Leading Special Projects

Teams utilize many different talents
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Leading a operations team is an experience everyone should do as often as the opportunity arises. Some people always look for leadership possibilities and thrive on nearly every task they manage. Others think they are leaders and quickly prove to everyone around them that they have no clue as to what is going on and how to get the most from team members.  Still a third group seeks to avoid leadership opportunities and is content to be a role player.  To be an effective leader on a special project that requires fast answers and execution, here are a few tips:

• Utilize the group's strength.  Early in my career on Boeing's portion of the F-22, I was tasked to lead a team of engineers and operations folks to help build a test box for a live fire test to ensure survivability for the wing.  Since the first test failed miserably there was a high level of concern to get the right answer quickly. During our meetings to plan our next test, I utilized the members of our team by engaging them in conversation about all engineering, manufacturing and operations parameters.  They were far more experienced than I was at the time, so it would have been foolish of me to try to "fake" my knowledge.  Instead I let the experts help guide us to the optimum solution and I served the group as a facilitator.  The next tests were ultimately a success and the program passed an essential milestone for survivability.
• Do what is necessary for success.  This seems obvious but many people feel that they only need to do their assigned tasks and let others do theirs.  Sometimes others get pulled away onto something else, have trouble executing, or simply just don't have a sense of urgency for a special project.  Then you have to forge ahead and do what they haven't done.  I did this one time in my Boeing career when I had to do layouts of an area another engineer was supposed to perform.  He kept procrastinating the job until it was getting close to jeopardizing the program.  I stepped in and started the job.  It caused some conflict with him but the job had to be done.
• Give credit to those who help.  Often during a busy project, you have to ask people to go above and beyond what is expected of them.  This includes after hours and weekend work to get the task done.  At the least, you can send them a thank you note or let their manager know how much they helped you.  It is the right thing to do and helps ensure they will be willing to help you again in the future.

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Stand Up Meetings

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There is nothing like a meeting to prevent real action or progress on an issue.  Most people can attest to the fact that meetings often go off on tangents or don't conclude with any real decisions.  Many meeting invitees are not really necessary, only attending because the boss is requiring them to go.

The stand up meeting is different.  It is usually a daily meeting held in the operations area (i.e. factory floor).  It is usually held early in the morning as the first (day) shift is starting operations.  It is successful for the following reasons:

• It is held with all meeting participants "standing up".  There are no chairs or tables to rest or get comfortable.  
• It is short in duration (usually 5 - 10 minutes) depending on the topic.  By standing the entire meeting, it ensures the meeting will not go too long.
• The meeting involves different functional groups and brings them together to work issues.  No waiting for someone to answer an e-mail or leave another meeting.  Collaboration happens immediately.
• The meeting happens early in the morning before people get pulled away to solve other emergent issues,

If you haven't done so already, consider having a stand up meeting to improve focus and get real results

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Transferable Skills

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With many out of work or looking to find a better position, it is one of the busiest hiring periods in recent times. Those working in Human Resources (HR) know all too well that the sheer volume of resumes for just one position can reach well over one hundred resumes.  So in order to narrow the possibilities, the HR professionals word the job posting so that no one really has all the "minimum qualifications" that the hiring company is seeking to find.

Not to be overlooked are transferable skills.  Here are some of the common mistakes found in hiring and what fixes the issue:

• "No experience in our industry".  I was once told I didn't have any food industry experience for a manager's position at a local yogurt plant.  What I did have was many years experience in a manufacturing operation.  My experience was in a regulated industry (FAA) that is comparable to another regulated industry, food manufacturing (FDA).  So the skills I learned at Boeing (management, dealing with machines that go down, raw material issues, etc) are transferable to other manufacturing industries.  In fact an outsider may very well bring fresh new insight to the position.  In addition, the learning curve is not so steep that an experienced person can quickly get up to speed.
• "You aren't experienced in our 3D CAD system".  If you have had any training in one  3D CAD system, you can easily learn another.  The commands for doing operations are different but make sense once you get into the nuts and bolts of the CAD system.  In fact with many icon based programs like CATIA V5, all that is required is to know the icons.
• "You have never been a manager before".  Maybe not but every manager out  there was working at a staff level before being promoted.  They were not managers before either.  Many managers join a company with preconceived ideas on how things should be run in the new company.  Often it is better to take an inexperienced face and  mold that person into the leader your company deserves.

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Points of Contact

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In any operation it is essential to know who is the contact person in a different group than your own.  The bigger the company, the more important it is to know who to go find if you need help or have a question.  Otherwise you can spend many hours calling and asking around to find an answer to your question.

One of the best work features Boeing used was a making a points of contact list available for groups. Many work tasks or projects were  often specialized by one or two key individuals within a group.  These subject matter experts (SMEs) would often be the best sources for information available to others within a group.  So it benefited the entire organization to have contact information published in an easily accessible place, usually online.  If you had a question particular to that topic, all you had to do was call or e-mail the expert and could expect an answer in several hours at most.  Effective  groups would make sure the points of contacts name an contact information was current, since many people often shifted work assignments.

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I have also been in groups where there is no contact information published.  It is extremely frustrating and time consuming to have to try to find  the right person to talk to.  Many people often gave up in their search and would simply try it on their own.  Not a good way to run a business!

5 Whys

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The hardest part of fixing a problem is usually the root cause analysis.  It is the "Why?" that so many operational leaders and engineers fail to ask once a problem becomes apparent.  Instead they jump to the "How to fix it" step.  This is like treating the symptoms instead of identifying and correcting the cause of the issue.

The 5 Whys is a systematic approach to root cause analysis
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Fortunately using a structured root cause analysis, the 5 Whys method is what can quickly get you to identify the cause of the issue and take the necessary corrective steps.  It is simply a cause and effect diagram, Pareto chart or any other type of graphical representation.  Starting on the left side of the chart, you ask the question, "Why did this problem happen?".  You then answer the question to the best of your ability.  You keep asking "why?" until a root cause is determined.  It may no take asking Why 5 times (hence the title).  You may find an answer in 2 or 3 Whys.  But it forces you to dig into the analysis and really understand what happened and not just assume you can fix the problem.


An exmple of 5 Whys:

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One of the biggest problems I faced at Boeing was a high number of passenger seat  rejections on the 787 program.  After starting a formal root cause analysis program involving the entire operation, we determined there was not enough engineering checking in the process.  We recommended that management approve a more rigorous  checking process to help catch the errors earlier rather than later.  However the management  said this would be too costly and didn't approve the recommendation.  

So even though management's view  was short sided, the tools are valuable to really get to the heart of the issue. It can save a great deal of time and money if everyone is on board and understands what is going on.

On Loan Work Assignments

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At some point in your career you may be asked by your manager to work outside of your assigned work group as a loaned out employee.  Although these assignments are usually short term to help out another group, you may feel a little put out by the request,  You may feel that your current work contributions are  deemed inadequate or you are as valued as an employee,  However there are several advantages to accepting (or perhaps volunteering) for this type of assignment:

• Get to know other teammates  - Once you report to your new team you may know some of the members but not all.  What better way to network than to work side by side with new people who could perhaps enhance you career down the road.  Or  you may be able to help them in their career.
• Learn a new part of the organization -  You may have a little knowledge of the new group but chances are you will need to know more.  A broad  understanding of your industry will only help you move laterally and upward as well as you progress  in your career.
• Other managers will get to know your work -  Probably the best part of working in a new group is the opportunity to showcase your skills for the new manager.  You will be under the microscope for a little while, so make the best of it and exceed expectations.  Once pay raises come out, the more managers that know of your good work the better chance you will have of getting a stellar raise.

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Performance Reviews

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With the end of the year comes the dreaded performance reviews that large companies put their employees through. Many companies require their employees to rate their performance over the past year in a variety of categories.  Many  of these categories are vague and so naturally it is difficult to rate yourself objectively.  From experience here are a few tips that help with the process:

• Keep a log of important accomplishments during the year -  Starting with January list all important job related activities by month in a log or journal (electronic or paper - it doesn't matter).  This helps you remember all you did during the year to verify you met or exceeded expectations.  Management is quick to forget much of the good you do so it is essential to help strong documentation to bolster your review.
• For any areas you think are weak or below par, address them with an action plan -  Chances are that if you think your are weak in a particular area, your manager may be thinking the same thing.  If you know why your performance was below standard, own up to it in the review meeting.  Then show a plan of how you are going to get better,  Bosses will be impressed.
• Ask for new assignments, responsibilities, or training -  Performance reviews are not all about how you can do better.  It's also about asking for opportunities and getting managements commitment to help you.  Management is responsible for helping develop employees to their potential.  Some managers need to be reminded of this.

Performance reviews can be positive if they are treated as a tool for communication and not a punishment.  Going into a performance review with areas addressed will go along way to moving forward.

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Corrective Action

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You have been receiving many rejections on your factory floor or at a supplier.  Each time you disposition a fix either through an official "rejection tag" or a simple work around.  But that doesn't seem to be working and the same errors continue, It is time for the next step - formal corrective action.

Corrective action does not need to be punitive.  In fact it works well if there is no blame assigned to any one person or organization.  Solving the problem with an attitude of "our problem that we need to fix" will go along way to getting everyone on board to focus their efforts together.  That is the first step.

With the proper attitude in place you can deep dive into the root cause.  If you are lucky the problem will be relatively easy to diagnose and subsequently develop a plan to eliminate the problem.  Most of the time it's not this easy and you need a bigger effort.

If it's a big problem that involves several groups then management will be aware of it and will give full support.  That is the second key step in developing corrective action - full organizational awareness and commitment.

Once the key players have identified a set of steps to fix the problem it is imperative that the right personnel be given the tasks to complete.  If there is a great deal of inexperience, then the corrective action plan is not effective and could make matters worse.  Aggressive schedules must be developed and followed on time to provide timely closure to the issue at hand.

Once the corrective action plan is implemented, naturally check to see if it solved the issue. Surprisingly many operations don't do this step and become surprised (and panicked) when things don't work out.  With a solid plan developed and proper implementation executed, you can turn attention to the next issue.

Weekly Supplier Reviews

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Communicating with suppliers can be a challenge for any organization.  If the supplier is local to the operation, then it is easy to communicate on a weekly if not daily basis.  Simply travel the short distance to the suppliers base of operations or have them travel  to your home base.  It's best if you have the one on one communication to build trust and get to know each other personally.  This helps the partnership flourish.

However most of the time the distance between operation and their suppliers is too great to travel frequently.  So you have to resort to scheduled phone calls (telecoms) or a video conference. Most likely it will be by phone.  With time differences of 3 hours or more, it becomes a challenge to coordinate schedule times, often with one party calling in from home or early in the morning.

Some important points to remember when setting meetings up with suppliers:

1. Ensure that one person is in charge of setting up the telecoms and has appropriate call-in numbers to ensure that the meeting will start on time and everyone is present.  It is maddening when some people have incorrect or outdated information and valuable time is lost.
2. Have an agenda available in advance and follow it.  The meeting leader's primary task is to keep everyone speaking to agenda items and not going off on a tangent.
3. Assign action items to anyone and have a completion date agreed to.  Once the completion date arrives check with the parties involved to determine if all items are complete.
4. If action items aren't completed, don't keep extending dates endlessly. You may have to set up a separate meeting to close the item.   Additionally you may have to involve management to help close the issue without further delay.

Video teleconferencing can provide face to face communication essential for a good supplier relationship
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Prototype Shop

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When you need quick turnaround for manufacturing operation it is often impossible in the normal flow of operations.  You may have experienced a delay in materials, a last minute design or repair change that necessitates the urgency of accelerating a part through the manufacturing process.  That is why you need a prototyping shop.

At Boeing it was referred to as "blue streak" shop named after its color code in the manufacturing operation.  The shop was usually a small area in the factory that had small drill presses, lathes, and other required equipment that could do 1 -2 small jobs at a time in a hurry.  The machinist or mechanic in the blue streak shop was an experienced person with at least 20 -25 years experience.  This was helpful not only for utilizing his or her machining skills attained during that period, but also to tap into how to best plan and execute a machining operation in fast order.

Utilizing experienced, skilled machinists can help you in a time of crisis
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Granted smaller companies may not have the luxury of dedicating their top machinist to a prototyping shop.  But with careful planning and coordination, an urgent job can be seamlessly scheduled within everyday operations so as not to disrupt the entire operation.

Peer Reviews

You may think your operation is going great with only a few tweaks here and there to keep it going.  Or worse you may be under the illusion, the operation is fine and you want to spend your time looking at more emergent issues.  Still you might even be at a loss to how to improve your operation to begin with.  For these reasons you need a peer review.

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A peer review is nothing more than having fresh sets of eyes review your process and provide constructive (hopefully) feedback which you can use to improve your business.  For a large company it is easy to do this since it is likely there are other internal groups that perform the same task.  It is easy to set up since companies always like their employees to help each other.

For a smaller company, you may have to reach out to a similar size company in the same type of industry (i.e. IT, manufacturing, health care, etc).  Of course you won't look towards a competitor but a company that has successfully solved similar issues in the past.  

Set up a two or three day review of what aspect of your operation needs help.  It's best to have older experienced reviewers who have a wealth of experience that can help guide you.  Invite them over to your place of business and use a catered lunch as incentive!  Once they arrive have a kickoff meeting to let everyone know what the objectives are.  If you carefully select the right people to review your operation, then the feedback will be invaluable.

You can escort them around the factory or let them explore on their own.  After the designated review time is complete, the reviewers should be happy to share their observations.  It may be difficult to listen to problems they may identify, but remember it is in the best interest of your company to improve. Sometimes it takes someone not so close to the business to improve it.

Peer reviews are essential in any operations
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Self-Directed Work Teams

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In an earlier post I discussed integrated product teams which are cross-functional teams composed of members of different  skill sets all focused on developing a product or improving a process.  Another kind of effective team is the self-directed work team.  A self-directed work team may be cross-functional in membership.  Or it may contain mostly members from a single functional group or organization.

A self-directed work team is a team which can operate autonomously to identify problems or areas needing improvement, outline plans to solve the issue, and proceed to implement the plans to a successful conclusion.  These teams do not require constant monitoring by management.  If fact they perform much better if management "stays out of the way".  It's not to say management should not be briefed on what the group is doing and a timeline for completion  - they should be aware.  It's really a fact that a self-directed team knows how to work without being told what to do.

One of the teams I worked on at Boeing was a self-directed tooling team that solved various tooling issues related to F-22 fighter airplane manufacturing.  It was a team made of experienced design engineers as well as new engineers out of college.  They common thread was that everyone on that team wanted to make the program better and worked hard to reduce costs, improve flow, and steam line operations.

One incentive to encouraging aspirations to developing a self directed work team is to set up standards for different levels to work teams.  Start at criteria for a  Level 1 self-directed work team and list completion criteria for this level.  Keep going up to say a Level 4 which would be the most complete and autonomous work team.  Provide incentives to teams to reach a Level 4 and you will find that more employees will work to improve their effort without a lot of management oversight.

A good article on self-directed work teams is here:

http://www.qualitydigest.com/magazine/1995/nov/article/self-directed-work-teams-competitive-advantage.html#

 A self-directed work team working an issue
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Proximity in Operations

The time to work together is sooner rather than later
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The strongest operations will purposely locate the engineering as close as possible to the manufacturing operations.  It has been proven over and again that this encourages dialogue between he two groups which benefits the operation.  But what about  within an engineering organization?  Are there good ways to set up an organization to maximize the engineering talent?

One of my earlier posts relayed my positive experience with Integrated Product Teams (IPTs).  This involved having members from different functional groups together in one group to successfully design and support a product.  However it is not enough to have these members in one group.  They must sit together or near each other to make it work.

At Boeing I was a structural design engineer.  My closest associate I worked with was the stress analyst.  It was our job to work together to develop a statically and dynamically robust design that would be eventually manufactured.  So he and I sat next to each other , even sharing a common table between us.  This allowed us to lay out drawings and sketches to discuss design details immediately rather than travelling across an office to work together.  Other functional members sat close by so even though I interacted with them less frequently, they were close by to discuss details.

Better designs evolve when everyone resides near each other
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Many companies still embrace they idea of  the same functions (i.e. stress, design, manufacturing, etc) sitting together in an engineering operation.  But this idea allows groups to become an "us" versus "them" philosophy that stagnates production.  It is better to sit together and then "we" can use engineering skills to a better advantage.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The key component to managing any project in an operation is the work breakdown structure (WBS).  It is the very essence of what tasks and steps are needed, who will perform them, and when they are due to keep the project on task.  It takes effort to build the WBS to be effective, but there are several tips to remember to help.

An example of a WBS for a dinner party
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First, keep the tasks small enough so that one person can work on them independently on a full time basis.  By assigning the task to one person, you have established responsibility belongs to one person and he or she knows it is all on them to keep on track. If the task is too big, one person will be overwhelmed and the quality of the completed end item will suffer.  If you have two or more people assigned to a task, each may think the other(s) will complete it and as a result no one will see it finished.

Second, keep on top of the program schedule.  This sounds like a "no-brainer" but from my experience some project managers believe tasks can be performed on auto-pilot.  Depending on the project you should have at least one or two schedule reviews every week in order to address schedule challenges or delays.  It will happen so it's a good idea to be able to be ready to establish work around actions that will bring tasks back on target.  Management will ask what you are doing to fix the problem so have a plan developed quickly.

Third, get management's understanding that sometimes you need help.  There will be times when you need additional help due to unforeseen circumstances.  You or your designates may not be able to fix it by themselves.  That's why it's a good idea to sit down with your boss and get their buy in that they can get you help immediately if you need it.  A good manager will have a sense of urgency and support that will drive them to borrow or pull resources to you to help complete the process.  You won't really know until it happens but it's essential to prepare them for the possibility of a request in advance.

Establishing work tasks is essential to successful operation
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Experienced Workers in New Positions

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One of the benefits of hiring an experienced worker is you can expect him or her to be able to ask the right questions, look for answers on their won, and generally find out how to do their job without a lot of oversight.  However if a person is hired to your organization based not as much on direct experience but on common, transferable skills, it  is essential that there be some allowance for learning for the new position.

From personal experience, I have had this happen to me.  I was hired as an experienced engineer at Boeing to help out a group.  However the new group's task (passenger seat integration) was new to me and required some initial learning and mentoring that I never received.  Needless to say my experience was not a pleasant one and I eventually left the group.

Here are some ideas to integrate an experienced worker into a new role:

• Find out how much experience he or she has in the new area. Then fill in the gaps with classes, training, and mentoring to get that person up to speed.  It shouldn't take long for an experienced worker to grasp the new details so this is time well spent.
• Get feedback from the new worker.  Sometimes managers (especially younger managers) are reluctant to talk to a seasoned worker.  Get over it.  Your organization's success depends upon the solid performance of it's workers.  Let them know you care.
• Find out what areas the worker excels at and give them projects that showcase those skills.    They can help your organization by tapping on previous experience while learning the new job at hand.  

(courtesy: www.cochrenfoundation.com)

From an engineer's perspective it is important to know that while many skills are transferable there may be gaps that need to be filled in.  Don't just throw someone into the deep end of the pool and hope they know how to swim.

Database Management

For an operation to be successful many items need to be tracked in some type of database or software system. These systems are often used by manufacturing, engineering, and even management to track an event or project that all three groups (and more) have a stake in.  If one person is in charge of input and output of the database (including management report outs) then if is a straightforward process as long as you can depend on that person.

Database management requires keeping status current
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The problem comes when you have many people tasked to keep status on a project.  I have been personally involved in several of these scenarios and it is always a struggle to keep the database updated on a regular level.  One such program required the engineers to track data set releases and provide revised  estimated completion dates (ECDs)  if scheduled events were going to be late.  As the focal for the database, I would often have to track down particular engineers and extract a new ECD and input it into the database for them.  It was a lot of extra work which was unnecessary if the engineers were more diligent.

There are several things that could have been done better to help the process go better:

• Have management emphasis (and enforce) the importance of keeping databases current with the latest information.  Employees will focus on providing updated information if management is keeping emphasis on timely updates.  Management must not just send e-mails out requesting updates; they need to personally talk to those who are tardy on their inputs.
• If several groups use the database, assign one person in that group to be responsible for ensuring updates are happening.  It is pointless for one single person to be responsible for inputs of hundreds of users.  Break the task up and get help.
• Schedule daily stand up meetings to allow those who are tardy to explain to upper management why they haven't kept up.  I guarantee that this will ensure the database is current.

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Rejections on the Floor

An inevitable fact of life in operations is the occurrence of errors or rejections on the shop floor,  Upper management is always striving to "eliminate rejections", "work smarter", or some other catchy slogan to eliminate errors.  But the best you can do is to implement checks and balances in the process to help reduce the error count.  What you do when you have an error on the floor is just as important as trying to avoid it initially.

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Many medium to large companies have an error reporting system established whereby standard rules are followed when a rejection occurs.  Once an error is reported or written up (usually by Quality Assurance) it is essential that the information is accurate.  Some key things to check:

• Are the correct part numbers listed in the rejection write-up? I have seen many error reports (often called rejection tags) that have the incorrect part numbers and or descriptions in error.  This is a problem if there was ever a need to go back and look at a repair later and the records were in error.
• Is the error write-up clearly written? If there is confusion on what is really in error, then the incorrect analysis and repair methodology will not effectively address the issue.
• Will a repair impact downstream users?  If your repair will effect any downstream users you must coordinated before you provide your repair fix (disposition).  Otherwise bigger problems may occur that will adversely affect schedule.

For those weighing on the repair, be certain they have the necessary skill and experience to effectively analyze the problem.  An inexperienced mechanic or engineer may have good intentions, but a lack of experience in a key juncture of the operation could be a problem further down the process.

Finally it is essential to keep a record of the different rejection scenarios that one encounters on the shop floor.  Some times repairing the error requires a unique fix that should be shared with others to help educate them.  This is most important if it is second shift or a weekend and subject matter experts are unavailable.  A good database will help locate a similar issue to consult for you rejection at hand.

Rejecting discrepant parts is a fact of operations management
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Testing

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A critical but often overlooked element in operations is testing.  It is an activity that doesn't relate directly to full production but the results gained from testing will prove or disprove a design or process.  That will determine whether your chosen design will be allowed to full production.

For larger companies,  testing is scheduled and run by a separate test group. The design groups have some say into how the testing will be done.  The testing group will be able to determine the location and specification of measuring devices, the accuracy of the measurements, and ultimately the validity of the results.  It is important for the design or manufacturing group convey the purpose of the test to the testing group, otherwise the testing group may assume the wrong objective and this will potentially invalidate the results.

For testing purposes the testing group will require that one or more people from design and manufacturing groups be available on site during testing.  Testing lasts anywhere from one day to a week so you need to make sure staff is available to support the testing.  Those supporting the testing should be knowledgeable of the purpose of the test; preferably more experienced personnel rather than a junior engineer or mechanic.

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Once testing is complete, immediately evaluate the results to determine validity.  A thorough operation will have predicted (hopefully accurately) the results prior to the test.  Then there are no surprises once testing is done.  With the right planning, a testing operation will proceed smoothly and results will validate the design successfully.

Compatibility of 3D CAD Graphics Systems

The design and operations world has many options available to use in designing, manufacturing, and assembling a product or system.  These include CATIA, Unigraphics, ProE, Solidworks, AutoCad, and others. While all of these software packages have strengths and weaknesses, it is important to have a way of translating a 3D design from one system to another.

(Courtesy of images.frompo.com)

Hopefully, within an organization, a company is using one type of software (and the same version) when sharing a design back and forth between engineering and operations. It seems impossible that a company would use different types of software, but I have seen it done.  Obviously this creates problems right away and I would suggest that these types of companies don't have an idea what is going on.

The biggest challenge occurs when a company contracts out a design to another company and different software packages are used.  This happens quite often where different contractors win bids with different companies.  Rather than try to institute a new software (expensive and time consuming) the two partners use their in-house software packages.

To get different types of software packages to share designs, translation software is used.  Files are created and used to translate a CAD model from one software to the next.  In an ideal world this process should take no more than a couple of hours.

However, several things can go wrong.  First, the type of translation software may not have been tested accurately.  A computer or IT person may thing everything is good, but an engineer or operations person may find there are errors including the misfortune of an "unreadable model".

The conversion process may take several days which is clearly unacceptable in a fast paced industry with little buffer built into its schedule.  For delays in processing the translation many people usually have to help fix the problem, which pulls them away from other work.

Even in a normal design or manufacturing iteration, the amount of back and forth review and changing of models is time consuming and that may not be desirable in order to meet schedule.  For this reason alone, careful consideration must be given to what types of CAD packages are being used by your group and those you do business with.  It pays to work this our early on or you may pay dearly later delivering late products to market.

(Courtesy of www.plm.automation.siemens.com)

24/7 Support

Operations rarely work only 9 to 5
(courtesy of www.uniquesquared.com)

The most effective part of any operation is the ability to run 24/7 to keep product moving.  It is also one of the worst parts of an operation if you are an employee who likes the Monday though Friday day shift.  How can you keep full support of your operation without  alienating good employees who value free time to spend with family, hobbies, etc.?

For a lean operation, many of the Monday to Friday day crew will have to support second shift and/or weekend operations. The simplest way to do this is set up a rotation with the day crew to support a week or two of nights and weekends during the calender year.  A master schedule set up at the beginning of the year to cover the entire year is the first step.  An Excel spreadsheet works well and is filed in a group file on the organization's designated drive where all employees can access it. Of course you should have a backup if something happens to the original.  This lets everyone put it anything appointments that can't be missed (i.e. weddings, graduations, vacations).  Before or after this the lead will set up the shifts to get full coverage for the operation while ensuring everyone has a fair and equal turn at supporting the "off hour" shifts.  Any adjustments can be made at any time during the year so it is a very fluid schedule.  If a person is scheduled to work the weekend, he or she can arrange to shift their schedule for that week, having Monday and Tuesday off for instance. This type of system was successful when I worked at Boeing and ensured all shifts were covered with engineering support.

Another method is the use of pagers/company cellphones.  This is a less effective in that if an employee lives far from the operation, driving in may take time and the operation will be delayed longer.  In addition it is often difficult to fully  describe a problem over the phone and get a true sense of the issue at hand.  Sending pictures of the Internet may require a laptop with special secure access installed, not necessarily available to a personal home computer.

(courtesy www.economicdevelopmenthq.com)