The Introduction to Lean for Leaders workshop is a Lean White Belt Certificate adapted to meet the specific needs of Leaders in their roles as decision makers and managers of employees who may be implementing Lean. Like a traditional Lean White Belt Certificate, the Introduction to Lean workshop is an overview of the fundamentals of Lean process improvement, continuous improvement and innovation for government and knowledge workers so that Leaders – ultimately accountable for results – have an initial understanding of Lean transformation.  

• The Introduction to Lean certificate workshop is targeted to:

• Leaders who wish to learn more about Lean to decide whether to implement in their organization
• Leaders who want to use Lean thinking to improve their own work
• Individuals who have recently joined an organization undergoing Lean improvement(s) who need to get up to speed on Lean basics and support existing/ongoing Lean efforts by staff

• The learning objectives of this workshop include:

• Develop an understanding of what Lean is and how it applies to knowledge work
• Learn basic Lean tools and techniques to remove non-value added work and reduce frustration

• Topics covered include:

• Lean principles
• Lean as it applies to knowledge work
• Value stream mapping
• How to identify and eliminate interruptions to flow and waste (the 8 Lean Wastes)
• The impact of variation and overwhelm and what to do about them
• Lean tools and techniques including visual management, huddle meetings and more
• Using the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust cycle to conduct experiments to learn and improve
• Practical ways to make Lean, continuous improvement and innovation a normal part of the work
• The people side of Lean 
• How to build support for a Lean transformation and how to get started