Supply Chain Management For Dummies. Daniel Stanton

and whether they were on time, early, or late

       Recent accomplishments: New things that have been completed since the last time the scorecard was updated

       Upcoming tasks: Things that the team will be working on between now and when the scorecard is updated in the future

       Risks and concerns: Unexpected challenges and issues that are causing problems or that could interfere with the project

      Having this information at your fingertips in a scorecard makes it much easier to manage well, reward people for their accomplishments, and help them deal with challenges. If you understand what is happening, what should be happening, and what might happen, you can make better decisions faster. Other pieces of information can add value to a scorecard, such as information about budget performance, quality ratings, and employee engagement. To build a good scorecard, understand what information you need to track to keep everyone on the same page and ensure the success of your cross-functional supply chain projects.

Figure 4-6 shows an example scorecard that makes it easy to communicate four essential pieces of information about the status of a project.

      FIGURE 4-6: Sample project scorecard.

      Using the DIRECT model

      Over the years, I’ve developed an approach to leading cross-functional teams called the DIRECT project leadership model. The idea for this approach came from the realization that every movie — no matter how great the actors are — needs a director who can keep everyone working on the right things at the right time, and a cross-functional project in a company is no different.

The DIRECT model is built around the six things that a leader needs to focus on to help their team complete a project successfully (see Figure 4-7):

       Define the objective.

       Investigate the options.

       Resolve to a course of action.

       Execute the plan.

       Change the system.

       Transition the people.

      FIGURE 4-7: The six responsibilities of a leader in the DIRECT model.

      Define the objective

      Every project should start with a charter that clearly describes the scope, schedule, and budget of the project; identifies the project sponsor; and explains why the project is important. The charter helps ensure that everyone has similar expectations for the project and can prevent scope creep (new work added to the project later).

      Investigate the options

      Before running down the path of a particular solution, it’s usually a good idea to consider other ways to accomplish your goal. Investigating your options early reduces the chances that you’ll suffer buyer’s remorse and ensures that you take into account the many points of view that can affect decisions in the supply chain.

      Resolve to a course of action

      When the options are clear, the team needs to make a decision and move forward. Supply chain projects can be stalled by analysis paralysis when teams get bogged down trying to collect data rather than making decisions and taking action. On the other hand, supply chain projects can collapse because the team gets busy working too soon — before they properly understand all the interdependencies and risks.

      

Resolving to a course of action is a leadership art that involves probing and listening to ensure that you truly understand the priorities and concerns of your team members, as well as helping them accept the need to compromise. The best way to resolve to a course of action is to have the team build a single project plan that shows the dependencies among all their tasks.

      Execute the plan

      When the plan is in place, the team needs to focus on executing the plan. Moving projects forward, keeping them on schedule, and keeping them on budget require special skills. Surprises will always occur, and surprises take time and money to address, but the credibility of the team and the value of the project depend on getting the work done on time. Executing the plan takes focus, a sense of urgency, and good communication among team members.

      Change the system

      Projects are about changing the way that the supply chain — the system — works. You must understand how a system works, the current state, before you change it. That understanding comes from the work that your team does to define and investigate the project. You also need to know how you expect the system to perform when the change is complete — the future state — which comes from the work the team does to resolve and execute. The change from the current state to the future state doesn’t happen instantly or by magic. The implementation of the change needs to be planned, too. If you’re starting a new distribution center on Monday, for example, consider whether you should shut down the old one the Friday before or run both centers in parallel for six months to make sure that the new one is working properly. You should also plan for the issues that are likely to come up during the change, such as shipments that get misrouted or equipment that doesn’t work as expected.

      Transition the people

      You need to think about the people who operate the system and how your changes will affect the routines of your customers, your employees, and your other stakeholders. If your project is going to affect those people’s experience, you need to help them prepare for the change. Any time something changes, people need to process and accept that change. Organizational behavior expert William Bridges studied the process that people go through when responding to a change in their environment, and he called this process transitioning. The key point is that managing the transition is just as important as managing the change. Whereas the change is about the system, the transition is about the people.

Part 2

      Managing Supply Chain Processes

IN THIS PART …

      Break your supply chain into high-level processes by using the SCOR Model.

      Look at how different kinds of supply chains plan, source, make, and deliver products and services.

      Explore opportunities for capturing value and reducing waste with reverse supply chains.

      Think about the range of other processes that enable a supply chain to operate efficiently.