When holding a Kaizen Event have you ever really taken the time to think thru the event and how you will hold people’s interest and more importantly how you will get them engaged? Managers may think that everyone has the same level of interest and are willing to participate and share openly. I think that is what separates the professional facilitator from the average manager; the ability to engage in conversation with the entire team. Without doing this you may leave the best idea lying on the table, never to surface and be implemented.
I believe the best way to get the team engaged is by delivering a “Holy Shit” moment. That’s right, don’t try to loosen them up with small talk or a joke but go right for the throat and bring importance to why they are there. If you can, wheel in the issue, show why the improvement has to be made but do it in a visual manner. Maybe, even start the event at Gemba or maybe even downstream from that. Add some realism to the problem by bringing in several customers to describe how they interpret or how the problem affected them. You need to set the stage, before Act 1 is over, you want everyone on the team to be muttering; “Holy Shit.”
Below, is a slide presentation on how Steve Jobs prepares for presentation and I think it is a good template for delivering that moment. Another great resource I would recommend is Patrick Lencioni Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable…About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business and 
I have been spending time this week updating my Value Stream Marketing Webinar and next to me, I keep the following books (These are Amazon Links below, if you buy all three, I might make $2.45 and if you do, Thanks!):
The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience
Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations
The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
Also another great resource, 6 tips on Remote Presentations from Nancy Duarte
Comments are closed.