Problem-Solving Teams
In the past, teams were typically composed of 5 to 12 hourly employees from the same department who met for a few hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment. 3 These problem-solving teams rarely have the authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggestions. Merrill Lynch created a problem-solving team to figure out ways to reduce the number of days it took to open a new cash management account. 4 By suggesting cutting the number of steps from 46 to 36, the team reduced the average number of days from 15 to 8.