Author: Jennifer Ayers

Title: Building Blocks for Trainers – Creating, Delivering, and Sustaining Effective Training of Standards Note: This class was filled with people who responded to my survey in August. If the topic interests you, please reach out so I can plan a future class. Class Description: While the Lean standardized work and Training Within Industry job instruction ("what, how, why" training) methods have precise, technical formats and application approaches this course is designed to deliver significant, actionable introductory learning aligned with the concepts and intent of these methods. The class will be delivered in 2 sessions with an expectation that participants will apply the learning to a "real-life" work process between sessions. The first session is an interactive, collaborative exploration and simulated application of the job instruction and standardized work methods. The…

Agile for Leaders I’m really excited to announce two new classes focused on Agile project framework and Agile thinking.  It will kick off on November 15th with a Leadership session designed to help leaders understand the why, the framework, and how to support Agile teams.  We will follow it up on December 6th with an Agile for Team Members session designed to dive into the framework and application of Agile principles. Lean-Agile Leader Workshop: More organizations than ever before are seeing the importance of developing a culture of learning and quickly adapting to change. Some organizations focus on Lean.  Others on Agile.  Few organizations leverage the power of using Lean and Agile together to take their organization to the next level.  Although initially, Agile was often associated solely with software…

Managing Change and Transition Description:   People struggle with change because little attention and space is given to the emotional and psychological impacts of change – the transition. This session demonstrates how to manage change and transition effectively by merging the work of change and transition expert William Bridges, Ph.D. with the Lean mindset, methods and management systems. Change management is most effective when you’re able to integrate change and transition principles into your existing change processes.  This ultimately helps employees adjust to change through knowledge of the big picture, the purpose of the plan, their part in the change and the process that will be used to implement the change. How you will benefit:   Learn the three phases of transition. Explore effective strategies for communicating change and facilitating transitions.…

The Improvement Kata & Coaching Kata Experience Description: Led by Master Coach Julie Simmons, this four-hour class uses a simulation to teach the pattern of the Improvement Kata. Attendees will practice Grasping the Current Condition, Establishing a Target Condition, and using PDCA to experiment towards the established Target Condition. Additionally, attendees will practice two Coaching routines using information gathered in Current Condition, Target Condition, and experimentation. Audience: Those who are new to the Kata approach who want to learn the improvement pattern or those who would benefit from a refresher. Additionally, it's for those who want to learn the coaching model and incorporate it into the Kata pattern. Key Concepts: • Learn how the Improvement Kata differs from other Lean approaches • Understand the 4-Step Improvement Kata pattern and practice…

Operational Excellence in Your Office - September 17th Description: Establishing robust flow of information in offices environments is more important than ever due to common day-to-day challenges, employees working on many different projects at once, and heightened customer demands for timely, consistent service. This one-day workshop details a step-by-step methodology for leveraging traditional lean value stream flow to establish Operational Excellence through business processes. Whether an office provides complex engineering designs, financial information, IT services, healthcare plans, or other services, this workshop will explain how to apply in-depth principles such as process family matrices, binary connections, processing cells, work-flow cycles, integration events, pitch, and other techniques to create lean value streams that achieve Operational Excellence in the office. Participants will leave ready to create flow in their own office, design…