“That’s funny,” Gail laughed. “Usually, when I have the production meeting and I find out the team is behind, I yell at them. But if they find me, whenever we are five units behind, we can do something about it, in real time, this is different.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, I can fire up another workstation, bring in one more line person, or I can look at my overtime budget, maybe we can work a little more that day, or I can even look at the customer order. Some customers, we have an arrangement where we can short-ship.”

“So, you, as the manager, can make a decision, solve the problem?”

Gail was nodding. “Yes.”

“And just to be clear. Your team cannot make those decisions.”

“No. They are not in a position to know the priority of work through the floor. That is sometimes fluid depending on direction we get from the sales department. And my overtime budget is precious. I have to consider several factors before I touch that budget. And to make a decision to short-ship a customer is delicate. It has to be the right customer and the right circumstance. No, those are my decisions, as the manager.”