Lean in Government Starter Kit

Chapter 4. Sustaining and Diffusing Lean Activity

Doing one (or a few) Lean events at a government agency can be an eye-opening and exciting experience. Observing rapid and dramatic improvements in an agency process can offer a glimpse into what is possible to accomplish—even in a large government bureaucracy. Yet running a few successful Lean events may not sustain the benefits. It is important to remember that sustaining and diffusing Lean into an agency is a critical part of the overall Lean work. After the first few Lean events, inevitable questions arise:

How can we sustain and diffuse the successes of our initial Lean activity?
What does Lean mean for our agency for the long term?

Responses to these questions can range significantly, from “we are done with Lean” to “let each part of the agency pursue use of Lean on its own” to “we are going to incorporate Lean into how our agency does its business.” Each agency must decide whether it sees sufficient value to continue using Lean. If the agency decides to continue with Lean, then it must decide how. There is no right answer to this question, but failure to strategically consider it can be disastrous. At best, failure to think strategically about sustaining and diffusing Lean activity will increase the cost of capacity building, Lean training and facilitation, and Lean tool development. Far worse, one or two poorly planned and executed Lean events can sour the agency on Lean and undo past progress. Furthermore, given the frequency of changes in agency leadership, initiatives that are not well-planned or entrenched in the agency can be vulnerable to elimination.

This chapter is designed to help you think strategically about how your agency can sustain and diffuse Lean continual improvement activity. The topics covered in this chapter include:

Sustaining Lean Improvements
Understanding the Lean Journey
Getting Started with Lean Diffusion
Four Deployment Models for Lean Diffusion
Future Directions—Building a Lean Continual Improvement Agency

Sustaining Lean Improvements

While Lean methods can be used for one-time, one-shot improvement efforts, the real value of Lean lies in its focus on continual improvement. Follow-up from Lean events is critical to sustaining success and preventing back-sliding in process execution and performance. Three activities are vital for sustaining Lean improvements: champion event follow-up, revisit processes with future Lean events, and cultivate employee ownership of process improvement.

Champion Event Follow-up

The event follow-up activities discussed in Chapter 3 directly prevent back-sliding by focusing attention on completing open action items and addressing challenges that may have arisen after the Lean event. Someone with sufficient authority must champion the event follow-up, help remove obstacles, and hold team members accountable for closing out action items. Chapter 3 discusses this important role for an “implementation manager” or “process champion.” The brief weekly check-in meetings, coupled with 30-, 60-, and 90-day report-out meetings, are essential investments to ensure that the results from Lean events are sustained and enhanced.

Revisit Processes with Future Lean Events

Lean is not a one-time event. First, follow-up is essential to ensure that the new process takes hold, runs smoothly, and achieves the desired results. Second, significant improvements can result from conducting periodic improvement events on the same process every one to five years or more frequently. World-class Lean organizations are often amazed at the magnitude of process improvement results that can be achieved when processes are targeted multiple times over a few years. Fresh thinking and perspectives often unleash time, quality, and cost improvement ideas that could not have been imagined during the first Lean event. Third, other Lean methods, such as 5S and visual controls, focus on sustaining Lean improvements by keeping workspaces well organized and making potential problems visible so they can be quickly addressed.

Cultivate Employee Ownership of Process Improvement

Empower employees involved in a process to become active stewards of the process. By actively engaging those involved in a process to “own” its activities and performance, it is possible to identify and address improvement opportunities “on the fly.” Managers should routinely ask employees for their improvement ideas and process “malfunctions” should be examined for lessons and improvement options. Another way to get fresh ideas is to give employees the opportunity to exchange roles for a few hours and learn how different parts of a process work. The new vantage points can help team members see the process—and improvement opportunities—in a new light. Consider developing formal or informal systems for collecting improvement suggestions from employees (such as idea boards) and make sure to recognize employees for their suggestions and initiatives.

Understanding the Lean Journey

Achieving the desired Lean approach to expand Lean activity, a deployment model, does not happen overnight. Lean organizations often describe their efforts as a “journey,” consisting of various phases of Lean activity and culture change. The figure below describes three key stages that typically occur as an organization matures in its use of Lean: improving, optimizing and transforming.

The Lean Journey

The road is not always smooth and many organizations implementing Lean experience a greater chance of failure between 6 and 18 months into their Lean journey. This often occurs due to a lack of strategic focus to the Lean activities, a lack of management passion and commitment to successful Lean implementation, and a lack of staff time and money devoted to support the journey. During this period, initial excitement and momentum from the first few Lean events can subside, especially without active leadership or a clear plan for continuing and diffusing Lean activity.

It is common for organizations to conduct one or more Lean events that are not viewed as a success. The text box below lists several factors that can lead to a Lean event being viewed as unsuccessful. It is important to remember that such “failures” do not mean that Lean cannot work in your agency. Leader organizations use these “failures” as teaching moments. Diagnose the event and make a follow-up plan that directly addresses the key factors that undermined past success.

WHY DO SOME LEAN EVENTS “FAIL”

Unclear Scope: Event scale or scope was too large—it was too much to address in a 4-5 day event. The size and complexity of the process really needed a value stream mapping event followed by a series of kaizen improvement events.
Lack of Visible Management Commitment: Unless managers visibly commit to and actively support the improvements and process changes, it is easy to backslide to business as usual.
Poor Event Facilitation or Support: Failure to adequately prepare for a Lean event limits what can be accomplished; similarly, lack of a skilled facilitator can inhibit progress during a Lean event.
Inadequate Follow-up: Insufficient attention, resources, and accountability can prevent the new process from being successfully implemented in a reasonable timeframe.
Strategic Misalignment: When multiple autonomous departments or agencies are involved in an event, conflicts can emerge due to differences in mission and strategic direction. This misalignment can undermine management support for follow-up and implementation activities.
Unrealistic Expectations: Expectations for what the event could achieve were not realistic given the process type, complexity, or other factors.

Getting Started with Lean Diffusion

While a hands-off, grassroots approach to Lean may be appealing in some agencies, some cross-agency coordination and planning is invaluable for effective Lean implementation. Lean leaders in the public and private sectors have found strategic ways to expand Lean activity at a lower cost and with better consistency and results. There are six important steps for diffusing Lean within an agency.

Lean Diffusion Steps

Implement Lean in several areas and share results
Send clear and consistent supportive messages from agency leadership
Establish an agency Lean coordinator
Build a core Lean team and expand staff capacity through cross-training
Develop a consistent approach and tools for implementing Lean
Keep at Lean to sustain momentum, but do not push too hard too fast

1. Implement Lean in Several Areas and Share Results

The best way to sustain and expand Lean activity is to achieve results and to share them throughout the agency. Identify several departments or programs in the larger agency that may be good places to conduct Lean events and to build staff experience with Lean. Conducting single events throughout an agency can yield good improvement results and expose many personnel to Lean, but this approach will not necessarily build centers of Lean experience that are sufficient to sustain organizational interest and attention and to champion Lean activity. After your first Lean event, consider these four factors when selecting areas for Lean activity:

One or more processes in the area have significant improvement needs and/or opportunities for impressive results
Managers and/or key personnel in the area are highly receptive to using Lean
Managers and/or key personnel in the area are well respected throughout the agency and could become an effective champion and/or advocate for Lean within the agency
Personnel in the area have previous experience using Lean methods

After completing Lean events, share the results and let them speak for themselves. Chapter 3 includes information on measuring and communicating Lean results. Prepare a brief, attractive presentation that shares key information on Lean events conducted throughout the agency. Involve key personnel from other departments and divisions in Lean events to help introduce key personnel and “idea leaders” within the agency to Lean.

2. Send Clear and Consistent Supportive Messages from Agency Leadership

Strong support from agency leaders is critical to both effective implementation and diffusion of Lean. Without the personal and visible support of senior managers, the effectiveness of Lean events can be undermined. Effective Lean implementation requires sustained attention and resources, along with an openness to change. Visible leadership commitment and support are also vital to encourage other parts of an organization to step forward and try Lean. Leadership commitment is crucial to ensuring that the agency will back and support the work of Lean practitioners, both during specific Lean events and in broader organizational deployment of Lean. Several actions that Lean leaders must take are outlined in the box below.

KEY ACTIONS FOR LEAN LEADERS

Create a clear and compelling case for change.

Communicate continually with internal and external constituents
Address employees’ questions about “what’s in it for me?”
Define success – and celebrate when it occurs

Build the infrastructure for change.

Align employee rewards and compensation to support process improvement efforts
Clear obstacles to change and improvement as they arise
Identify and nurture leaders who emerge during Lean implementation

Establish metrics and reinforce accountability.

Expect follow-through and track open actions
Encourage the use of visual management approaches to share results

Visible leadership is also critical to help many managers who are new to Lean overcome the perceived risk of trying a new and unfamiliar process improvement method.

POSSIBLE INITIAL REACTIONS TO LEAN

We’ve already tried that.
We’re too busy to take time out for an improvement event.
We don’t have time to focus on process improvement.
It will cost too much to do a Lean improvement event.
It will never work in our area or department.
Nothing’s broken, so why fix it.
We’re not like a manufacturing company; those concepts and tools don’t apply to us.

Most organizations that embark on a Lean journey soon discover that the excuses for not trying Lean are unfounded and that the payback from Lean implementation can be quick and dramatic. (Also see the textbox, “Isn’t Lean Just the Latest “Flavor of the Month”?” in Chapter 2.)

3. Establish an Agency Lean Coordinator

RESOURCES

Sample Lean Coordinator Job Description (MS Word, 49.0KB)

Once your agency has committed to implementing multiple Lean events, it is critical to identify an agency Lean coordinator to help guide and keep track of Lean activity throughout the agency. An agency Lean coordinator can help prevent unnecessary rework by linking those interested in using Lean with potential consultants or event facilitators, training resources, and lessons learned and other helpful information. Some government agencies have found it useful to task the Lean coordinator with leading the development of an organizational Lean deployment strategy. Such a strategy can support organization-wide Lean activity and ensure that it is connected to the organization’s overall mission, strategic plan and other priorities. An agency Lean coordinator can also track the use of Lean across other government agencies and look for benchmarking and information sharing opportunities.

4. Build a Core Lean Team and Expand Staff Capacity Through Cross-training

Begin to build Lean expertise in your organization by having a few employees participate in multiple Lean events across your agency (or at other public agencies). The best way to learn about Lean and become skilled as a Lean practitioner is by observing and participating in Lean events. While training courses can be useful, they are no substitute for time spent in Lean events, even if the events are focused on processes different than those an individual works on.

Many organizations report that assistance with Lean event facilitation and deployment from experienced Lean consultants is essential until an organization has developed sufficient internal capacity. Leverage consultant support for Lean events to advance broader capacity building and deployment goals. Over time, this can reduce dependence on Lean consultants for event facilitation services, which can be costly. Many experienced Lean organizations retain some level of strategic advising and support on Lean deployment from Lean consultants. Another strategy that some organizations take is to hire Lean expertise by bringing in one or more experienced Lean practitioners who have successfully led Lean events or deployment efforts on administrative processes elsewhere in public or private sector organizations.

Invest in several employee team members who demonstrate interest and skills with Lean. Get these team members to participate in as many Lean events as possible. Give them increasing responsibility for leading Lean teams and facilitating Lean events (sometimes with consultant help). While it may take 3-4 years of practice to independently lead Lean efforts, these team members can assume significant responsibility for Lean implementation quite quickly, reducing the need for consultant time. As discussed below, it may be useful to build a Lean training program within your organization to speed capacity-building efforts and ensure the use of consistent methods and tools.

5. Develop a Consistent Approach and Tools for Implementing Lean

As lean is diffused across the organization, avoid having each office or department reinvent existing Lean tools or processes. This Starter Kit provides a variety of templates that can be adapted to meet your agency’s needs. Experienced Lean government practitioners report that without a consistent organization-wide approach, it is difficult to replicate performance improvements from one department to another. Many organizations have found that a consistent approach to implementing Lean methods and tools can still accommodate sufficient flexibility to meet the needs of diverse offices, programs, and processes.

Government organizations should consider employing a common approach for selecting and contracting with a Lean facilitator. This can be an important way to ensure that each project or event uses a common approach to Lean. Agencies also may find that a standardized approach may reduce transaction costs associated with hiring and retaining Lean consultants. When an organization is ready to build internal capacity for Lean facilitation through training and certification, a single Lean training curriculum will enable internal Lean event facilitators to implement Lean events throughout the agency.

6. Keep At It to Sustain Momentum, But Do Not Push Too Hard Too Fast

Successful Lean implementation requires a lot of hard work, but the results are often well worth the effort. Consider holding at least three to four Lean events per year at your agency to sustain interest and momentum. Many Lean leader organizations report that a good general rule of thumb is to hold at least one kaizen event per month per 100 employees, once an organization has matured on its Lean journey. While it is not uncommon for leading Lean organizations in the public and private sector to run numerous Lean events each year, remember to pace yourself. Moving too aggressively with Lean implementation when the agency is not ready can quickly turn people off and make it seem like too much attention has shifted to Lean efforts, at the expense of the agency’s core mission.

Four Deployment Models for Lean Diffusion

Once an agency decides to expand its use of Lean, the challenge shifts to how to effectively and efficiently proceed. There are four main models for deploying Lean in an organization, including: Agency-Wide, Department/Division, Targeted, and Grass Roots.

Lean Deployment Models
	Characteristics	Deployment Considerations
Agency-Wide Model	Top down driven Comprehensive Major culture change Rapid, highly visible deployment	Solid leadership from the top management is essential Large infrastructure and full-time staff Significant planning and management Integration with other management systems Need for common language and problem-solving methodology Need to address cross-agency processes 5+ years to achieve lasting culture change
Department/Division Model	Department leadership but agency management support Department pilot for agency Comprehensive at the department level Culture change	Easier to start due to smaller scale Slower pace is possible; scale up after initial success Greater use of consultants and outside training Less integration with management systems Similar to agency-wide model but on a smaller scale Risk of not getting beyond the department level
Targeted Model	Top management leadership Focused on a few specific agency problems Driven by a desire for strategic impact Culture change is not a deployment objective	Easy to get started Can work in smaller agencies Quick results because problems are identified ahead of time Infrastructure needs are small; use contracted resources Risk of not sustaining the gains
Grass Roots Model	Originates at the bottom of the agency Highly motivated individuals lead the effort Project or problem specific Culture change is not an objective	Relatively easy to do but difficult to sustain over time Track record for sustainable improvement is not good Very vulnerable to changes affecting staffing Few if any infrastructure needs

Most world-class organizations in the public and private sectors have found that having a guiding vision and clear goals is critical for effective change management. Long-term agency goals, resources, and leadership commitment should drive which model is selected. Key goals to consider include:

Organizational culture and transformation
Strategic improvement
Problem-solving
Cost reduction
Image

When selecting a model for diffusion, careful thought should be given to three factors: desired impact, implementation scale, and organizational readiness (see table below).

Diffusion Model Selection Factors
Desired Impact	Implementation Scale	Organizational Readiness Factors
Business Transformation Agency-wide deployment Major culture change Strategic Improvement Targeted deployment on critical problems Projects necessary for success or survival Problem-solving Specific operational problems Incremental improvements in agency performance	Entire agency Department/division Project/Section/Team	Culture Past process experience Management team Stability

There is no one “right” Lean deployment model, although many Lean leader organizations voice strong support for the agency-wide model. Regardless which model is selected, management support and commitment is an essential ingredient for long term success. Select a deployment model and adapt it to best fit your agency’s situation.

Future Directions—Building a Lean Continual Improvement Agency

The experiences of world-class companies show us that Lean can be much more than a process improvement tool to be used only when a process seems broken. There are many opportunities for environmental agencies to implement Lean to improve existing programs and processes or to efficiently create new ones.

Develop New Programs, Regulations, and Initiatives Using Lean

While improving existing processes is important, environmental agencies can realize significant value by designing new programs and processes to be efficient and effective from the start. Methods such as Design for Lean Six Sigma and Production Preparation Process (3P) offer powerful approaches and tools for designing new processes to be highly effective and efficient. These methods can also be used to design or redesign products, processes, and programs. (See Appendix A for a Bibliography of Lean Resources.)

Improve and Manage Agency Value Streams

Most world-class Lean organizations work to manage and improve key value streams—the full chain of processes and activities that deliver value to customers or stakeholders. For an environmental agency, this could be the services the agency provides to society and to key constituents and working to optimize these flows of value. This may lead to more holistic approaches to environmental management that go beyond the traditional air, water, and waste silos. For example, a state or local environmental agency could look comprehensively at how it delivers all environmental protection services (permitting for air, wastewater, and hazardous waste impacts, as well as technical assistance with pollution prevention and sustainability initiatives) to businesses seeking to locate in the state, rather than focusing on optimizing just air permitting or another specific part of that value stream.

Lean approaches offer some useful lessons in how to effectively plan, organize, and manage organizations to optimize their value streams. Such lessons may open up exciting possibilities for environmental agencies.

Link Lean Improvement Events to Agency Mission and Strategy

World-class Lean organizations are increasingly linking their improvement activities to their strategic planning and goal-setting processes. A powerful method known as “strategy deployment” (also known as hoshin kanri, hoshin planning, and policy deployment) elegantly links the strategic goals of an organization with a cascade of increasingly specific programs and activities that support those goals. Strategy deployment typically has a one to five year focus (updated annually), taking longer-term strategic planning goals and objectives and honing in on what needs to be accomplished in the coming year. A3 is a powerful Lean method that complements strategy deployment by clearly displaying the connections between an organization’s priorities and tactical Lean implementation efforts on a single piece of paper. (A3 refers to the paper size.)

The visual presentation of this highly interactive strategy deployment planning process using the A3 method incorporates key performance measures and assigns specific responsibilities for achieving the goals to individuals at all levels of the organization. This creates a powerful means for connecting Lean initiatives with an organization’s mission and strategy. The end result is a living, dynamic strategic planning process that is intrinsically linked to the activities and improvement efforts that are planned and executed in the organization.

Concluding Thoughts

While the Lean journey takes hard work and perseverance, the power of harnessing the hearts and minds of employees for achieving excellence can be transformative. World-class Lean organizations find that freeing employees to focus more time on value-added mission-critical work dramatically improves performance outcomes, customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and employee morale. The Lean journey can lead to satisfied constituents, empowered and engaged employees, passionate leaders, and better environmental quality. Best wishes for a productive and successful Lean effort.

« Back to Chapter 3 | Continue to Appendix A »

Top of page

Lean Home | Top of Page