Case Study: Metsä Wood

Metsä Wood believed in enhancing the facilitation skills of the core team and selected line managers was a priority, and therefore asked Bourton Group to set out a training and support package for them.

Our Approach

We designed and delivered a bespoke development programme that would teach the Lean Coaches and Line Managers the fundamentals of facilitation in a classroom environment, and then provide on-the-job coaching and feedback during live Lean interventions.

The ultimate aim of the programme was to enable participants to help teams and their leaders/managers to use Lean approaches in work-based improvements, and to lead cross-functional improvement events. This would involve facilitating meetings using the principles, tools and techniques of Lean. In addition, they needed to learn how to lead a programme of continuous improvement activity and demonstrate the business benefits as part of their coordination role.

Building Capability

The first phase of the programme was a two-day residential training course, held at our Midlands training facility. In addition to being a convenient central location, this provided participants with the opportunity to get to know each other and build cross-site working relationships away from the day-to-day pressure of the business.

Classroom training was an interactive blend of tutor input; individual and group exercises; training and facilitation simulations; and structured feedback. The course enabled participants to gain:

• a greater understanding of their role as Lean Coaches and Line Managers in the context of the business strategy
• an insight into the skills and behaviours necessary for effective facilitation, including giving and receiving feedback
•  the ability to deliver training in Lean principles, tools and techniques to others
• the ability to lead a group through the use of a selection of basic Lean tools
• the ability to engage and manage stakeholders at every level of the organisation
•  an awareness of how to lead improvement events and how benefits may be captured, measured and monitored

The second phase was a series of coaching days held at each of the three UK sites. Our consultant worked alongside the participants as they led their own teams through their application of Lean tools and techniques to their chosen project. These days also gave participants the opportunity to observe each other leading ‘live’ team-based Lean improvement activities, and to give and receive feedback. As a result the participants gained:

• the chance to teach their team members how to use selected tools and techniques to address a ‘live’ problem
• the opportunity to demonstrate their Lean facilitation skills to their operational teams and enable them to participate in the problem-solving process
• a raised awareness of their own effectiveness as a facilitator
• a greater understanding of what worked well and what could be improved in future sessions the opportunity to hone their feedback skills

Examples of the sessions led by group members included:

• the analysis of waste in a tool changeover in order to reduce set up a time
• the identification and prioritisation of opportunities to improve quality in a specific production area
•  the development of a process map and action plan to relocate a warehouse
• the development of a suite of standard operation procedures
• the application of tools such as SWOT analysis and FMEA to current projects
• improvements to data collection and analysis activity