Grasping the Situation using the Lean Transformation Framework

2 – Day Workshop

Introduction

When we think about Lean, we often think about improving the work and moving from one level of business performance to the next improved level.  From a leadership perspective, this often results in a focus on improvement activity, tools and solutions, while what we really want is to increase speed, effectiveness & traction of our improvement efforts to solve the business’ problems.

Leadership at every level of the organisation has a critical role to play to ensure that:

  • Each team is focusing on the right problems
  • We are making time for improvement, that our improvement activity is effective and that we quickly address any roadblocks.
  • We engage hearts & minds and are sustaining our improvement efforts.
  • We reflect, learn and incorporate the learning into even better ways of doing business.
  • We adopt Lean thinking as a “system for learning” to deepen knowledge within the business and develop long term improvement capability (See Lean Strategy, Products and Learning by Dan Jones).
  • We lead change and develop improvement capability (See The Secrets of Leadership at Toyota by Art Smalley).

Click here to see the video

But as business leaders, how do we know that our employees are working on the right problems, in an effective way, that we have the capability to solve that type of business problem and that our management systems, culture and leadership behaviour are aligned?

For many businesses, the journey sometimes seems more difficult, for example in some environments it is not easy to see the work, the flow, performance or maybe the demand is not predictable and the work not routine.   For these and many other organisations understanding their next steps can seem more difficult.  There is no 10-step method or roadmap for Lean transformation – each business has a different process, culture and problems and so a blanket approach cannot be applied to every business.

So as business leaders how can we ‘Grasp the Situation’ and identify the key organisational gaps that need to be addressed?

The Lean Enterprise Academy, are looking to hold a practical workshop at the workplace, where attendees will need to use all of their senses to understand the work, current condition and potential problems on a real gemba.  This workshop combines walking the process with grasping the situation by utilising our Lean Transformation Framework (click here to see the video) to gain a greater understanding of what is Lean, and potential gaps that the organisation should solve to move to an improved level of performance.

Aims and Objectives

Through lecture, discussion, a mixture of class room and shop floor exercises, this workshop will help you develop a greater understanding of:

  • The host organisation’s approach to Lean transformation & creating a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Common approaches to Lean transformation/ business improvement and the 3 Common Pitfalls to Lean Transformation
  • Lean thinking and the five dimensions of the Lean Transformation Framework
  • How we can use the Lean Transformation Framework in a hands on way to develop a greater understanding of the current situation, identifying:
    • What is the customer and organisational purpose and what value we are providing?
    • What problem we are trying to solve and how this supports our purpose?
    • How do we do and improve the actual work?
    • What are the current skills and how are we building capability?
    • What are the current leadership behaviours and management systems, how do they support an improved new way of working?
    • What basic thinking, mind-set, or assumptions comprise the existing culture, and are they helping to drive the transformation?
    • Identifying the real organisational issues/ gaps that should addressed to move to the next level of business performance.
    • Potential strategies to address those gaps.
    • The critical role that leadership can play by ‘Grasping the Situation’ and addressing gaps within their organisation or team to help increase the speed, alignment & traction of their improvement efforts to solve key business problems.

Agenda

  • Introduction/Objectives/Agenda
  • Host organisation overview of their approach to continuous improvement & Lean
  • Introduction to Lean Thinking
  • Understanding of the different approaches to business improvement & the common pitfalls to Lean Transformation
  • Learn about what makes successful Lean transformation
  • Learn about Lean from a different perspective
  • The 5 areas of the Lean transformation Framework
    • Value Driven Purpose
    • Process Improvement
    • Capability Development
    • The Lean Leadership and Management System
    • Underlying assumptions and beliefs
  • Practical ‘Grasping the Situation’ exercise using Lean Transformation Framework.
  • Discussion to review LTF potential gaps
  • Reflections & Expectations Review

Workshop Benefits

Through instruction, small group discussions, exercises and video workshop participants will:

  • Learn about Lean from a different perspective, one that goes beyond tools & events
  • Learn about the key elements of a successful lean transformation
  • Learn how to refine future transformation plans and improvement activity to overcome 
  • Learn about the management routines that will help leadership ‘Grasp the Situation’ and develop a common understanding of the real issues.
  • Discuss and reflect on how to go beyond where they are now – to close the next set of gaps in the organization
  • Topics that will be examined include:
  • Basics of Value, Waste & Flow in Lean terms
  • Common approaches & Pitfalls to Lean Transformation
  • Understanding the five key areas to support successful Lean Transformation
  • How the Lean Transformation Framework can be used in practical environment to help improve and sustain Lean Transformations.
  • How to apply a situational approach to business improvement

Related Books

Who Should Attend?

  • Leadership wanting to develop a common understanding of organisational issues.
  • Leaders & management wanting to understand their role in helping to sustain and accelerate continuous improvement throughout the organisation.
  • Supervisory & support staff wanting to improve the effectiveness of their performance.
  • Improvement practitioners wanting to improve the effectiveness of their improvement plans.
  • Organisations at any stage of Lean maturity that are struggling with:
    • Sustaining improvement
    • Creating a mindset change
    • Overcoming the barriers to continuous improvement & Lean
    • Past improvement effort not impacting business performance
    • Developing further improvement capability

This workshop assumes that you are familiar with basic lean terms and concepts as described in Lean Thinking by Jim Womack and Dan Jones.

Notes

  • Attendance – 2 Day Course
  • Class size – Maximum 12 people per day
  • Timings – Each day will run from 09:00 – 17:00
  • Cost – General £790.00 / Consultant £900.00 per delegate per day with a 15% discount when 2 or more people from the same organisation attend
  • Materials – A PDF copy of the materials will be available via the Lean Enterprise Academy website.

* Please note prices exclude VAT at the standard rate of 20%

We can also run these workshops in-house at your convenience, if you would like to explore this option please contact us at [email protected] or call +44 (0)1600 890590

Follow up (optional)

LEA provides an ongoing mentoring service for organisations involved in making Lean transformations. Lean Transformation Master Plans, supporting A3s & VSM’s developed by the organisation can be reviewed at 30/60/90 intervals. This provides the organisation with help and direction in sustaining the learning from the workshop process and helps highlight further learning opportunities that can be pulled, as and when required, by the organisation.

Book online at www.leanuk.org/events