Lean Document Creation and Approvals is a hands-on interactive virtual 1.5 day workshop to explore and identify solutions to the root causes of why processes that create, review and approve documents underperform.

Traditional improvement approaches often try to “industrialize” processes that begin with a blank page and end with a finished, approved document – a plan, a communications strategy, a memo, an annual report and so on. However, these processes rely on principles (heuristics) to operate, not algorithms that when followed produce the right product every time.  

This is why producing a document typically takes far too long, consumes too much effort, and doesn’t really do the job well.  This workshop helps participants understand the reasons why these processes underperform, and what you can do about them.  

• The Lean Document Creation and Approvals workshop is targeted to:

• Leaders and team members who work in document creation/review/approval processes who wish to deliver their products more quickly, with less effort and less frustration.  Typical participants work in processes that deliver:
  • Reports
  • Strategies and Plans
  • Memos
  • Communications or marketing material (internal and external)
  • Policies and regulations
  • Research
  • Work instructions
  • And other documents that go through extensive review and approval processes.
• Lean/Process Improvement practitioners whose experience is in algorithmic or transactional processes, who want to be able to increase their ability to improve heuristic, or document creation knowledge work processes.

• The learning objectives of this workshop include:

• Combining theory with a virtual interactive and fun process simulation game to create a memo that is ultimately approved by the chief executive, this workshop aims to:
  • Understand the nature of heuristic processes and the top causes of their underperformance
  • Experiment with and learn about the principles of flow in these processes
  • Equip the participant with the knowledge of how to improve their own heuristic process, and identify a set of solution experiments they could try out when they return to work

• Topics covered include:

• What are heuristic versus algorithmic processes?

• What are six principal challenges in heuristic processes?

• What are the root causes of these challenges?

• What are the basic principles to create speed and flow – delivering 80% faster with 50% of the effort, while improving quality?

• Hands-on simulation in a document creation, review and approval process to experiment with the concepts and to learn by doing

• Document process analysis

• Value Stream Mapping of heuristic processes

• Identifying value versus no-value activities

• Process "wastes" and “interruptions to flow”

• Defect review analysis

• The 6 C's of writing/editing

• Proven solutions to address the 6 challenges of document creation and approval processes.