OpX Solutions Articles

Fall is a great time of year. The weather is perfect, the NFL season is underway (Go Packers!), and the holidays are around the corner. It is also a good time to review the status of this year’s goals and make that final push to successfully complete them. Just as importantly, it is time to […]

One of the biggest complaints I hear from leaders and other professionals is their inability to get things done because of interruptions.

Effective delegation is not simply giving an employee an unpleasant task. It requires thoughtful planning and training. It also requires an environment conducive to empowered delegation. Below are some considerations to keep in mind to ensure your team is delegating effectively. Attitude and Culture Organizational attitudes and culture can sometimes prevent effective delegation. If a […]

“Those who most resist change are those who are most capable in the current process.” I don’t remember where I first heard this, but it’s true. Think about the last time you tried to implement a process or system change in your organization. Who were the biggest resistors? Isn’t it easier to maintain the status […]

Have you ever noticed that a person’s leadership skills are strongly connected with their personality traits? This means that different people have different natural leadership strengths. Many people believe that leaders are born. Others believe that leaders are made through growth opportunities, experience, and training. There is no doubt that some people naturally rise to […]

Mutual understanding depends on understanding oneself and understanding others. What motivates people to act as they do?  When you determine the answer to this question for specific individuals, you can adapt your communication style for more positive results. People are complicated. No simple rules exist for understanding what causes them to behave as they do, […]

The organizational climate has a direct impact on your people. In an atmosphere designed to reinforce productivity, tension and fear are at a minimum and people feel free to use their full potential for creativity and achievement. As a leader, you bear the primary responsibility for establishing the climate in your organization, department, or work […]

What do you think of when you hear the word “manufacturing”? When you hear the words “women in manufacturing”? When you hear the words “women in leadership in manufacturing”? If that makes you stop and think, good. I recently attended a conference in Southwest Virginia geared towards women in manufacturing, and there were well over […]

Also known as Rapid Improvement Teams or Kaizen Blitz, Kaizen Events are one of the activities that American companies love to organize when they need to tackle a specific problem. They are structured, and dedicated team projects to improve a specific performance or area. Although these events often lead to measurable results, such as improvement […]

Early in my career of helping organizations improve their operations, I learned that all organizations are either “green and growing, or ripe and rotting”.  There is no in between.  In today’s competitive environment, an organization must continuously strive to improve, or risk falling behind the competition. Almost every organization will take action to improve performance […]