1) The document discusses implementing Lean principles in complex and knowledge-based work environments that were previously considered too difficult. It provides case studies of implementing Lean in a bank's fraud operations center and in parts of HMRC. 2) Through engaging employees, Lean was used to standardize processes, establish performance tracking, and separate simple and complex work. This increased productivity 15% at the bank and resolved tax cases faster at HMRC. 3) Knowledge transfer ensured benefits continued as employees strengthened Lean skills to continuously improve performance beyond initial implementations.

1. Time to tackle
the Black Arts: White Paper
Performance through Engagement
For many decades, organisations limited
their adoption of Lean to the fast-moving
and highly-repetitive processing areas of
their operations, where implementing it is
relatively simple and delivers rapid and
significant results.
Through the pioneering work undertaken
by leading exponents, including
UEP, Lean ways of working are now
fundamental to the delivery of optimal
value from the broadest possible range of
functions in both private and public sector
organisations.
For even some of the most advanced
Lean organisations, however, there
remain a number of operational bastions
yet to be stormed: those complex and
knowledge-based environments, whose
often slow-moving, considered and
bespoke approach is a world away from
Lean’s roots.
As daunting as these “black art” functions
may first appear, they now represent
an outstanding opportunity to maximise
the effectiveness of organisations’ most
valued employees.
In most organisations, public and private, there
are certain functions which are so specialised, and
whose personnel are so prized for their knowledge
and skills, that, despite the current imperative to
drive operational efficiency in all areas, they are
still considered too complex to tackle.
By excluding these high-value areas – whether
initially or entirely – organisations run the risk of
undermining their overall Lean approach by failing
to include the elements of end-to-end processes
these functions undertake and so allowing
inefficient silo-working to continue.
Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
What deters organisations from tackling these areas is the perception that they
have no discernable processes as the highly-trained individuals within them
are using the ‘black art’ of their accumulated knowledge and skills to make
decisions based on their considered opinion. The extreme variability of the tasks
they undertake, the hours they work and their often complicated stakeholder
relationships only add to this picture.
Moreover, as organisations rely heavily on the knowledge and skills of these
high value functions it is not surprising that the individuals within them make
every effort to protect these personal assets and are often reluctant to be
included in efficiency programmes.
As a result of this external apprehension and internal reluctance, organisations
often fall into the trap of introducing Lean into silos around these functions. This
not only unwittingly reinforces the erroneous belief, proved wrong in all others
areas, that “We’re different; Lean won’t work here,” but derails the organisation’s
ability to become truly Lean throughout its operations and to capitalise on the
material and cultural benefits this brings.
Why Implementing Lean into
an Organisation’s Complex and
Knowledge-Based Functions is
Vital to its Future Success
Idealised
‘Considerative’ work covers different types of systems
with different characteristics:
Custom
Transactional Interactive
Low
Customer involvement
(e.g. frequency of customer contact)
Repeatability
(fromserviceprovidersperspective)
High
LowHigh
•Large service
system design
•Security system
•Distribution system
•Course curriculum
•Fast food
•Call centre
•Airline travel
•Hotel
•Project
management
•Management
consultant
•Legal work
•Secretarial
/PA
•‘Considerative’ processes are
most likely to be found in the
‘idealised’ and ‘custom’ service
systems
•They are characterised by low
repeatability and high variation
in the type, frequency and
quality of inputs
•Its important to reflect that true
end to end value stream may
cover more than one quadrant
•Processing
claims

2. Characteristics of Complex and
Knowledge-Based Workers
Typical roles:
• Policy specialist
• Lawyer / Solicitor
• Highly technical / skilled functions
• Heart / Neurology Surgeon
• Creative designer
• Programme / Project Manager
Personal characteristics:
• Enormous pride in their work
• Highly educated / trained
• Perceived to be a specialist
• Think deeply
• Very experienced in their field of work
• Highly regarded by their peers
Typical ways of working:
• No set working hours or patterns – dependent
upon stakeholder needs or knowledge
breakthroughs
• Work involves serious and careful thought
• Deliver above expectations (potentially risk
averse)
• Take time to get it right
• Take responsibility for every aspect
• Private in their work
• ‘Feel’ their way based on knowledge and
significant experience (progress is intuitive)
Making the Case for Lean
In essence, the key aim of applying Lean
principles into these areas is to mobilise the
knowledge within them in the most effective way
to deliver the outcomes the organisation requires.
It does this by promoting broader sharing of
knowledge to the wider workforce, decoding
complex processes and making them accessible
to grow internal capability.
As has been stated, however, those operating
within knowledge-based environments work very
much as individuals, most of their knowledge is
internalised and they are reluctant to share it.
Fortunately, there are significant proven benefits
upon which to base strategic engagement of these
functions with Lean.
Applying Lean into these areas reduces high value
employees’ need to spend time on mundane tasks,
which can be passed to lower grade personnel,
allowing them to concentrate on the activities they
value, and that also bring the most benefit to the
organisation. This need not be limited to specific
work tasks, of course, but could also involve the
further development of their valuable skills and
knowledge.
In the case of a heart surgeon, for instance,
eliminating some of their menial workload not
only increases their ability to undertake more
operations in a day but also to undertake more personal research in improving
the way they work. Similar increases in functional and personal capacity
are equally applicable and attractive to all knowledge-based and complex
environment workers.
There is also a persuasively strong moral argument for these highly-valued
individuals to engage with their organisation’s Lean approach. The robust
ethical stance implicit in the high levels of commitment and responsibility
they take on in pursuit of the best quality outcome for their clients is entirely
compatible with Lean’s focus on customer service.
Tackling the Black Arts
Once those in complex and knowledge-based environments accept that Lean
can be beneficial to them and their areas, the next hurdle to overcome is
persuading them that there are actually underlying processes in what they do.
At the very least, their work must come in from somewhere and the decision
or action they take to resolve or progress it must go out, or on, to someone, or
somewhere, else.
It is possible in the first instance, therefore, to analyse these input and output
areas to gauge their efficiency by posing some fundamental questions: Is the
information coming in complete? Is it accurate? And is it helpful in making the
decision? In the case of caseworkers and policy makers, for example, good
inputs are vital to providing the levels of service their customers require.
Once clarity has been gained on what inputs
are required it is possible to help complex and
knowledge-based workers to improve their
processes to provide a superior solution in the
shortest possible time-frame.
Preparing for Each Environment
There are five key steps to be taken before undertaking a Lean implementation
in a complex or knowledge-based environment. The first and most critical
of these is the complete understanding of the specific characteristics of
that particular environment (as attempting to apply a “one-size fits all” Lean
approach will invariably fail).
To gain an appreciation of the type of work involved, the end-to-end processes
that include steps taken within the complex or knowledge-based environment
need to be considered. The roles of customers and stakeholders should
be analysed to understand the forms of interaction and how these can be
stabilised; essentially, the greater the customer involvement the greater the
need to even out their input.
Performance through Engagement
Inputs Ouputs
Activity
The‘one size fits all’ approach to Systems andTools will not work!
Understand
environment
characteristics
Take time to
appreciate:
•The degree of
customer/
stakeholder
involvement
•The
repeatability of
the process
•The capability
base required
•The demand
on the
individuals
•The type of
work
undertaken
Theory
into
Practice
The next step is
to align the
Systems and
Tools to a
potential future
state
In turn, this will
provide a
structure for
what tools and
techniques are
required to
deliver an
effective future
state design
Agree
resources
Once the task
in hand is
approached
skilled and
capable
resources can
be aligned with
the project
timeline
The Impact on
stakeholders
should also be
ascertained
Refine
timescales
Timing will be
largely
dependant
upon the access
to stakeholders
Invariably these
areas take
significantly
longer to apply
Systems and
Tools due to
access and
end-to end
timescales
Sign-off
Make sure the
needs and
benefits are
clearly
articulated for
the business
and the
individuals
Once effective
‘due diligence’
has been
completed and
everything is in
place and ‘on
board’ the
activity can
commence

3. To do this, it is important to consider the
repeatability of the activities undertaken,
understanding the reasons for variation within the
process and establishing the external factors that
may be controlled.
At different steps of the process there will
be differing levels of variation based on the
repeatability of that particular step. A Lean
approach can be rapidly applied to those with
minimal variation whilst those with significant
variation will require further analysis. This should
identify the processes that can be broken down
into sub-processes and pinpoint which of these are
dependent on the capability of the environment’s
key workers.
At the very heart of the complex or knowledge-
based environment, it is necessary to understand
how actions or decisions are made and whether
there are any that are sufficiently ‘standard’ that
they can become a simple option a less skilled
employee can handle more quickly, consistently
and efficiently.
Analysis of how work is prioritised and the various
deadlines involved can also help to identify
further possibilities including the removal of
non-core activities for advance preparation by
other employees. This analysis must also include
activities that take place between defined steps
to ensure end-to-end processes are as Lean as
possible.
A New Approach
If organisations are to gain the maximum possible
benefit from their Lean efficiency programmes
they simply cannot afford to continue taking a
piecemeal approach by delaying, or completely
avoiding, implementing it into their more complex
and knowledge-based functions.
In fact, given the deeper analysis and behavioural
shift strategy required, and the scale of the
potential advantages, organisations should be
prioritising the introduction of Lean in these
areas before its broader implementation to
ensure a consistent approach and delivery of the
organisation’s full potential.
Private Sector Case Study:
Implementing Lean into the Fraud Operations of a Major Bank
A leading worldwide banking group needed to significantly increase the
efficiency of its fraud operations centre as part of its major global Lean
restructuring. This represented a considerable challenge as not only were
the centre’s operations highly complex, but it had only recently experienced
a substantial change with its workforce doubling in size due the relocation of
employees and processes from another site.
With a successful track record of delivering major Lean initiatives in complex
and knowledge-based environments, Unipart Expert Practices (UEP) was
tasked with creating a step change in the centre’s performance whilst
maintaining customer satisfaction and employee engagement.
Performance Through Engagement
UEP’s Expert Practitioners began by engaging employees from all four of the
centre’s functions with Lean principles to conduct an in-depth analysis of their
current work practices, highlighting issues and identifying opportunities for
improvement.
It was discovered that there were significant differences is how the various
teams and individuals approached the same tasks, simple activities were mixed
in with lengthier more complex ones and there was limited understanding of
recently introduced processes. The situation was exacerbated by a general
lack of performance management with no focus on daily priorities.
To counter these problems, UEP worked with the teams to identify over 100
processes that would benefit from standardisation to ensure consistent,
efficient individual performance and customer experience, and improvement
through the removal of non value adding activity.
To separate out and coordinate the delivery of simpler and more complex
processes, work cells were established with performance boards to log
adherence to newly built-in quality checks and KPIs, and regular structured
employee huddle meetings to address and resolve any issues using Lean
methods.
Performance through Engagement
Time
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4 Output
This
waiting/stagnation
time can be analysed
using the Systems
andTools

4. “Now I spend more time
completing cases and
effectively no time filling
sheets of paper.”
Significant Achievements
By the end of the 24 week project the following
benefits had been realised:
• A 15% increase in performance and a further 5%
post implementation, releasing a similar amount
of function capacity
• A 76% increase in time spent on value adding
activities
• Standardisation of 31 key processes and a
further 27 post implementation
• No negative impact on customer experience or
employee satisfaction.
“I really see the value in the
improvements delivered by
Lean. The introduction of
Lean helped me manage
my time better and spend
more time coaching staff to
eliminate critical defects.”
Knowledge Transferred for Sustained
Improvement
Despite the recognized difficulty of the
environment and the complexity of its processes,
UEP won praise from all quarters. The centre’s
Risk Manager was particularly impressed with the
dedication shown to boosting process compliance,
protecting the bank’s customers and reducing
regulatory risk.
As a result of UEP’s involvement, the bank is now
able to further rationalize its operations by using
the resource released within the centre to take on
additional work streams from other group sites.
UEP’s implementation also saw the vital delivery
of a 50% increase in the Lean skills of the centre’s
Lean Leaders and Lean Change Agents. As a
result, the teams are now able to both deliver the
short-term post-implementation benefits identified
with UEP and to continuously improve the centre’s
performance for the future.
“We had our challenging moments but UEP
showed a great degree of professionalism
in difficult situations and in dealing with
complex problems. I am really grateful for all
the hard work delivered.”
Public Sector Case Studies
For more than a decade, UEP has worked alongside Her
Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to implement
PaceSetter, its ground-breaking public sector Lean programme,
which has delivered almost £1Bn of savings to date.
Below are just two examples of how UEP Expert Practitioners
have used Lean to engage employees in complex and
knowledge-based environments to improve their processes.
Transforming NICO’s Operational Support Function
The National Insurance Contribution Office’s Operational Support function, was
having difficulty managing the department’s change programmes, including
PaceSetter. Prioritisation decisions were being based on individual preference
and considerable time was being wasted drafting four different versions of the
same report due to complex sign-off arrangements.
By engaging the function’s employees in taking a Lean approach to their
problems, UEP’s Expert Practitioners enabled them to introduce visual
management performance boards to track each project’s progress and to make
informed and relevant decisions on prioritisation and allocation of resource.
To address the wasteful reporting issue, UEP worked with the function’s key
stakeholders to identify the core sign-off requirements at each stage enabling
the team to produce a single, universally-agreed report process.
So successful has the change in the function’s performance been that the area
now forms part of NICO’s PaceSetter ‘Go and See’ tour.
Speedier Resolution of Business Tax Legal Cases
HMRC’s business tax cases were taking up to six years to resolve, wasting
considerable effort, time and money for the department. Unfortunately, as
cases were not being tracked, it was impossible to identify what was causing
these delays.
UEP’s Expert Practitioners used Lean principles to engage the Business Tax
function’s employees in a detailed analysis of their work processes to help them
to pinpoint why and where cases were stalling in the system. The core issue
was identified as the Business Tax Investigation Team’s issuing vague requests
to the department’s solicitors. As a result, the information received back was
often delayed and incorrect leading to repeated unnecessary exchanges for
each case.
By working with all parties to ensure requirements were clearly explained,
it was possible to construct a standard template that included all necessary
information for the speedy resolution of each case. This was supported by the
creation of a timing plan for all future interactions and the introduction of visual
control boards allowing both the Investigation Team and the department’s
solicitors to plan their workload more effectively.
Performance through Engagement
For more information
Speak to John Coulston,
Head of Performance on +44 (0)1865 383053 or
+44 (0) 7770 728077
email john.coulston@unipart.com
go to www.unipartep.co.uk