the employee who sends the suggestion. The main objective of donating a small amount of money is to APPRECIATE the worker's initiative and encourage him to continue the approach. Therefore, the main objective of the system is not to compensate the worker with the money, but to

To be effective a CI system needs top managers to master not only the technical management skills side but also the behavior and cultural side. Mike Rother [2] refers to the visible and the invisible side. The visible part has been more easily copied from Toyota many times without success because the invisible part is difficult to copy and is often overlooked. This type of division is also referred to in other forms such as the Shingo Model, dividing the KPI (Key Performance Indicators) and KBI

This invisible side of organizations or the side of behavior and culture is as present and vital as it is neglected. Edgar Schein argues: "The only thing leaders do of real importance is create and manage culture. If you don't manage the culture, the culture manages you, and you may not have the slightest idea of the extent to which

Leaders in the organization must define the long-term vision trying to include

a higher purpose that may create among all workers a sense of being part of

**44**

it is happening."

Another important feature of CI is teamwork. A common feature in effective CI systems is the presence of teams everywhere in the organization. Workers are organized in teams and managers gradually empower those teams with management responsibilities such as performance measurement and monitoring, scheduling their work, problem solving, and routine meetings. Transparency is an important tool to the benefit of all. Visual management must be used by teams to show and update daily most important aspect of their work.

These operational teams, also sometimes called "natural teams", are teams that normally share the same workspace and the same tasks, or complementary tasks. The term "natural" is used because in fact these teams already exist in a natural way even if they have no formal routines, no goals, and no team spirit. These teams are the essential units of CI systems as they are largely responsible for adding value to products and as such where CI is first most important. When we hear the term "operational teams" we often associate with teams operating in the production units, but the operational teams extend to all levels of the organization. These teams can be teams with administrative tasks, development tasks, sales or even management tasks.

The size of a team is a major factor as their performance can vary with their size. A good rule is to try to create small teams. On this team size issue, Sutherland [26] suggests that teams of 3–7 people needed 25% less effort than 9–12 people to do the same job. The size of the team is often determined and/or forced by constraints of context and typology of personality and relationship between team members. There are teams of 3 that work very well but others there are the same number but that do not work at all. Whether or not a strong team leader exists is also a key factor in the team's performance and ideal size.
