The Triple Crown of 21st Century Operational Improvement Methods

As a result of the recent economic downturn, organizations are being driven to obtain greater visibility and control over their critical operational processes. Many have turned to continuous improvement (CI) as their primary approach to taming bulky processes. However, with more than 50% of organizations reporting increased financial pressure, CI teams are struggling to keep up with a growing appetite for accelerated operations improvement.

In this hands-on, highly interactive seminar, participants will acquire new knowledge and capabilities in the use of Lean, Agile, and Rapid Cycle Process Improvement methods, as well as identify best practices for integrating these critical new methodologies into all facets of their CI initiatives. Participants will not only acquire a practical appreciation for these critical new capabilities, but also be able to evaluate potential cultural risks associated with adopting these methods, assuring there is a complementary human dimension to blend with these essentially technical tools, which is a critical success factor for Superperformance.

Along with simulations and case studies participants will develop an action plan for incorporating Lean, Agile and Rapid Cycle Process Improvement into their organization’s CI initiatives.

Program Overview

During two full days of interaction, hands-on application, and implementation planning, participants will learn how to:

· Accelerate process discovery: Learn best practices and techniques that build rapid consensus and buy-in during the discovery phase of any CI project. Learn how to keep a team focused on process improvement objectives and prioritize process features that deliver the greatest business impact.

· Understand and apply core lean concepts and principles: Identify value and waste in any operation. Integrate lean metrics into an activity, targeted for cost reduction and customer satisfaction as well as value stream mapping. Understand how lean methods improve the flow of value to customers and accelerate processing speed.

· Institute Rapid Cycle Process Improvement: Learn a new model for accelerated improvement based on small scale tests of change and rapid iteration.

· Adopt Agile methods to streamline CI development: Weigh the pros and cons of various Agile application and team methods and configure an Agile approach that meets the needs and requirements of a CI initiative.

· Develop a Lean, Agile, and Rapid Cycle Process Improvement Integration Plan. Through exercises and cases, participants will develop a realistic and actionable approach to integrating these three methodologies into their process improvement initiatives. As a part of this session, participants will develop a step-by-step action plan and timeline for incorporating specific Lean, Agile and Process Improvement methods into CI efforts.

Who Should Attend

Operations and PMO Executives, Project Managers, CI Team Leaders, and Business Process & Applications professionals looking to reduce costs and improve business impact on business process management or business performance improvement initiatives.

Application Development & Program Management professionals leading development or planning for enterprise-wide business process management or business process improvement initiatives

Enterprise Architecture professionals looking to adopt business process management into the architecture strategy who need to understand potential implementation and delivery challenges

Participant Benefits

1. Understand the trends and best practices at the Superperformance frontier, in order to make informed decisions and gain competitive advantage.
2. Identify and quantify the potential cost savings of adopting Lean, Agile and Rapid Cycle Process Improvement best practices.
3. Apply learning in simulations and cases.
4. Network with peers facing similar goals and challenges.
5. Develop an action plan to incorporate repeatable and predictable Lean, Agile, and Rapid Cycle Process Improvement methodologies into CI initiatives.