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Production manager leader standard work template

Leader standard work for a production or value stream manager is a short list of daily tasks and a longer list of weekly and monthly ones that keep daily management working across several areas: the tier 3 meeting, walks with the supervisors, layered audits, checks of the supervisors' own routines and coaching. This template is filled in with 14 common tasks: four daily ones with a box for each weekday, six weekly and four monthly. Page 2 has a follow-up and escalation log and a weekly review. Change the tasks to fit your value stream or department.

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

The production manager leader standard work template: fields for leader, role, value stream and week, four daily tasks with a box for each weekday, six weekly and four 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.
14 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 manager leader standard work template

  • When the supervisors have routines but nobody above them checks or supports those routines.
  • When the tier 3 meeting hears the same problems week after week.
  • For a manager new to a value stream or department, to set out where their time on the floor goes each week.
  • When the plant sets up leader standard work level by level, after the team leaders and supervisors.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Fill in the header

    Leader, role, value stream or department and the week. One sheet per manager per week.

  2. 2

    Make the tasks yours

    Start from the 14 tasks. Cross out what does not apply, add your own in the blank rows, and keep the daily list short: most of a manager's routine is weekly.

  3. 3

    Book the weekly tasks

    Write the day for each weekly task and the date for each monthly one, and put them in your calendar. A gemba walk with no day planned rarely happens.

  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.

  5. 5

    Log follow-ups and escalations

    Write what the walks, audits and checks turn up on page 2 with an owner and a due date, and who you escalated it to if it goes to the plant level.

  6. 6

    Review the week with the plant manager

    Go through the misses, what got in the way and what you will change. Bring the escalations that are waiting on someone else.

What's on the sheet

The 14 routine tasks on the production manager leader standard work template

Written for a production, area or value stream manager over several supervisors. Most of the routine is weekly; 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 tier 3 meeting for your value stream or department
  2. 2Check that every problem escalated to you has an owner and a date
  3. 3Walk one area and stop at its tier board to ask about anything off target
  4. 4Follow up yesterday's decisions and the actions you own

Every week

Write the day it is planned

  1. 5Do a gemba walk with one supervisor in their area
  2. 6Do one layered process audit in each area
  3. 7Check two supervisors' leader standard work sheets and talk through the misses
  4. 8Coach one supervisor on a problem they are working on
  5. 9Walk for safety with a supervisor and an operator
  6. 10Review the open actions and countermeasures on the value stream board

Every month

Write the date

  1. 11Review value stream KPI trends and the top problems with the plant manager
  2. 12Check progress on improvement projects and kaizen events
  3. 13Review training and cross-training needs with your supervisors
  4. 14Review 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 a production manager over a machining value stream with three supervisors.

  • Daily: the tier 3 meeting done every day; the area walk missed on Monday and Tuesday because of a launch review.
  • Weekly: a gemba walk with the second-shift supervisor; one layered audit in each area, with three findings fixed on the spot; two supervisors' sheets checked, one showing the coaching task missed three weeks running.
  • Escalations: a gauge shortage went to the plant manager's top-tier meeting with an owner and a date.
  • Monthly: the KPI review with the plant manager showed one kaizen event behind plan.

In the weekly review the manager moved the area walk to straight after the tier 3 meeting, and the supervisor who kept missing coaching got a fixed coaching slot on Thursdays.

Common mistakes

  • Running the supervisors' meetings for them

    If the manager leads the tier 2 meeting, the supervisor stops owning it. Attend now and then, and talk about it afterwards.

  • Walking alone

    A gemba walk with the area's supervisor teaches both of you more than one done alone, and the supervisor hears what you saw first-hand.

  • Managing from the reports

    The weekly numbers tell you where to look. They do not tell you why, which is what the walk and the audit are for.

  • Letting escalations sit

    An escalation that reaches you and waits a week teaches supervisors that escalating is pointless. Give each one an owner and a date the day it arrives.

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

Production manager leader standard work template: common questions

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