Continuous Improvement Service Offerings
Process Mapping
Process improvement begins with developing a business case for your project that identifies the problem, frequency and impact, reach, and the stakeholders involved. Once the business case has been developed we prioritize projects and tackle them in order to ensure that we are working on the right processes at the right times to have the most organizational impact.
Once we engage we develop a Project Charter that outlines the Project sponsor, objectives, deliverables, stakeholders, milestones, risks, assumptions, and constraints. With the Charter in place we can begin to investigate the issue and create an initial high-level process map. This will require the involvement of all parties involved in the process in order to detect any hidden work that isn’t currently identified.
With a high-level process map in place we can then address any barriers or obstacles to an efficient workflow. These might be delays, unnecessary steps (waste), or gaps that cause a breakdown in the process. By first identifying them and then determining which are the highest impact or easiest to address, we can develop a plan to streamline the process, usually by mapping a future state. This will help us to develop a work plan to implement the necessary changes, communicating them to key stakeholders as we go.
Once changes are complete, we test the new process against the desired future state to ensure compliance, and make corrections as necessary. Finally, we monitor the new process over time to ensure that the changes are sustained, and work with you to update or document any SOPs that the new process impacts or creates.
Book a consult with us to learn more
Huddle Optimization
Huddles provide a critical foundation in a strong improvement culture. They ideally set the stage for 2-way communication, metrics and fostering an improvement culture.
An effective huddle meeting should:
- Contains data and key metrics – Morale/Capacity, Voice of Customer and Productivity
- Trigger continuous improvement projects
- Create a flow of information – e.g. breaks down silos, escalates pain points and cascades information to teams
- Be visual
- Be only as long as necessary – no more than 30 mins
Algonquin College has a well established huddle system throughout the college, which is a huge accomplishment! However, we could all use a little refresh – especially as our environment has moved to be hybrid.
Keep an eye out early 2023 for the roll out of our Huddle Optimization resources and support
Consulting Services
When it comes to continuous improvement, we want to empower you with the training, tools and guidance you need to make improvements in your area. Our partnership approach to consulting sees us work with you to complete improvement projects while building your capacity and mindset – just like our mission says!
Consultation in combination with access to tool and training will be the key to empowering the people of Algonquin College!