“Do you ever get any kind of plan from your supervisors?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” said Kelly, “but it is usually a vague promise to do better.” We had been talking about a special project, anticipating some extraordinary effort including some overtime. Kelly had been having trouble getting a written plan out of her supervisors. There were material flow issues, capacity issues and bottleneck issues. It was a great, high-volume contract, but if it wasn’t managed, all the profit could erode in a heartbeat.

“Kelly, things are going to get tight around here for the next four weeks. If your supervisors give you target numbers, then you have something to hold them accountable for. If they give you only vague, softball stuff, then there is nothing they can be accountable for.

“Oh, sure there will be some yelling at the end. You won’t have the right materials and overtime will go through the roof. But, the yelling will be general, nothing specific. Your supervisors are good at the Teflon routine.

“That’s why you have to break this thing out. The contract says 240 units, that’s 60 per week for four weeks, ten per day on a six day work-week or twelve on a five day work-week. Your supervisor team needs to give you hard numbers and report back each day. It’s going to be a tough four weeks. You have to have a plan. No excuses.” -TF