They Just Don't Get It!

When I took over one struggling site, the supervisors worked a "4x10" schedule-four ten-hour shifts. In theory, that left them three days off. In practice, Fridays (and some Saturdays) got added to catch up on production. Supervisors were putting in 60-hour weeks, often more. And here's the kicker: most of that extra time wasn't spent leading. It was paperwork. Spreadsheets. Reconciling materials. Reports they didn't have time to touch on shift. By Friday, they weren't recharged they were cooked. No surprise, they were burned out and frustrated. So we rewrote the playbook: Start with leadership-we gave them real training, not just "how to run production." Coaching, conflict management, and how to think like leaders. Take work off their plates-we hired an inventory clerk to handle material reconciliations. In one move, supervisors gained hours back and our accuracy shot up. Protect time off-we built coverage so they could unplug on weekends and come back fresh.

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