STS

Site Tour

and Study Guide

"Benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring our products, services, and practices against our toughest competitors or those companies renowned as the leaders. It is a tool to identify, establish, and achieve standards of excellence- standards based on the realities of the marketplace. Benchmarking forces an external focus to becoming competitive and often points the way to 'breakthrough' thinking that leads to quantum improvements in performance."

–Pete Landry

DEFINING PURPOSE

A Process for Shaping Your Purpose and Objectives

Before selecting a site, it is critical to understand your purpose and objectives for visiting. This understanding will enable you to determine the site which best meets your needs. Why are you wanting to visit? What do you hope to gain or learn? What will you do with the information you receive? These are all questions to consider as you plan the details of a site visit.

Your team can profit from a well planned site visit in many ways. By acquiring and exchanging information with high performance organizations, you can develop a clearer understanding of change and what is required to initiate and sustain a true transformation process. While it is impossible to "copy" what you observe during a visit, many of the core ideas implemented by others may be applicable to your organization. Understanding what a visit might offer will enable you to define what you and your organization hopes to learn. This understanding will enable you to explore beyond mere observation and enable you to really examine and understand the underlying processes that organizations employ in order to create high performance systems.

VISITS OFFER:

•	Discovery about the need for and possibilities presented through change

•	Increased enthusiasm and commitment for the change process

•	Identifying leading business practices and approaches used by other organizations

•	Opportunities to share and collect information

•	The opportunity to examine our own organizational practices and beliefs

•	Increased clarity about change efforts in leading organizations with regard to: strategic issues (why and how they started, required resources, and results); process of change (how they did it); specific features of the new organization (pay systems, teams, process improvement, leadership, etc.); future trends (what will the criteria be for the future?)

•	Development of a sense of direction the change effort should take

CHOOSING THE SITE

A Process of Meaningful Site Selection

Once objectives are clear and the team understands the purpose of the site visit, it is time to choose a visit site. Again, knowing what you hope to learn or accomplish will help you determine the best site to visit. In searching for learning partners, consider the specific functions or processes you hope to explore. At the same time, remain open to a wide range of information about how the site has designed systems that contribute to their current level of performance.

While team members may easily identify with organizations that are similar to their own industry, you may discover very valuable learnings from organizations that do something very different. No matter what business they are in, high performance organizations offer great opportunities to observe and explore new systems, methods, behaviors, characteristics, and structures. Remember, the visit is an opportunity to learn, not an opportunity to copy a particular design characteristic or organizational practice.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR OWN ORGANIZATION

An examination of your organization's business practices prior to any visit will help team members discover the differences in what you currently do compared with the practices of those judged to be "best in class."

It is important that the visiting team have an understanding of how the key processes they wish to explore at other facilities currently operate in their own organization. Typically, organizations embark on site visits after they have begun the analysis stages of the design process. This provides an opportunity for discovery, discussion, and an understanding of the key processes involved in producing organizational results.

OUR PURPOSE /NEEDS

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PLANNING

Preparing for the Visit

To ensure a successful site visit, the team must prepare for the visit, making sure that details are managed. Some issues to consider include:

COORDINATION

You may want to choose or self-select someone to represent your organization. This person might serve as the liaison with the visit site, staying in contact with the organization before your trip. Most organizations who accommodate visits have a system or process with key individuals identified to handle arrangements and communication. Maintaining contact with this person will ensure that both your team and the right people at the site are prepared for the visit.

COMMUNICATION

To give the visiting site an opportunity to understand and prepare for your visit, it will be important to convey your objectives and expectations.

Some areas to cover include:

•	Communicate your agenda: Share your visit objectives while outlining the various issues and questions you will bring. You may want to send a prepared list of questions you wish to discuss.

•	Discuss the variety of people you want to speak to at the site; i.e., leadership, hourly, support functions, etc.

•	Make arrangements for a tour of the work related areas, expressing the desire to talk with employees as they perform their typical work.

•	Inquire as to the requirements the site may have for the visiting team related to the environment. Ask about necessary safety equipment, appropriate dress for the visitors, as well as any special provisions that may be necessary.

•	Request preliminary site information that can be sent in advance of your visit to help save time while on site. This may help answer many questions prior to the visit and allow the visitation team to focus on learning.

PREPARING QUESTIONS

FOR THE SITE VISIT

For site visitation to be a value-adding activity, it is vital to understand what questions need to be asked while on site. The team will want to focus on a variety of areas during the visit. To ensure that the visit is a success, it will be important to concentrate on developing questions that will elicit valuable information.

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

•	Information about the site transformation efforts. Some areas to explore might include:

•	When the effort started

•	What led to the initiation of the effort

•	Leadership before and during the effort

•	Support for the process, inside/outside

TRANSFORMATION

•	Change processes used during discovery, design, implementation and renewal phases. Some areas to explore might include:

•	Processes used to stimulate thinking and learning throughout the organization

•	Involvement of organizational members during the design process

•	Leadership and sponsorship for the effort

•	Accountability between leadership and design teams during the design process

•	Communication and interaction with members of the organization during the change process

•	Implementation planning and responsibilities

ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES

•	How is the organization designed and what are the characteristics of the new design? Some areas to explore might include:

•	Team Structures (size, location, membership etc.)

•	Team roles and responsibilities (quality, materials, costs, etc)

•	Leadership roles

•	Individual roles and expectations (knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors etc.)

•	Accountability systems (individual, team, whole system)

•	Reward and recognition systems

•	Feedback and performance management

•	Performance measurement

•	Equipment reliability and maintenance systems

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

•	How is the design impacting the organization today? Some areas to explore might include:

•	Changes in performance results

•	Changes in employee perspectives

•	Leadership views

MY THOUGHTS AND IDEAS

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PLANNING

Our Site Plan

Purpose:

Objectives:

Site:

OUR PROCESS PLAN

Who will visit?

How will we accomplish our purpose?

Questions to ask:

REFLECTIONS

Our Visit Reflections

Key Learnings:

Shared Learnings:

Summary of Learnings: