Lean Office 101

LEAN OFFICE WITH LIVE SIMULATION

Lean organizations produce greater value with higher quality in less time. Initially, Lean tools and concepts were only applied on the factory floor. Today, organizations of all sizes are using the power of Lean in their office and administrative processes because front-end inefficiencies and errors directly impact a customer's experience – which can affect quality, customer service levels, and ultimately, company profitability and company growth. 

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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:

Our Lean Office 101 workshop focuses on the unique application of Lean to an office where processes are only sometimes visible. Using an interactive approach, you will use several tools to learn the best way to see a strategy, identify waste and determine the Lean tools to create a more effective administrative organization. This class uses a variety of exercises – including a simulated office situation using laptop computers – to demonstrate Lean concepts and illustrate the quantifiable benefits that can be achieved when applying Lean in an office or administrative setting.

The tools taught in this session increase operational effectiveness, provide better clarity to job roles and functions, increase process ‘flow,' and improve productivity and profitability. We use a combination of lecture, video, and in-class activities so participants learn the importance of focusing on specific activities and how they provide value to the customer, how to map processes to make waste visible (which can then be minimized or eliminated) and to determine where to make Lean changes.

This full-day workshop combines classroom-style learning with an interactive "live" simulation – during which class participants become managers and workers within a fictitious company. Workshop participants learn lean definitions and techniques and explore the application of lean techniques in a simulated office.

Participants ultimately transform the simulated office into three "stages." At the end of the day, the office has been redesigned to improve customer and employee satisfaction and increase the speed of the order-to-cash cycle.

Attendees learn the following and how each of these improvements affects the office environment: 

  • Importance of value alignment in maximizing value to the customer
  • How to map administrative processes to make waste visible what are the wastes, and how they can minimize and remove them
  • How to apply Lean continuous improvement techniques to all office areas, including innovative processes.

THIS COURSE IS DESIGNED FOR: 

Executives, managers, or any employee of an organization who desires to or is required to know about how the Lean philosophy, principles, and tools within the office.

TOPICS:

The Live simulation process is utilized to help workshop attendees understand these areas:

  • Learn how to identify, map and analyze value streams.
  • Learn the Lean definition of value in the office.
  • Intimately understand the 35 wastes in the office.
  • Learn about using 5S within the office.
  • Understand how to enable continuous flow in the office.
  • Learn about employee work leveling and work balancing.
  • Understand concepts of workplace organization in the office.
  • Explore office and organizational structure.
  • Use Lean metrics to monitor office performance.
  • Learn about visual management in the office.
  • Learn how to employ standard work and mistake-proofing.
  • Discuss how to think about change within the office.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will:

  • Have gained hands-on experience in solving problems and drastically reducing process inefficiencies common to most office environments
  • Be able to apply the skills in their workplace immediately
  • Earn a Lean Office 101 Certification

LENGTH:

1 Day/ 8 hours