Description: In this free course, we will learn the Lean method called Kaizen meaning "good change" or "improvement." In the Kaizen method we learn the process of unending improvements by doing little things better and setting and achieving increasingly higher standards. Course content: We will use a rapid, focused application of Lean methods, principles, and […]

Are you frustrated at work? Are you firefighting to get your work done? Do you need to stop your work and fix a problem before you can hand it off? If so, join Laboratory Learning Solutions for a free series called Sounding the Alarm- Simple Firefighting Tips to Improve Your Workflow. We offer six simplistic tips to […]

In our first session within the series, What is going on here? we reviewed the list of team member frustrations and chose one. We will now brainstorm that issue with our team to determine the causes. The tool we will use is called a Fishbone or Ishikawa. The goal of the fishbone is to understand every contributing […]

In Tip 3 of the Firefighting Series, we describe the process of observation in the workplace. We go to the place where the work is occurring to see for ourselves what is happening. We follow the process from start to finish and document any activities that may have contributed to our original issue. Waste, inefficiency, […]

In Tip 4 of the Firefighting Series, we create a high-level process flow consisting of 5 steps from a call center to note how our original issue, missing information, actually happened. The process begins with a call from the customer and ends with the customer receiving the service. By studying this process flow we identify […]

In Tip # 5- we discuss designing a more efficient process. We learned that the outcome of our issue, missing information, resulted in daily firefighting that included lack of management support, rework, waiting, customer dissatisfaction and the list goes on. We noted opportunities or defects that occur within our 5-step flow and chose step # […]