I speak with a lot of housing authority staff from around the country and one of the first thing people ask me about lean is, “How do I get started?” I often respond by giving resources like books, Youtube links, websites and even local resources if I have time. Starting a process improvement initiative or… Read More Process Improvement and Public Housing: Lean is Like Learning a Second Language
Over the last couple weeks, my lean work has ranged in several areas ranging from visual management boards to problem solving. The key concept that keeps coming up revolve around bigger picture strategy and where the agency is headed. My lean coach often refers to, “True North“. What is True North at your agency and how… Read More Public Housing Process Improvement: Translating High Level Strategy to Daily Problem Solving
If you are starting out with lean, one of the first questions becomes, “When should I start trying projects?” That is not always an easy answer as you do need to at least have a basic understanding. But when should you start using your new skill sets? What should you tackle? If you over-reach and… Read More Public Housing Process Improvement: Picking Your First Project
The main point of a Kaizen event is rapid improvement with a specific issue or process your agency is having problems with. You get everyone responsible in a room and work through the process to quickly improve it in a dramatic fashion. A Kaizen event can last a day or 5 days. I suppose longer,… Read More Public Housing Process Improvement: Rapid Improvement Through Kaizen
Is there an issue at your housing authority? Have you tried solving it but cannot quite figure out what the main cause is? Even worse, do you jump to the conclusion without really thinking about what the main reason is. Here is a tool that might help you make some progress. Sometimes it is called… Read More Public Housing Process Improvement: How A Cause and Effect Diagram Can Help Your Agency.
Lean is a process improvement/management methodology that comes from the Toyota production system. Their main drive was to eliminate waste in processes while respecting their employees. The methods worked so well that they have been used in industries as wide ranging from building airplanes to ordering office supplies at a school. Warehouses across the country… Read More Public Housing Process Improvement:Lean Warehouse/Inventory
Get to the Root of It All: If you read anything I write, I am always advocating for public housing authorities to do a better job really analyzing problems before jumping to a solution. Asking why is something that children do at the most basic level but it could also be just what is needed… Read More Public Housing and Process Improvement: How Asking “Why” 5 Times Can Help You Get To The Root Of The Problem
When I first started using lean methodology in my work, I usually looked for ways to deploy lean tools to solve problems throughout the agency. I would use the 5 whys, cause and effect diagrams and process mapping to look at issues as they were brought to my attention. Doing this allowed me to study… Read More Lean Process Improvement In Public Housing: Turning Your Entire Work-Force into Problem Solvers
I will start this blog by saying I think staff at housing authorities or social housing companies in Europe need to get outside of our industry. We need to go to the private sector and see what is happening. We need to learn as much as possible whenever possible to see if there are ways… Read More What Housing Authorities Can Learn from Seattle Children’s Hospital
I am back in the USA and working in the public housing industry. With that comes my return to using six sigma lean methodology to help me with my projects and work. I loved six sigma lean from my first introduction to it because it gave me a way to work through issues/projects. Everything I… Read More How to Start a Process Improvement Initiative at a Public Housing Authority
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