Lost Control

Hans Higgins was visibly upset. A week ago, he told the production superintendent, Phil Amos, that his maintenance department would be able to complete a 5 to 6 hour overhaul of a critical machine. Several production departments would be affected, but there was ample material in process to keep them busy until the overhauled machine could be brought back online prior to the incoming 5 p.m. shift.

On the day the machine was to be overhauled, Hans, having assigned 3 of his 12 mechanics to the job, went about his work day confident that things were in good shape. Naturally, he thought the job would be finished in plenty of time for the next shift. At 3 p.m., Hans made a routine check on his crew's progress. Expecting to find the job nearly completed, he was shocked to find it considerably behind schedule! Only two people had been on the job most of the day. His senior mechanic had received an emergency call from home about 11 a.m. and had not returned. To make matters worse, the two remaining mechanics had discovered that an important replacement pump was not in stock and had to be ordered from a local supplier. The supplier had promised delivery by noon, but the pump had still not been received.

About this time, the production superintendent drifted by and asked Hans how the job was coming along. Hans told him the bad news about the snags and expressed doubts about being able to complete the job as scheduled. The superintendent responded, "I don't want to hear your excuses, Hans. You told us it could be done, and it had better get done. This won't fly with Lowery (the plant manager). If this machine isn't online by 5 today, it will tie up 50 people who come in for the next shift. Those people can't sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting for your crew to finish the job as promised."

Hans knew, as the superintendent walked off, that even if the pump were on hand, it would be almost impossible to complete the job by 5 p.m. As he turned to his two mechanics, both of them shrugged their shoulders as if to say, "Don't blame us. It's not our fault."

What would have improved the success of this communication?

What should happen next?

Using terminology from Chapter 11, discuss strategies that should be put in place to prevent this from happening in the future.