25Feb 2025 by Jennifer Ayers
Building Your Lean Management System – April 2, 16, & 30th

Building Your Lean Management System – April 2, 16, & 30th

Application~, Deploying Strategy~, Developing People~, Events, Intermediate~
Join us for this 12-hour Lean Management System workshop, spread out over five weeks to provide a fully immersive experience where you design your pilot program, tweak, or revamp your existing LMS. Summary Most initial attempts at lean and continuous improvement focus on tools and improvement events (aka kaizen events). Unfortunately, after a while, people notice that the “lean journey” has lost most of its momentum, energy, engagement, focus, and breakthrough results. The lean management system (LMS) is a framework for building a culture of continuous improvement and shared learning. Its focus is on developing people to solve problems to improve performance. In this environment, improvement is not driven by a few lean champions but by everyone. Now everyone has a dual focus: doing the work (results) and improving the…
Read More
23Dec 2024 by Jennifer Ayers
Coaching for Engagement – March 7

Coaching for Engagement – March 7

Application~, Classes, Developing People~, Leadership~
Class Summary The true role of a leader is a coach. This includes coaching to develop, coaching to improve, and coaching to engage. Engagement comes when people feel supported and trusted to make decisions and to accept failures as learning opportunities. This class focuses on teaching the foundational skills required to create engagement within your team. When done effectively, coaching for engagement helps develop capability and creates motivation to innovate, improve, and solve problems. This course will teach you a different approach to conversations, ones that focus on development vs. just sharing information. This ultimately translates into a team that is motivated, engaged, and empowered to drive improvement and solve problems.Join us for this interactive four hour in person class to learn the critical coaching skills that allow you to…
Read More
30Jul 2024 by Jennifer Ayers
Lean Leadership Skills to Engage the Heart, Head, and Hands (3H) – Starts Sept 18th (FULL)

Lean Leadership Skills to Engage the Heart, Head, and Hands (3H) – Starts Sept 18th (FULL)

Application~, Classes, Developing People~, Leadership~
A day in the life of a Leader can be challenging.  Leaders are faced with pressures from the business (quality, delivery, productivity) along with the often highly emotional demands of managing people.  Your people are the foundation and critical link to the success of your business. To be an effective leader, one must first develop an understanding of and a system for building and maintaining relationships (engaging the heart 💜).  Culture begins with us.  If we are not primed to emulate the core values and culture of our organization, we can’t expect our team members to consistently perform and respond to situations and problems in ways we expect by engaging their critical thinking skills (using their head 😊). Unleashed potential is a hidden gem within your team/organization. The leading indicator for morale and engagement is the willingness of our employees to step…
Read More
07May 2024 by Jennifer Ayers
Lead with Respect – May 15 & 22 (FULL)

Lead with Respect – May 15 & 22 (FULL)

Application~, Classes, Developing People~, Intermediate~, Leadership~
Practices to Enable Engagement, Teamwork & Accountability Facilitated by Mike Orzen, Shingo Prize Winning Author & Lean Enterprise Institute, Shingo Institute and The Ohio State faculty member How We Lead Matters  Building a great organization requires effective leadership at all levels. How we lead determines the quality of our connection with others. Perhaps now more than ever, we need to connect with our people to build safety, trust, and healthy relationships. It turns out these skills can be learned. A key element that is often misunderstood is what it means to Lead with Respect (LwR) and connect with people on a level which inspires engagement, teamwork, and accountability. This hands-on workshop explores why leading with respect is essential, how to put LwR into practice to inspire people to drive better relationships…
Read More
14Mar 2024 by Jennifer Ayers
TWI Job Instruction – Apr 29-May 2nd (FULL)

TWI Job Instruction – Apr 29-May 2nd (FULL)

Application~, Classes, Developing People~
Title: TWI Job Instruction (JI) Training Description: This four-day (~3.5 hrs/day) hands-on class teaches the process for creating effective Job Instructions.  Participants will learn this four-step method using a part or process they bring to the class.  They will walk away with a complete Job Instruction Breakdown sheet for the part/process of their choice. Date: April 29 - May 2, 2024 Time: 8am – 11:30am Location: Genentech Hillsboro Operations, 4625 NE Brookwood Pkwy, Hillsboro, OR 97124 Cost:  $450 per person Overview: The Training Within Industry (TWI) programs were developed in the United States sixty years ago and played a major role in boosting industrial production to the levels required to win the Second World War. After the war, they were introduced around the world and, most notably, are still in wide use in Japan today. The…
Read More
25Jan 2024 by Jennifer Ayers
A3 Problem Solving – Feb 29th (& Mar 6th) – FULL

A3 Problem Solving – Feb 29th (& Mar 6th) – FULL

Application~, Classes, Developing People~, Igniting Innovation~, Intermediate~, Solving Problems~
In Person A3 Problem Solving Immersive Workshop This 2-part A3 Problem Solving workshop aims to equip participants with the skills to facilitate team problem solving using a structured approach that combines A3 problem solving with Liberating Structures. The objective is to unleash creativity and positive engagement among team members, essential for building a lean culture. Through hands-on practice and immersion in an 8-step A3 framework, participants will learn to walk through the A3 problem solving process while learning methods to involve people in the process through fun and creative activities. Objective: Learn to facilitate team problem solving by providing a little bit of structure to unleash a wealth of creativity and positive engagement. Purpose: Engaging associates in problem solving is key to building a lean culture. In particular, A3 problem…
Read More
17Oct 2023 by Jennifer Ayers
Webinar: Leading with Humility – Nov 7th

Webinar: Leading with Humility – Nov 7th

Developing People~, Leadership~, Webinar
An Essential Quality for Today’s Leaders How might you respond to the following statement: The Lack of Support for Leaders Today Makes People Not Want to Lead Tomorrow? The lack of support, burnout and hyper individualistic feelings our leaders are experiencing begs the question: Considering today’s context, do we need to redefine Humility? What does it look like to understand ourselves more without becoming egotistical? How can I hold my strengths and weaknesses in my mind without becoming hypersensitive? How might we teach what it looks like to learn from others? Please join us for a 45 minute webinar with doctoral student Pamela Lau, who is currently researching what kind of support can be given and received that encourages humility, courage and discernment for leaders? During this interactive webinar, Pamela…
Read More