AMT 651: Aircraft Maintenance Resource & Management PDF

 AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Last week, we discussed: The evolution of MRM along with common industry experiences. Today, we will cover the: ✔ Industry Practices  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT In...

 AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Last week, we discussed: The evolution of MRM along with common industry experiences. Today, we will cover the: ✔ Industry Practices  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices There has been significant progress in the area of MRM and human factors training within the aviation maintenance industry. Each company creates, develops, and implements their human factors training program and overarching MRM program differently. Some companies have built robust MRM programs using bottom-up strategies, such as group problem-solving techniques.  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... Before we proceed, what is the difference between: “Top-Down/Up-Bottom” Strategy from “Down-Up/Bottom-Up” Strategy  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... Both strategy or approaches tell us a lot about how we see and treat humans in business. In a classical organization there is an organizational distance between where the decisions are made and where the knowledge about the customer is.  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... In a top-down organized firm the decision-making is at the top and the knowledge is at the bottom. This top-down approach is the dominating management style. Managers or supervisors tell employees what they have to do and how they have to do it. They do not get much feedback from those in lower hierarchical positions. TOP-DOWN OR UP-BOTTOM The flow of information is form the top down. STRATEGY OR APPROACH The decisions are made by a few and are executed by the many.  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... Who has the power? The top-down approach provides a sense of control over the business to owners or upper management. This undifferentiated, autocratic “one-way” approach is only working in non-competitive environments. The top-down style, which can easily viewed as bossy or dictatorial, is appropriate when the leader is knowledgeable about the problem and the solution to it is linear. TOP-DOWN OR UP-BOTTOM STRATEGY OR APPROACH That means there are a set of clear rules and only a single solution. Then efficiency can be increased with a top-down approach.  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... What image do leaders think of themselves over their employees? The people at the top see themselves as superior over their employees and workers in the lower hierarchical levels. TOP-DOWN OR UP-BOTTOM STRATEGY OR APPROACH  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... ADVANTAGES… Widespread familiarity The top-down management style is common, which means there’s less of a learning curve for new hires if they came from a company that uses this structure. As a team leader, you can help new team members adjust more quickly by incorporating some familiar elements of top-down methodology into your management style Clearer communication The top-down approach results in clear, well-organized processes that leave little room for confusion. Because all decisions are made in one place and all communication flows in one direction, mix-ups and misunderstandings happen less frequently than with other management styles. Problems are easily located When problems or inefficiencies do occur, the top-down management approach makes it easy to track them to their source. With clearly defined teams that each have their own separate responsibilities, it’s easier to locate, diagnose, and solve problems quickly and efficiently. Faster implementation Since the decision-making process takes place at just one level of management, they can be finalized, distributed, and implemented much more quickly than decisions that require input from multiple leaders or project stakeholders  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... DISADVANTAGES… Poor leadership impact Since all decisions are made at the top, a mismatched project management hire can have a bigger impact on the success of the team. Many process problems are only visible at the lower level, so project managers who fail to solicit feedback from individual team members before making decisions can inadvertently cause significant problems, delays, and losses. Less room for creativity With all communication flowing from leaders to team members with little room for dialogue, the top-down approach allows fewer opportunities for creative collaboration. Less interdepartmental collaboration may also eliminate fresh perspectives and stifle innovation. Team disengagement One challenge with the top-down management approach is that it requires proactive work to keep non-leadership team members feeling engaged, connected, and respected. When all decisions are made at the top, the rest of the team might feel that their feedback and opinions aren’t valued. Low proximity to decision-makers While a bottom-up approach allows decisions to be made by the same people who are working directly on a project, the top-down style of management creates distance between that team and decision-makers. This can lead to poorly-informed decisions if leadership doesn’t ask for input or feedback from their project team.  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... Bottom-up is defined as “progressing from small or subordinate units to larger or more important units, as in an organization or process.” When approaching project objectives from the bottom up, a team will collaborate across all levels to determine what steps need to be taken to achieve overall goals. The bottom-up DOWN-TOP OR BOTTOM-UP approach is newer and more flexible than the STRATEGY OR APPROACH more formal top-down strategy, which is why it’s more commonly found in industries where disruption and innovation are a priority  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... As it can be seen in the bottom-up chart, now the customers as well as the employees who interact with them on a daily basis are on the top. That not only emphasizes the customer focus, but also that the knowledge about the customer is valued. DOWN-TOP OR BOTTOM-UP STRATEGY OR APPROACH  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... It also creates employee involvement, since the individual with the knowledge is involved in identifying and delivering optimizations. This again increases job satisfaction and motivation through higher commitment and identification with being part of the solution. Decisions are now made by those who possess the knowledge. DOWN-TOP OR BOTTOM-UP STRATEGY OR APPROACH  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... How are employees seen in a bottom-up organization? Employees are treated as partners on eye-level, who are involved in decision making processes. They are valued by asking for their opinion to solve a problem. They are seen as individuals who are capable of contributing to the success of the whole organization. Their skills and knowledge are appreciated. DOWN-TOP OR BOTTOM-UP “Bottom-up management styles allow for the full talents of STRATEGY OR APPROACH employees to be used.”  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... Do we need managers and executives at all? With all the benefits the bottom-up approach brings and the way employees are treated, the question arises are managers and executives redundant? By definition, a manager is the one who controls resource allocation. They are the ones who provide the employees with the support and material so that the individuals can do their best job. DOWN-TOP OR BOTTOM-UP STRATEGY OR APPROACH  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... ADVANTAGES… More informed decisions In collaborative settings, those who work directly on projects and oversee project management can speak to the decisions that will impact their future work. Upper managers work directly with team members to chart a course of action, which prevents potential process blind spots that might otherwise appear when decisions are made without team input. Better team morale The bottom-up approach encourages greater buy-in from team members because everyone is given the opportunity to influence decisions regardless of seniority. It also facilitates better relationships between colleagues by offering members of all seniority levels an equal opportunity to influence project outcomes. In doing so, this approach increases the likelihood that all members will be invested in the team’s success. More room for creativity In top-down processes, there are fewer opportunities for teams to give input or suggestions. Collaborative approaches like the bottom-up approach, on the other hand, create opportunities for feedback, brainstorming, and constructive criticism that often lead to better systems and outcomes.  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... DISADVANTAGES… Low momentum A purely bottom-up approach to solving a problem might result in “too many cooks in the kitchen.” When everyone in a group is invited to collaborate, it can be harder to arrive at a decision and, as a result, processes can slow down. Shift in Leadership dynamics Though it’s important to give team members the opportunity to provide feedback, not everyone is comfortable doing so—especially with leadership in the room. Keep in mind that everyone has different comfort levels and pushing too hard for feedback might stifle honesty or creativity. Lack of high-level insight In many ways, it makes sense for project decisions to be made at the project level. However, projects are still impacted by higher-level factors like company goals, budgeting, forecasting, and metrics that aren’t always available at the team level. Processes designed from the bottom- up can suffer from blind spots that result from a lack of access to insights from upper management.  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... Can you imagine, what could happen if there are two sets of business or management direction? Who should we follow?  AMT 651: AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE RESOURCE &MANAGEMENT Industry Practices... This will be very confusing for the employees or lower management. This may also cause a split in-between the goals or objectives of the organization.