Many times, in projects we see situations where failures occur in equipment/machines, in processes, and in interactions between people (communication, decision-making, etc.). 

The responsibility to “correct” these problems generally lies in the intermediate levels of organizations. and when proposing “correction” actions, incredulity and distrust quickly appear from the higher levels of the organization. 

Why does this happen? 

In my experience, what is common to all these misunderstandings is the absence of a good understanding of the root cause. Managers don’t distrust the person, but they do distrust the proposed solution when it’s not understood what caused the problem in the first place. 

A typical example: A piece of equipment (electric motor) for an industrial process fails before its maintenance period and useful life. With the intention of ensuring operational continuity, the maintenance team decides to increase the frequency of equipment change and/or buy a “more robust equipment”, solving the problem. 

The company has increased its sales/production, so “the increase in sales” justifies the change to a much more expensive maintenance policy for that equipment than the original one. 

The manager in charge accepts the proposal with frustration – operational continuity must be restored – but in the process, his confidence in the maintenance team did not increase, and part of the competitiveness/production efficiency that existed before the failure was lost (with the proposed solution, it is now more expensive to produce a ton of that product…) 

How can organizations improve these situations? 

Managers and supervisors can teach how to conduct a root cause analysis or seek help from individuals who can train the organization to do so. They can lead by example, assisting in developing these analyses and encouraging their teams to seek additional sources of information, contact suppliers, or other companies that have faced similar issues to understand the real causes. Once the root cause is agreed upon and validated, the solution will likely be clearer for everyone. 

At this point, it is crucial for the organization to understand how to perform and present a cost/benefit analysis to justify the proposed solution. Managers with backgrounds in economics and business can also share simple approaches to help their teams improve their presentation of solutions. 

Finally, it is important to remember and acknowledge that incentives and stimuli shape behaviors and ways of working. A manager who does not know what to expect or ask from their teams becomes frustrated, leading to frustration within the teams, as the expected objectives are not met (in this case, the organization’s “expectations” of its area). 

All these are challenges related to management, knowledge, and ways of working. It is important to remember that every day you can teach something new to your teams and every day you can learn something new. 

Best of luck in your daily challenges and in improving trust and satisfaction among your teams and with your supervisors. 

Publication prepared by Cristian Yanquez, Partner