Work Smarter not Harder

     Sometimes we get so consumed by urgent daily problems that we are not able to determine the underlying cause of the problems.  At some point we need to break the cycle and become proactive in our approach.

     Early in my career, I worked as an Electronic Technician in west Texas, repairing very high frequency (VHF) two-way radios in pickup trucks used in oil field maintenance. The trucks were driven often on rough unpaved roads which resulted in significant vibrations that wreaked havoc on the radios.  The radios were all relatively new having been replaced with a new system two-three years prior.  Two of us were responsible for maintaining the communications system across a vast area .

     This all occurred in the early 1980's when cell phones were fairly new with coverage typically in the larger cities and along interstate highway corridors..  The area we covered had spotty cell phone coverage at best.  So the VHF radios we maintained were critical to the safety of the employees and also a large part of work efficiency.  The two of us, maintaining the radio system, were on the road daily driving between seven major areas to repair issues.

     After my first three months in the area, I began to see patterns in the radio problems that occurred: antennas not trimmed to the proper length to match the frequency of the radio; connections between the components (radio, speaker, microphone, remote control head) not properly seated.   Bad microphones were also common. Thinking about the recurring issues I thought, what if we could get ahead of these problems.

     As I mentioned above there were seven major areas where we provided service. Rethinking our approach I asked, why don't we take one major area a month, go to the area every weekday for one week, and complete preventative maintenance (PM) on every radio/truck.  We reviewed the areas entire system, fixed bad connections, trimmed antennas, and replaced any bad components.  In seven months (late fall to early spring) we could test and fix every radio in the whole area.  Seven months was great because it meant we did not have to do the preventative work during the hottest part of the year.  And it gets HOT in west Texas.

     We started the preventative maintenance program and were able to complete three major areas, before I moved on to northern Oklahoma to a different position with the same company.  My replacement and former co-worker in Texas continued the PM  program completing all seven areas.  About a year and a half later, in a conversation with my friend in Texas, he said that the job atmosphere had changed completely.  Yes, they still had radio failures periodically, but the pace of work was stress free.  They were able to travel to repair a radio the same day the problem occurred in 90% of the cases.  In the past there was a two-three day queue before we could get to a location to correct a problem.  He was very appreciative of the PM process I had developed.

     So, what fires are you reacting to on a daily basis?  What is at the root of those fires?  Is there something you can do to stop the fires from occurring?  Yea, you are reacting to a lot of fires today, but if you set aside a small amount of time to be proactive you can start addressing the  root causes,  As you become more proactive, it reduces the fires, which gives you more time to be proactive.  Eventually, your level of stress will reduce significantly. 

 Give it some thought...

- BigE