It’s no surprise that employees get agitated when requests are sprung on them at the last minute.

Do you spring things on your front line workers at the last minute and then wonder why they react negatively?

I want to talk today about the tendency for many production facilities to give their people so little notice about changes that it ends up causing irritation in the worker and in the team as a whole.

Think about your own reaction when you find out about things at the last minute. It’s frustrating, isn’t it?

In a production environment there is one thing that is constant – change. Customers make changes, schedules change, timelines change, and that means that you, as a leader, will need to announce changes to your team.

The key is to give as much notice as possible to the people that are impacted by that change.

Coming to your team 15 minutes before the end of their shift and surprising them with the request to stay an extra four hours isn’t going to be well received. Letting them know an hour earlier would be better. Four hours earlier would be awesome.

Another example might be asking your team to instantly give you input on problem-solving or continuous improvement opportunities. This isn’t as effective as giving them a bit of time to think about what you’ve asked them.

Giving your team more of a heads up and more time to think will improve your relationship with them and help to create a harmonious team.

They won’t see you as their enemy. They’ll see you as their leader who is respectful of their time and them as a person.

How do you ensure that your team always has information in a timely manner?