Continuously improve TPM forms -- In TPM, checklists and forms are used to document improvements, and Sweeny has found that there's great value in continuously improving these forms in small ways. "Every time you let a team change a document, those who initiated the change feel more in control and better about their contribution," says quality team leader Mike Woolbert. "Theidea is to create buy-in and ownership of the documentation process, which can seem quite intimidating initially."

Conduct "reviews" instead of "audits" --When Sweeny first began checking the progress of its TPM teams, auditors assigned numerical grades (an "85" was considered a passing grade), which made people feel as if they were in high school again. Feedback from team members convinced autonomous maintenance facilitator Melinda Meacham to eliminate numerical grades and conduct process reviews instead of process audits. "This made sense," says Woolbert, "because we're not auditing anyone's performance so much as reviewing our effectiveness as teachers and their understanding of their processes."

Restructure your financial reporting system -- Although details  could not be discussed, TPM quality team members from Sweeny talked about the importance of restructuring the accounting system. They offered the following advice: Help teams understand who their customers are and in what ways they are not being served, provide meaningful measures that allow teams to track their daily progress, and change the accounting system to facilitate the calculation of overall plant effectiveness and the gap between actual performance and desired performance.

Give sincere, specific feedback --Woolbert reports that it's not unusual for finance team leader Stuart Draughon to visit one of the production units, introduce himself and praise a team for some action that has saved the company money. "The little things really count," says Woolbert. "Make it a point to recognize people for doing exceptional things -- especially instances in which people have stretched to achieve some small, personal victory. Giving sincere, specific feedback of this type is really important."."

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March 1997 Quality Digest