Government departments and agencies face a difficult challenge: with limited resources, how can they deliver faster, better and cheaper while engaging their people? Many organizations have used the approaches of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in government to meet this challenge.
2. The Government Challenge
With limited resources
you must still deliver as much, and possibly more
faster, better and cheaper
while engaging your people.
Here’s how.
3. Typical Government LSS Results
• 25 – 100% increase in capacity without adding resources or working
harder
• 25-50% improvement in quality and customer satisfaction
• 25-100% improvement in financial performance
• Increased employee engagement
• Improved union-management relations
• Reduced firefighting – more time and resources to devote to your
core business
A number of Canadian federal, provincial and municipal government
organizations have achieved and sustained results such as these…plus over
30 federal departments and agencies in the USA
5. What is Lean Enterprise?
• A business improvement approach that creates speed, flow
and efficiency by fixing business processes.
• Work that does not add value is identified and removed to
reduce complexity, creating flow and allowing resources to
focus more on value added activities, increasing capacity
without working harder or adding resources.
When should it be used?
• When an organization needs to deliver faster, better and cheaper
6. From the perspective of the end user, at
least 90% of your organization’s time does
not add value
10%: value added time
Typical Government
Organization
90%:
non-value added time
1 Carter, Willie L. Quality Digest. June 23, 2010.
7. 90% Non-Value Added Time
Example
“It takes us three
weeks to process an
application, but the
time we spend
actually touching or
working on the file is
only a few hours.”
8. Where is that 90% Non-Value Added Time
Hidden?
Some examples of activities that take time but don’t add
value:
• Waiting
• Incomplete files
• Expediting
• Errors and rework
• Unused reports and their data collection
• Unnecessary approvals
• Managing a backlog
• Misunderstandings/poor communication
9. Example: Process flows horizontally
Applicant Applicant
Processing
Application Decision Reply
of
for Approval Process Process
Application
But traditional thinking and accountability is in vertical silos…
10. Lean looks at your processes
horizontally from the point of
view of the end user of your
service or output
11. Mapping Flow
If you took a file, When would it:
put an imaginary video camera on it • Go forward?
and sent it through your process • Stop and wait?
What would it see? • Back up?
bottlenecks
Mapping these
large interruptions to
batches flow tells you
unnecessary where your end-
approvals to-end process
missing is breaking
info down
chronic
errors too much
last-in, waiting
travel
first-out waiting
unbalanced
work too many waiting
handoffs
12. The Lean Approach
1. Identify and prioritize the needs of your end users and
stakeholders
2. With your team, map the current state of your business
process
3. With your team, identify interruptions to flow
4. With your team, map “future state”, with these
interruptions to flow minimized
5. Prioritize and implement improvement projects
6. Assess, adjust, repeat in next area
7. COMMUNICATE your early wins, and don’t stop listening
and communicating
13. Test out solutions: Plan, Do, Check, Adjust
Always test out your solutions to ensure that they work
If the solution met its
desired result, adjust
your daily way of Define your plan –
working to 4. Adjust 1. Plan what is the solution
incorporate it on an you are testing?
ongoing basis. What
did you learn?
Did the solution Implement the
achieve the desired 3. Check 2. Do solution in the daily
result? work
15. What is Six Sigma?
• The application of statistical tools to identify and fix root causes of
defects or errors.
• Minimize variability from the point of view of the end user of the
service.
When should it be used?
• When an organization faces significant variation in its results, e.g.:
– Chronic errors are present that create bottlenecks or affect the quality
of the service being delivered to the end user and/or key stakeholders
16. The Six Sigma Approach
Five Steps:
1. DEFINE: the problem, objective, “customer”
2. MEASURE: the process, collect and validate the
data, determine process capability
3. ANALYZE: Identify the root cause of the issue
4. IMPROVE: Determine and test solutions to solve
the problem
5. CONTROL: Put in place controls to ensure that
solution fixes problem on an ongoing basis
17. Why Combine Lean and Six Sigma?
• Lean creates efficiency and flow
• Six Sigma creates consistent results
• Many successful government organizations combine the
tools of Lean and Six Sigma in order to achieve both
efficiency, flow and speed as well as consistent delivery of
results.
• Our approach is often to use Lean first to create
flow/efficiency and then identify where variation continues
to be a problem. Use Six Sigma tools to solve this
variation.
• This results in delivering more of your mandate, faster,
better and cheaper
18. How is LSS Different in Government?
Private Sector Government How to address the
difference
Clear view of “who is Multiple, often competing, Conduct a stakeholder assessment to
the customer” stakeholder needs determine “who and what is
important”
Bottom line measure: No “profit” motive or clear Use the measures of “time” and “how
“profit” creates focus “bottom line” we deliver on our key stakeholders’
needs” to drive improvement
Often produce physical Usually produce services Identify your services as your
products “products”
Flatter organization Multi-layer hierarchical Engage all relevant levels in identifying
structures structures and implementing improvements
Monetary incentives to Few monetary incentives to Monetary incentives are over-rated.
drive improvement drive improvement Leverage staff intrinsic motivation and
visibility to encourage improvement
19. Staff Engagement
• Map your process with the people
who do the work
• YOU cannot rewire THEIR mental
maps.
• THEY have to do it for themselves
• Involve THEM from Day 1.
• When they see what is possible,
they become early adopters and
ambassadors
20. Principle:
Change that is imposed
Is change that is opposed.
21. Job Security
“That’s all great, but are you going to use these
increased efficiencies to cut jobs?”
If yes – you will lose staff engagement and
participation
Preferred approach:
“We are not implementing LSS to cut jobs. We have to find ways of doing
more with less, without making people work harder. The business goes on.
Our intent is to help you find ways of making your day to day work life
better, and to deliver on our mandate of _____________, not to cut jobs.
None of us can know the future, but instead of having someone else do it
for you, this is your opportunity to help shape our future.”
22. How Does Process Improvement
Increase Employee Engagement?
Finding and
implementing
improvements
puts most
people here
From “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience”, Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi
23. Change Management
Approach
• Build Change Management in at front end
• Start with a business process that has a
critical, visible problem, and people who are
interested in fixing it.
• Prove the concept – Walk, Run, Fly.
• Let your early adopters “spread the virus”
for you.
• Create opportunities for objections, early
and often
24. Why LSS is Attractive to Public Servants
If you can eliminate non-
value added activities, and
increase flow:
Less firefighting – work
smarter, not harder
Smaller backlog – and
less need to perform
frustrating extra activities
that result from backlogs
Use the freed-up time,
people and focus to
deliver better on the core
mission of your
organization
25. How Does LSS Increase Staff
Engagement?
Staff fix chronic problems that have irritated
them for….years
Increases self-esteem
Creates a focus on (re)building and re-creates
“control” over their destinies
Increases marketable job skills – process
improvement and teamwork skills
26. Getting Started
• Find a mentor
• Begin by choosing the right
business process to analyze
• Assemble a team of the right
people (early adopters with
influence, including union rep)
• Map the current state
• Identify interruptions to flow
• Map future state
• Prioritize and implement
improvement projects
• Assess, adjust, repeat in next
area
• COMMUNICATE your early wins,
and don’t stop listening and
communicating
27. Questions?
Lean Agility Inc. coaches government and public sector
organizations to deliver faster, better and cheaper while at the
same time engaging and energizing their people.
Craig Szelestowski
craig@leanagility.com
613 266 4653
leanagility.com
