Kaizen Sessions Duke Rohe Performance Improvement Kaizen is

Kaizen Sessions Duke Rohe, Performance Improvement Kaizen is a small improvement; a little like me!

Do you want…? v v A culture geared for improvement Staff more empowered Fewer problems Ideas implemented from staff at alarming rates – In the 90’s Japanese workers averaged 32 ideas per employee per year. Americans: 1 idea every 7 years. – What is the rate in your department?

Why don’t we have more ideas? No expectation from leadership that improvement is part of everyone’s job. v No mechanism to receive and implement ideas v No assurance from the employee that they won’t feel ridiculed after submission. v No appreciation for the ‘small’ idea. v

What is Kaizen • Japanese term for small incremental improvement. • Employee generated • Management supported It’s a mindset that everything is a candidate for improvement.

Kaizen thinking: improvement is everybody’s responsibility First wave of idea cards in Outpatient Pharmacy

What is a Kaizen Session? v. A 15 -minute meeting run by leadership that enlists the entire workforce to focus around an aspect of improvement.

Goal of Kaizen sessions Induce total workforce contribution then compliance around improvement v Empower staff to generate implement-able ideas v Continually improve the work environment v Grow trust between peers and with management v

Needed for an idea-friendly environment 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Mechanism to collect ideas (idea cards) Mechanism to evaluate and implement ideas (evaluation forms) Mechanism to groom ideas (test for the best filter) Mechanism to acknowledge contribution (before/after form) Mechanism to stimulate idea generation (Kaizen sessions)

1. Idea Card in every pocket Ideas happen when they happen. Equip everyone with an idea card as a mental reminder that hidden waste is lurking everywhere. Their role is to find it and beat it. People love a challenge.

Anatomy of a Kaizen session Icebreaker or change opener (2 min) v Kaizen lesson (2 min) v Output sharing (3 min) v Lay down an assignment challenge (2 min) v ‘Can I count on you’ commitment (1 min) v – Note 5 minutes is used in getting everyone together

Anatomy of a Kaizen series v Pick an improvement ‘theme’ or view for everyone to focus on – Week 1: Introduce theme – Week 2: Request Action around theme – Week 3: Share Feedback from the Action – Week 4: Perform Evaluation or commitment to a collective agreement from action.

How small can a Kaizen be? v If it saves. 6 of a second, it’s worth considering Kaizen formula: idea + implementation = innovation

Kaizen Themes Red Tagging (getting rid of clutter) v Visual Control (instructions in the workplace) v Better (any small improvement) v Benchmark (adopt other industry service) v Clarity (communication without confusion) v Pit Stop (streamlining critical activity) v Poka Yoke (can only be done the right way) v

Theme: Visual Control Get the information as close to the point of action as possible ! Where could we place instruction to reduce error, waste, orientation, looking something up or asking someone?

Final thoughts v It’s what you think you don’t have time to do now that takes you where you need to be when it’s too late to do anything about it! Robert Gary v If you pit a good worker against a bad system, the bad system will eventually win. Rummler-Brache