Association of Minnesota Counties

LEAN Sustainability And Results

MACA TECHNICAL DAY – July 30, 2014 Ryan Krosch, David Minke and Toni Smith

Started researching the summer of 2012 based upon AMC board request and recognized potential in assisting counties centrally.

Counties seeing more and more baby boomers leaving county government and institutional memory walking out the door. Do we really have standardization of enough processes?

Larger counties starting to explore options but the board felt there was a need to provide additional training for large and small counties and serve as a central clearinghouse.

Partnership with MN Department of Adm. Continuous Improvement

Snapshot of AMC Involvement in LEAN Education

130 county staff trained through 4 three-day facilitator workshops and a practical kaizen update. These were done in partnership with Department of Administration Continuous Improvement office.

2000+ additional staff trained in LEAN 101 workshops in 26 counties taught by AMC staff Hubbard, Blue Earth, Roseau, Jackson, Waseca, Benton, Douglas, Houston, Chippewa, Redwood, Nicollet, Brown and Sibley also involved. Freeborn, Yellow Medicine, Itasca, U. of MN and Dakota County, Otter Tail, Pine,Scott, Martin, Douglas, Nobles, Clay, Wright, Morrison, Dakota

Three additional workshops on Swim Lane Mapping

MACSSA, MACATFO and MACA conference presentations

NACo presentation giving AMC Lean work visibility in other states.

Facilitator trainings and co-facilitator services to counties.

Numerous other county staff attending the Department of Administration Trainings.

LEAN Trainings Since August 2012

How are Minnesota counties making LEAN continuous improvement a reality?

Who is the champion….who is stepping out of the crowd to initiate the effort locally?

County Commissioner, Administrator, Department Head,

Technology Director, Planners, Front Line Worker? Who is making it a reality?

How are counties making LEAN a reality in counties?

• Train staff, facilitators, and conducting Kaizens.

• Share successes and name results

• Create a LEAN team

• If you do all of this, what are the results? Ranges from Olmsted County, Carver County, Crow Wing County, to smaller counties that you will hear more about in todays session.

• Contracts Approval • Redaction for Data Requests • Library – Invoices for Items • Library – Purchase on Demand • Library – ILL Process • IT – Change Management • Library – Email Repository • Medical Assistance • Out of Home Placement • Child Care Assistance • Insurance Reimbursement • HCBC / Intake • HCBC / Common Case File • HCBC / Waiver Authorization • Adult Bail Evaluation • New Hire Payroll Setup

• Employee Status Changes • Emergency Claims • Vendor Claims Process • Minor Subdivision April 1-4, 2013 • Public Health – PCA Assessment • Sewer/Septic System • PH-Doc Client Charting • Water Permitting • Hazardous Waste • Permits for Public Works • Public Works Engineer/Surveyor File

Organization • Right of Way • Sheriff Arrest Warrants • Bailiff Prisoner Transport

Carver County Kaizen Examples

LEAN is Really REDESIGN in ACTION

What is your reaction to implementing LEAN in your office?

Hopefully not like Dilbert!

Hopefully NOT a waste of time but rather an opportunity to dig at a few roots!

When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book

One of the reasons Lean is so often successful is that it’s not management telling the staff how to improve – it’s the other way

around. BUT WE DO NEED CHAMPIONS!

CASE STUDY 1 Nicollet County PIT Crew:

“Developing a Lean Culture”

Ryan Krosch

Developing a Lean Culture

Initial observations….. o Lots of opportunities for process

improvement; little/no previous effort made with this

o Some staff (not all) came to me asking

for process changes

Developing a Lean Culture

Educated Staff and the Board…

o Strongly encouraged D.H.s and Board to attend Lean 101 in Blue Earth County

o Discussed Lean at Board Workshops – concept/benefits

o Held our own Lean 101 – mandatory attendance for DHs and supervisors; any other staff could attend also

Developing a Lean Culture

Built some momentum then created a Core Group… o Identified my Lean Champions – those

staff and Board Members who immediately bought into the Lean concept

o Assigned a Lean Coordinator o Created a Lean Committee

Process Improvement Training Crew – aka Nicollet County PIT Crew

(5 staff and 2 Board Members)

Developing a Lean Culture

Trained Staff… o 5 staff on PIT Crew became trained Lean

facilitators o 6 months later hand picked 6 more staff

to become Lean facilitators

Developing a Lean Culture

What we’re doing… o Require every department to do at least

1 Lean event each year o Discuss Lean at every DH meeting and

Board Workshop o Create a Lean annual report for the

Board o Lean in our employee bi-monthly

newsletters

Developing a Lean Culture

What we’re doing… o Adding $ to the 2015 budget for Lean

activities o Give job applicants extra points on rating

sheet if they acknowledge Lean on their resumes

o Ask Lean related job interview questions o Coming soon – “Lean in the Lavatory”

Developing a Lean Culture

Some projects to date…

LEAN Events

Department Event Type Scheduled Complete Administration Timesheet Process Kaizen October 1/1/2015 Social Services Scanning Process Kaizen February In Process Administration Mail Courier Process A3 March In Process Probation Probation Agreements Kaizen May In Process Technologies ITV/Webinar Process A3 May

Environmental Services Electronic File Storage 5S Ongoing 12/31/2014 Recorder E-recording A3 TBD

Human Resources Hiring/Orientation/Termination Process Kaizen/A3 September Facilities Shredding Process A3 TBD Emergency Management Policy/Procedure Sharing A3 TBD Public Health Mail Process A3 TBD Sheriff Scheduling Process?? Public Works Electronic File Storage?? Attorney File Storage/Clean Up 5S Ongoing In Process

Developing a Lean Culture

Keys to Success… o Find you Lean Champions o Board Support o Make it part of your culture!!!!

CASE STUDY 2 PINE COUNTY

David Minke Pine County Administrator

County Management Processes in Action Several Minnesota counties are in the process of taking a closer look at: 1. Who are our customers? 2. How can we measure if our customers are better off? 3. How can we measure if we are delivering services well? 4. How are we doing on the most important of these measures? 5. Who are the partners that have a role to play in doing better? 6. What works to do better, including no-cost and low cost ideas? 7. What do we propose to do?

LEAN is one option for you to use in your efforts to CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE local government. CI methods are focused on saving time and money, reducing waste

and improving the quality of services.

Question/Answer