Maintenance, Repair & Operations

Making Maintenance Improvements That Stick

Sept. 20, 2022

Conduct a pilot program to enlist a few champions for new initiatives.

Seasoned maintenance workers often roll their eyes when some new initiative comes out. They’ve been there, done that. A new program can fail for many different reasons. Here are some:

It doesn’t apply to the particular, or most pressing, problems experienced in this plant. Rather than impose a solution and hope you have problems that fit, understand the top three problems and focus on solving those. Try to solve too many problems at once, and you won’t solve any of them.
It’s new and complicated, a real change from how things have always been done. People feel slow and awkward with the new way, so they resist. Change this dynamic by working with one or two individuals on a pilot project. Once you get the kinks worked out and a good proof of concept going, then expand it a bit and ask for feedback as you go. Once the benefits are demonstrated, nearly everyone will want to do things the new way.
It’s loaded with acronyms, buzzwords, and complicated verbal constructions. This obfuscation alone is a sign that the program should probably not even be considered. What are they trying to hide? If you believe in the program anyhow, then use plain English as much as possible. If you have to use a word such as kaizen, and nothing is fundamentally wrong with such use, in the beginning, make sure to pair it with what it means (“change for better” is the actual translation). Eventually, maintenance people will prefer to say kaizen.

Here are a couple of ideas to get buy-in from your staff:

Select a champion or two to help you promote the cause. If one of your top technical people openly approves of the new plan and can explain it to others, you will find much more acceptance than if it simply comes from management.
Give them ownership. So, you have this new plan that came from some freshly minted MBA at corporate. The concepts behind it make sense, but some of the details, not so much. You’re told to implement the plan. Pick a few qualified maintenance people to test drive this thing and explain how it needs to improve. Make the improvements. Now it’s their plan, not corporate’s, and they will continue to iron out the bugs and make it work.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.