1400 North 14th Street, 12th Floor
Arlington, VA 22209
t: 703-387-3048
www.leanconstruction.org
1.0 Why
2.0 When
3.0 How Facilitation
Tips
References/ Sources
Plus/ Delta
“THERE ARE MANY EXPERTS
ON HOW THINGS HAVE BEEN
DONE UP TO NOW. IF YOU
THINK SOMETHING COULD
USE A LITTLE IMPROVEMENT,
YOU ARE THE EXPERT. ” | Robert Brault |
A collaborative presentation from over a dozen experienced Lean IPD practitioners.
© 2015 Lean Construction Institute
PLUSDELTA | 2
1.0 Why
A primary pillar of a Lean culture is continuous improvement. One very effective way to strive for this is throughRetrospection.Plus/Deltaisaquick,simpleretrospectivetoimprovemeetings,planningsessions,orrepetitiveactivities.ByusingPlus/Delta,teamscancontinuouslyimprovemeetingsoractivitiesandshowrespectforpeoplebydiscussingthevalueoforabilitytoimprovethetimespentonevents.Usingthispracticeappropriatelywillhelpdevelopandsus-taintheLeanculture.Overtime,participantswillideallydeveloparegularpracticeofmakingtimelyassessmentsandadjustments.
Plus/Deltasare typicallydone in last10minutesofameet-ingoractivity.Projectsandorganizations that really look tomaximizetheirlearningfromthepracticealsouseitmid-waythroughalongermeetingorworksession.Itcanbeparticu-larlyhelpfulasacoachingtoolwhenameetingisgoingoff-track–itwillhelprecalibratetheteamaroundthemeeting’sobjectiveandpotentiallyhelpthemidentifyanewobjective.
2.0 When
The Plus/ Delta enables continuous improvement as a regular practice.
^
PLUSDELTA | 3
Typically, the facilitatordoesthefollowing.1. Plan10minutesintheagendaforthePlus/Delta.Makesurethetimeslotdoesn’tgetusedupbyanothertopic.
Thisisnotsomethingtoberushedandcompletedforthesakeofcompletion.Attendeesmayatfirstbeunwillingtoappeartocriticizethemeeting.Theymaybeafraidtoparticipate.Thefacilitatorshouldexpectencouragerparticipationuntilthepracticebecomescommonplace.
2. Explaintothegroupeverytimewhataplus/deltais.• Plus:whatbroughtvalueandhowdoestheteamrepeatit?• Delta:whatcantheteamchangeoraddtobringmorevalue?Howcantheteamdobetter?Theteamshould
focusontheprocessofeachparticularmeetingratherthanfocusingonpeople.Thefacilitatorshouldbepreparedtoreturntoemphasizingtheobjectivesofthemeetingandhowtobetterachievetheseobjectives.
3. Drawalinedownthemiddleofaflipchartorwhiteboard,labelthetopwith“Plus”and“Delta”
4. Asktheteamforplusesanddeltas–inactionphraseformat.Theyshouldstarttheircommentbystatingwhetherit is a Plus or a Delta.• Again,allcommentsshouldbediscussedinactionformat.Ifsomeonesays“Therewasgoodconversation”
asaplus,ask“Whatactionoccurredtoallowthattohappen?”Ifsomeonesays“wehadtoomanysidebarconversations,”ask“Whatactioncanwetaketopreventthatnexttime?”Trytogettotherootcausesotheappropriatecountermeasurecanbedetermined.
• Thismaytakesomeprobing.Someteamsgoaroundthetablesothateveryoneprovidesaplusandadelta,othersletthegrouporganicallyrespond.Iftheroomremainsquiet,waitforafewminutes.Youmayeventu-allyneedtocallonsomeparticipantstogettheexercisestarted.
• Encouragebothdeltasandpluses.Theintentistobothimproveandsustainwhatisworkingwell.• Don’tletpeopleoffthehook.Encouragealltospeakup.Validatecommentswiththegrouptoensurevalue
tomostbeforehelpingdefinetheaction.• Askintermsof“Whohasanotherplusordelta?”or“Whatelse?”untilitistimetoclosethesession.Then
shiftthequestionto“Isthereanythingelse?”• Capturetheseactionsontheflipchart.Ifanactionhastoomanywordsorisnoteasytowrite,asktheperson
whosaidittorephraseitinafewwords.“Translating”isnotrecommendedasoftentheintentismissed.• Askforownersofeachaction,alongwithacommitmentdate.Itisokaytodecidenottotakeaction.• Atthebeginningofthenextmeeting,reviewthestatusoftheactionsfromthepriorplus/delta.
3.0 How
^
PLUSDELTA | 4
Helpful facilitation points:
• No“junkwords” allowed. If someone says “themeetingwas too long,” ask them todefine “too long”or torephrasethestatementintoarecommendedimprovement.(Forexample:“Weshouldmeetfor45minutes.”)
• Ifaparticipantfoundnothingtobeofvalueinthemeetingandhasnoimprovementstooffer,askthatparticipantifhereallyneededtoattend.Whatactioncanbetakenforthenextmeetingtoensuretherightparticipantsarethereattherighttime?
• Everythingbroughtupisfairgame.Donotdiscountanyone’splusesordeltas.Discountingfeedbackcanpreventothersfromspeakingup.Anythingbroughtupthatiscompletelyoff-topicshouldthenbecapturedina“ParkingLot.”
• Payattentiontothemoodofthegroup.Thegroupmustbeopenandfeelsafetospeakup.• Ensureyourapplicationisappropriatefortheenvironment.Forverylargegroups(likeconferences)atechnical
applicationmaybehelpful.Generally,morevaluecomesfromthegroupdiscussingthesetogether.• Setthegoalofnothavingthesamedeltafromonemeetingtothenext.Havingthesamedeltameanstheaction
wasnotimplementedthefirsttime.• Thisprocesscanbecomestaleandnotaddvalueifnotfacilitatedasdescribedabove.Theremaycomeatime
whentheteamagreesthemeetingsarehighperforminganddonotneedaPlus/Delta.However,ifthemeetingvaluebecomessuspect,beginthepracticeagain,perhapsinamoreintentionalwaytobringthevalueback.
• Meetingstendtobecomehabit,theneedforthemeetingschangewithtime,thelengthofthemeetingmayneedtochange,oranynumberoffactorsmayalterthevalueproposition.ThePlus/Deltaprocesscanhelpthechangeoccurasneeded.
3.0 How
Return to Learning Laboratory >>
^