Enterprise Excellence Consulting

Lean in Government is one of the Lean Community's greatest challenges. Thankfully there are signs that some very insightful individuals have "broken the ice" on utilizing Lean to identify waste then reduce or eliminate it. The principle of identifying wasteful activities and then eliminating them is foundational to the Toyota Production System from it's beginnings in manufacturing.

Our Government agencies from the local level to the Federal level are full of wasteful activities as most of us taxpayers have realized over the past decades.

One of the key tools in the Lean toolbox is Value Stream Mapping which is probably the most powerful tool in "seeing" the waste in any process. Take this tool and apply it to government processes and you can quickly identify all of the waste in those processes.

The state of Iowa has recognized the potential benefits of having a Lean department which concentrates on driving improvements. They found early success in mapping out some of their permit processes and implementing changes to reduce leadtimes by over 50%. They first had to see where all the non-value added steps, hand-offs, loop-backs, and delays were. Next they were able to utilize those involved in that process to implement positive changes to dramtically improve their performance.

Once a government process is improved it now can become the standard way to handle that particular issue or request. This holds true for any process that takes time, resources, checks, payments, permits, and all types of services. You can even apply these techniques to how laws are created and implemented. Today we see signs in the current administration of our Federal Government to add resources in helping identify wasteful practices to reduce their spending and satisfy the taxpayer.

We can only push our representatives to utilize more Lean techniques in reducing costs while improving services in our Government.

Remember continuous improvement or Lean doesn't make the work harder it simplifies and streamlines so all work can be done more efficiently with better quality.

Government is just like any other business where processes have evolved over time to become difficult, elaborate, time-consuming and wasteful from the user standpoint.

In Lean we always look to improve in the eyes of the customer. In Government the customer is usually the taxpayer who needs their services or help in complying with rules, regulations and laws.

If you are in community, county, state or federal government and desire to improve your service to the constituant or taxpayer then contact us for an assessment today.

Learn how we can help you identify wasteful steps and activities in your government entity then implement positive changes.

Initial consultations are free, so call us to schedule an appointment.