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Tag Archives: LeanTraining

Financial Aid Offices

23 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by Dan Edds in Lean training, Praxis Solutions

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DanEdds, Featured, Financial Aid, FinancialAidStudents, Lean Government, LeanTraining

Can lean principles change the working culture and work processes in an Office of Financial Aid. In the spring of 2014 a local community college engaged Praxis to conduct a lean kaizen event. A four day event that turned their core process (award application process) into visual value stream map. At this time it was taking 10 weeks to process an application and they phones were not being answered. Today the phones are being answered and it takes 2-3 weeks to process an application during the high volume season of June – July.

These offices are important functions of any college or university. They are often the first point of contact with a prospective student. This means the perception of the school can be set into stone before the student ever walks on campus. Students will often enroll into the school that first offers them financial aid. Thus the experience with office staff and the speed of award can be vital.

A lean engagement is a staff friendly function that creates a shared vision of the Office and how to maximize value to the student.

 

Applying Lean in Government

08 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Dan Edds in Praxis Solutions

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DanEdds, Lean Government, LeanPrinciplesGovernment, LeanTraining, leantraininggovernment

I recently taught a series of three lean courses for a national food manufacturing and distribution company. The difference between applying lean in a government service vs applying lean in a manufacturing setting could not have been more obvious. Seeing opportunities to apply lean thinking in the manufacturing of food products was easy. A walk out to the manufacturing floor and you could see tools in the wrong place and no visual management of where they go, documents not organized for easy access, food that has to be trucked from one plant to another plant and then back to the first plant, and the plant itself not being laid out according to the flow of work process.
However, in government services, most work processes are hidden. You cannot physically see a product move along an assembly line. Instead information tends to move from one desk or one computer to another. Processes can breakdown but without a detailed analysis the problem could have happened several steps backs.
This is the value of lean kaizen events. Laying out the process along a wall on butcher paper turns the invisible process into a tangible reality. The process can be seen. Places where processes breakdown can be seen where people must handle the same piece of paper multiple times, or large batches of documents are pulled from files and lost, or where quality control check could have gone to prevent the most common errors early. Just making the process visual has a way of making the obvious known.
As another way of doing this. Besides building the traditional value stream map on a wall via butcher paper, we are thinking that another way of doing this is to lay out the process in a flat world of work stations. Turn the invisible government process into a one room assembly line. Make the process visual, then redesign the process from there. I think this could really work.

Maximize Creativity with Mind Mapping

26 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by Dan Edds in Praxis Solutions

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DanEdds, LeanTraining

I recently spent a day learning about Mind Mapping. I had been exposed to the concept over 20 years ago and thought it a good tool for personal and group creativity. Was I wrong, it is a fabulous tool for personal and dynamic group creativity. As a tool, it is developed and there is now software tools to assist. I purchased iMindMap and I am loving it. I see two primary value added activities for its use:

1) Strategic planning. Great tool to maximize the creative power of a small team to set strategic direction, identify objectives, tasks, and projects. The good news about iMindMap is that you can flip an icon and turn your Mind Map into a project plan and create tasks, assignments, timelines, etc.

2) organizing course outlines and structure. I am teaching a serious of courses for a local food manufacturing and distribution company on lean leadership, thinking, and practices. using Mind Mapping I was able to quickly come to the point points, identify the critical elements, and design the group activities.

Great tool for anyone interested in maximizing the power of personal and group creativity and dynamics.

 

MindMap

Translating Muda Into Government Speak

05 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by Dan Edds in Baldrige, Lean training, Praxis Solutions

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DanEdds, LeanInGovernment, LeanTraining

Does the types of waste or muda identified in lean training such as inventory, over production, and over processing translate into government “speak”? Of course they do but some translation work must be done.

When James Womack and Daniel Jones published their landmark book, Lean Thinking, they introduced a Japanese word into the manufacturing lexicon. The word is muda or what we would call waste in modern English. There are seven types of muda enumerated by the authors and the founders of lean principles. Each type of muda makes perfectly good sense in a manufacturing environment but may require some translation for a government application.

What we observe in much of lean training in government is that the language is so different that government leaders just tune out. This is not a negative hit on government leaders and workers. It is just the reality that all organizations have a unique language. So let’s look at those types of muda and see if we can make the translation. The specific example we will use in a government environment is payment of invoices and the awarding of financial aid in a college or university. Government does a lot of this. Let’s also remember the definition of muda = any activity that consumes resources but creates no value.

Over production

Producing too many parts for an assembly line is clear waste. But it also applies in a payment to grantees. Think of regulations as parts of an assembly line. If a process is designed that goes beyond what is required by a regulatory body, it has the same effect as producing too many engines for the assembly line. A State transportation agency providing federal funding to local municipalities for public transit must meet certain regulatory requirements. If errors are made penalties are the usual result. But in one agency the tendency was to error on the side of over regulation. There were so good at it, that when the feds were not sure of their own regulations, they just asked the State transportation group.

Waiting

A part sitting in inventory, waiting for installation creates no value for the customer. But does the same concept apply to paying invoices for grantees. Think of a single invoice, sitting on not one desk for a review but five desks. One school district found that it was taking up to 6 months to pay staff for the extra work they did like driving students to the debate tournament. Once they figured out all the points of waiting they figured out how to get it done in 10 days.

Transport

Transporting a single part to multiple warehouses clearly creates no value. But moving paper documents around an office has the same impact. In one of our lean engagements it was discovered that every invoice passed the desk of the same person 6-7 times. And this was just one person, this happened with multiple people. So do the math. Assume every invoice must pass 3 people 6 times. That is 18 touch points at a minimum! That is also 18 points where invoices get lost. Clearly, this is muda.

Over processing

Manufacturing parts for an airplane that goes beyond the design specifications is clear waste. In the same way, many government processes are designed for the once in a million event. A workers compensation insurance trust sets up the same invoice payment review process for a $25 invoice as it does for a $2,500 invoice. The smallest invoices must go through three levels of review just like the largest invoices. While there is clear value in a comprehensive review of large invoices applying the same review requirements to very small invoices means the cost of paying the invoice is more than the invoice itself. One government workers compensation trust dramatically improved their speed of payment by setting up simple business rules. Smaller invoices went through one review process, larger ones went through a different one. The result was faster payment, stronger negotiating power with medical providers and better business intelligence to serve their ultimate customer.

Inventories

A warehouse full of parts clearly creates no value for the customer. In the same way, money sitting in a bank can be inventory. If it is not put to immediate use building roads, paying medical claims, or getting a student off to university it is creating no value for the ultimate customer. When an Office of Financial Aid cuts in half the time it takes to process an application, money is going to work for the benefit of the intended student – faster.

Movement

The constant movement of parts is something that manufacturing organizations are just now understanding as muda. Parts get lost, parts don’t arrive on time, and parts get broken. In the same way, invoices and paper documentation that moves around has the same problems. They get lost, issues are not resolved on time, and there are multiple points in the process that will cause late payment. One office of financial aid stopped the movement merry go round but only giving 10 application packets for financial aid to each processor at a time. They could not get more until the 10 were completed. The results were fewer errors, no lost files, and staff were happier – they could see progress on a daily basis.

Defective Parts

We understand that buying anything that has to be returned because some small part is defective is irritating and expensive. The same applies for an invoice payment operations. Errors in coding and data are just as expensive. A simple error in data entry is a small thing to fix early in the process. But towards the end it can be catastrophic. On Office of Financial Aid designed two simple check lists. Much like airline pilots go through a check list for every takeoff and landing, this Office designed two check lists to catch errors before they had catastrophic impact. Besides fewer errors, they also realized that the check lists resulted in more standardized work because every knew the process.

Hidden Power of Check Lists

09 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by Dan Edds in Lean training

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CheckLists, FinancialAidStudents, Lean Government, LeanInGovernment, LeanTraining

We have been working with an Office of Financial Aid for a local college. Annually they process nearly 20,000 financial aid applications. It is a highly regulated organization that is high stress. Turnover has been high. Students want their applications awarded – fast. Administrators want maximum award because this impacts enrollment. They are often the first touch point with the college for students so the experience reflects on the entire college.

As part of a lean, kaizen event we determined that a way of reducing errors in the award process was to develop a check list. The aviation industry has been using them for years and surgeons are just starting to use them and lives are being saved. So we spent a few hours identifying what data points should be on the list. Then we organized the list according to order in the process.

Then the lights went on. Staff realized almost instantly that there was more value that just removing errors (as if this is not value enough). With high staff turnover consistency in processing has been difficult. The check list solves this dilemma because the check list organizes the process for them. Also, training has been a consistent issue. Never enough training and never enough time to do it. Again, the lights went on as we realized the check list just became the outline for training.

So we found two additional value added benefits for a simple check list: process control and training.

Fabulous.

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The Value of Check Lists

Commercial airplanes take off and land thousands of time each day. Their pilots do so routinely. Yet each time a pilot takes off or lands she does so with a check list. The result is safer air travel for millions of travelers. Surgeons are also finding that check lists saves lives. A check list assures the routine gets done correctly. An Office of Financial Aid began using a check list. The result has been fewer errors, faster processing time, happier students, and happier staff evaluators.

Small Change = Big Impact

One of our clients, an Office of Financial Aid, made a small change to their process of processing financial aid applications. They learned in a lean training that small batches often results in faster throughput. So instead of staff grabbing an arm full of aid application files, they took only ten. They would not go back to get another ten until the ten they were working on were finished. The impact was dramatic. No lost files, no running around asking co-workers if they were working on "John's" file, dramatic drop in errors and rework, higher productivity, higher worker satisfaction, and faster awards of financial aid. Simple change, but major impact.

Lean for Teams

Our Lean for Teams workshop was launched in June of 2014 with a college Advising Office. This engaging and interactive training was a customized specifically the the college. It formed the framework for a four day lean kaizen event the followed immediately.

Does Lean Work in Government?

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee is making lean a central part of his reform initiative. From his website: Empower state employees to find efficiencies through greater use of Lean Management. Lean management is an approach that asks those who know best - our front-line employees - to identify strategies to help them serve the people of Washington more quickly and easily. These efficiencies will help us prevent additional cuts to essential services and programs.

Value of a Strategy Map

A strategy map visually communicates the cause and effect relationships that must be in place to successfully execute strategy.

A Board Member States:

If this is where the agency is going and how we are going about it, I am fully committed – and able to talk about it to my peers and potential donors.

Client Testimony

Praxis was very thorough and well organized in their methods for gathering information from a variety of people and sources in our organization to obtain a full and complete picture of our environment.  Their experience in the industry and prior consulting work was very valuable and the final recommendations were thoughtful, meaningful and are valuable to us as we work to improve the efficiency of our organization.

Clay Gehring, Chief Information Officer, Spokane Public Schools

Improving an Office of Financial Aid

Dan facilitated a week long Process Improvement training for our Financial Aid Department.  As a result, our staff have maintained and engaged in a strong focus on process improvement.  Summer is an extremely high processing period as we approach fall quarter at our college.  At this time, because of process improvements, staff are well ahead in awarding aid for students and have surpassed all previous years.

Anne White, Dean of Enrollment Services & Financial Aid

Connecting With Clients

Dan’s ability to connect and communicate with each person on the team is his greatest strength. There were twenty team members from the grants administration and business services groups, a very diverse group, I don't think anyone else could have made the engagement work.

Mason General Hospital – Client Experience

We are now organizing our “nuts and bolts” team with associated workgroups focused on the Baldrige Quality Criteria. Our customer group has already begun our approach to use of social media, now in early deployment
I would highly recommend this offering to anyone seeking Baldrige or even considering a journey to excellence.

Eileen Branscome
Chief Operations Officer, Mason General Hospital

Value of Using a Strategy Map

We are now starting to regularly use the strategy map even at Board Meetings to frame discussions.

Sebastian Koellner, Hopelink - Performance Improvement Manager

ANNOUNCING – BALDRIGE RAPID ACCESS INTENSIVE

Developed in collaboration with the North West's Baldrige alliance member, the Rapid Access Intensive is a high impact intensive designed to accelerate the Baldrige journey. Why wait a year to get the benefit of a Baldrige report when you can accelerate this journey to a few weeks.

Experience With Community Action Partnerships

At Hopelink, we wanted to develop a strategy map and balanced score card, but were not sure how to go about it. Dan and Martin brought a wealth of expertise to the process. I personally appreciated their willingness to be a sounding board for ideas and their enthusiasm for developing structures and visual tools to summarize information.

Sebastian Koellner, Performance Improvement Manager

Experience With Community Action Partnerships

Hopelink is indebted to Martin and Dan for leading us through a process to transform our strategic plan into a strategy map. This new tool makes our strategic plan easily accessible and clear to a variety of external and internal audiences with a deceptively simple visual presentation. After months of work dedicated to developing this map, it has quickly become a much-used and useful performance excellence tool that our leadership refers to on a daily basis.

Marilyn Mason-Plunkett, Hopelink President & CEO

Client Experience

I had the opportunity to observe a series of facilitated exercises conducted by Performance Excellence Northwest. Their unique leadership approach assisted our staff in developing the framework and refining our Baldrige values as we started drafting our first Baldrige application. Their Baldrige Rapid Access approach not only accelerated our application process but improved the quality of that application. I can personally recommend this organization.

Scott Hilburn, President Board of Commissioners, Mason General Hospital.

Winston Churchill


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Achieving Excellence

Excellence is born of commitment, intentional learning, hard work, and a burning desire to serve the customer.

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Contact Information

Praxis Solutions for Nonprofits
Bellevue, WA 98006
Info@PraxisSolutionsNP.com
(425) 269-8854

Jack Welch on Learning

"An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage."

Baldrige in Public Education

Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria has a proven track record of driving comprehensive organizational improvement in public education.

Watch this interview, JoAnn Sternke, superintendent of the Pewaukee School District (PSD), as she reflects on PSD’s receiving the prestigious 2013 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award—the United States’ highest honor for quality and performance excellence.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JnraF4DGgY?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Baldrige in Healthcare

In the demanding and dynamic nature of Healthcare, Baldrige Performance Excellence has provided a disciplined and structural framework for guiding comprehensive performance. In short, lives are being saved, workers at all levels recognize their role in mission, people want to work for organizations that demonstrate excellence.

Watch David Fox, President of Good Sammaratian Hospital, 2010 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the health care category.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khdal2dKW1k?rel=0&w=560&h=315]