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Plant manager leader standard work template

Leader standard work for a plant manager is a short written routine: the top-tier meeting and a walk of part of the plant each day, then weekly and monthly tasks such as a gemba walk with one manager, a layered audit, a safety walk, a check of the managers' own routines and a review of plant KPIs against the year's goals. It shows everyone below that the people asking for routines keep one too. This template is filled in with 13 common tasks: three daily ones with a box for each weekday, five weekly and five monthly. Page 2 has a follow-up and escalation log and a weekly review.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

The plant manager leader standard work template: fields for leader, role, plant and week, three daily tasks with a box for each weekday, weekly and monthly tasks with a planned day or date, a chart of how much of the day is standard work at each level, and a box for notes.
13 daily, weekly and monthly tasksA box per weekdayWhen each task happensWhy missedFollow-up and escalation logWeekly reviewShare of the day by level

When to use it

When to use a plant manager leader standard work template

  • When leader standard work starts in the plant: the plant manager's routine is the one everybody notices.
  • When the top-tier meeting has turned into a report-out and escalated problems do not come back closed.
  • For a new plant manager, to set a fixed rhythm on the floor in the first months.
  • When managers' routines slip and the plant manager needs a way to check them that is not another meeting.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Fill in the header

    Leader, role, plant and the week.

  2. 2

    Keep the list short

    Start from the 13 tasks and cut what does not fit your plant. Three daily tasks are enough; most of a plant manager's routine is weekly and monthly.

  3. 3

    Put the walks in the calendar

    Write the day for each weekly task and the date for each monthly one, including the walk on a night or weekend shift.

  4. 4

    Mark each task when it happens

    A tick when it is done, a cross when it is missed, and a word on why. Let your managers see the sheet.

  5. 5

    Log what comes up

    Write what you see on walks and audits, and what is escalated to you, on page 2 with an owner and a due date.

  6. 6

    Review the week

    With your own manager, such as a general manager or operations director. Look at the misses and change the routine when the plant's priorities change.

What's on the sheet

The 13 routine tasks on the plant manager leader standard work template

Written for a plant manager. Three daily tasks and the rest weekly and monthly; each task has space for when it happens and a box to mark done or missed.

Every day

A box for each weekday

  1. 1Lead the plant's top-tier meeting and decide on what was escalated
  2. 2Walk one part of the plant and stop at its tier board
  3. 3Check that problems escalated to you have an owner, a date and a next step

Every week

Write the day it is planned

  1. 4Do a gemba walk with one manager in their value stream
  2. 5Do one layered process audit at a station
  3. 6Walk for safety in a different area or on a different shift
  4. 7Check two managers' leader standard work sheets and talk through the misses
  5. 8Coach one manager on a problem they are working on

Every month

Write the date

  1. 9Review plant KPI trends against this year's goals with your managers
  2. 10Review the main improvement projects and where each one is stuck
  3. 11Walk the plant on the night or weekend shift
  4. 12Sit down with a group of operators and ask what gets in their way
  5. 13Review this leader standard work with your manager and adjust it

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

One week of leader standard work for the plant manager of a two-shift packaging plant.

  • Daily: the top-tier meeting done all five days; the walk missed on Thursday for a customer visit.
  • Weekly: a gemba walk with the converting manager; one layered audit with two findings; a safety walk on the night shift; two managers' sheets checked.
  • Escalations: a request for a second forklift charger came up from the tier 3 meeting; the plant manager gave it an owner and a date the same morning.
  • Monthly: the KPI review showed scrap off target for three months running, and the plant manager asked the area for an A3 on it.

The weekly review showed the plant walk dropped whenever a visitor came, so the plant manager now takes visitors on the walk.

Common mistakes

  • Turning the walk into an inspection

    If every walk ends in blame, people hide problems before you arrive. Ask questions, listen, and thank people for raising problems.

  • Keeping the routine in your head

    If it is not written down and visible, nobody can tell when it slips, including you.

  • Asking for routines you do not keep

    Managers notice when the plant manager skips the walk. Keep yours, and show your sheet when you check theirs.

  • Filling the week

    A plant manager's routine is small. David Mann's commonly cited guide puts it at 10 to 15% of the time.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite you build a checklist or audit in Lean Creator and schedule it in Daily Standard Work to a person, a role or a machine with a repeat rule; each person sees their checks on a calendar or Kanban board, gets a reminder before one is due, and missed ones show in red.

FAQ

Plant manager leader standard work template: common questions

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