CPD Pilot Project
The LCS has started piloting its new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) offering in order to gauge users reaction to the overall proposition, as well as test the detailed processes involved. Details of LCS CPD can be found on the CPD webpages.
Radical & Innovative Approach
The approach that has been developed represents a radical departure from the traditional CPD method used by many professions, primarily due to the use of the Plan-Do-Check-Act model as the guiding framework, which places great emphasis on developing practical capability, as well as knowledge enhancement and communication skills development. Another innovative aspect is that the process itself aims to engender lean oriented habits through the rigour of the PDCA cycle.
Roll Out
The initial model is likely to be adjusted on the basis of feedback and operational experience and then rolled out to a broader audience once it is stable. If you wish to be part of the roll out, then complete an expression of interest form (below).
Expressions of Interest
Should you wish to be informed when the roll out is extended and consider participating, compete and submit the expression of interest form and we’ll get in touch.
New Accreditations
It has been a busy period with new accreditations and re-accreditations. Congratulations go to all organisations for their commitment to developing and delivering robust training programmes based on sound lean/continuous improvement principles that enable their learners to apply their knowledge to create solutions, solve problems and generate business benefits.
Vlerick Business School’s recent re-accreditation continues a long relationship with the LCS and students can become certified through its executive Operational Excellence Programme, following completion of the assessment.
RBS Poland became the first directly accredited Polish organisation, while there was another first when East Thames Ltd in London became the first LCS accredited housing association. NHS Blood & Transplant was another newcomer to the LCS fold.
The following all successfully re-accredited over the past few months: Old Mutual Wealth, EY, Barclays, Castlefirth, XL Catlin, UNC Plus Delta, Lean Consultancy Group
 Agata Kotusiewicz and Krzysztof Walczak receive their certificate in Warsaw. |
 Toni Jacobs accepts NHSBT’s certificate in Bristol. |
 The East Thames team at the accreditation sign off meeting. |
Forum Aims to be Powerful Knowledge Exchange
Forum Relaunched
The LCS website Forum has been redesigned to help practitioners use it more effectively to find information, solve problems, air opinions and generally collaborate with the lean community.
The change will help it become a powerful knowledge exchange – a digital space for networking and discovery, for making connections, where the collective power of the community can be leveraged for the benefit of all users. It will complement an organisation’s in-house forum and social media, as it can add a valuable external perspective to information search, discussions or problem solving.
The technical term for such activity is peer to peer learning, which has seen significant growth, driven by the rise in the use of the web and social media in recent years. See the LCS article on the topic for more information.
Key Features
The Forum has public and private areas and users must be registered as members to participate, for example, as Guests or Practitioners. The private area is for discussions restricted to selected people, for example in the same organisation or who share a specific topic interest or who are part of a distinct group.
All LCS website published articles are automatically listed so that comments about them can be easily made and responded to.
A series of digital badges are included in member profiles to add some colour and visuality – for example, to indicate members’ roles and activity levels.
Encouraging Use
Of course, the power of the Forum will depend on users actively engaging and being proactive in initiating discussions. No doubt some experimentation will be required and tweaks may be required as we learn from its use – so everyone is encouraged to try it out and help build some momentum – and of course, provide feedback on the experience.
Members will earn an Active Member badge if they have made at least one post in the previous 10 days and a Top Contributor badge when they have made at least 10 posts in the previous 30 days.
To provide a little incentive to users to engage, anyone who gains a Top Contributor badge this year, will receive a glorious LCS enamel pin badge FREE (either a specific level badge or the logo badge)!
Registration
To sign up and find out more about making posts, visit the Forum Instructions page.
New Accreditations & Certifications
New Accreditations – Uniper Energy
Uniper is a leading international energy company with operations in more than 40 countries and around 14,000 employees. Uniper’s business is to provide a reliable supply of energy and related services and its main operations include power generation in Europe and Russia and global energy trading. Its headquarters are in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Uniper’s Operational Excellence program is set up in such a way that Trainees first learn to understand their customer needs, their processes and the concept of standardization. They then study tools and methods about how to manage and operate their work. Finally, they learn how to create a continuous improvement working environment using methods such as performance boards, root cause problem solving and creating flow and pull in processes.
Uniper’s Operational Excellence training programme consists of 14 modules, including an introduction to the topic of OE and is available in multiple languages. The theory part of the training is accompanied by a simulation game which runs through the entire training module package, linking all modules together. The second purpose of the simulation is that participants can practice how to turn theory into practice in a safe environment before using it in their actual work environment.
Level 3 Programme Success – Ross Mabon
Ross is the latest successful Level 3 Programme candidate and received his award in April.
During his assessment, Ross discussed how the Lean toolkit has been used to transform institutions over the last decade and how the introduction of robotic process automation has disrupted current thinking and adaptation of Lean. In his conclusion, he argues Lean alone cannot continue to meet demanding market pressures facing financial institutions. And vice visa. Robotics cannot do it alone either.
Ross believes integrating robotics into a Lean Management System is where the true benefits will be realised; reducing costs, creating a ‘continuously innovate’ culture and meeting Customer expectations of the future. Read a summary of his assignment.
Ross is EMEA Head of Automation and Process Design at GIBC Digital, which aims to enable clients to compete in a digital world, leveraging core competencies in customer experience, business intelligence, continuous improvement and automation. His expertise lies in banking and has worked across multiple sectors including manufacturing, electronics, operations and telecommunications.
Level 3 Candidate Success
Congratulations to the latest successful Level 3 Programme candidate who has been awarded the LCS Level 3 Certificate of Lean Competency, having completed his submission of evidence demonstrating his strategic and transformational implementation capability and in-depth appreciation of lean and related CI knowledge.
Simon Owens, Legal & General
Simon is the Finance Strategy & Change Director for Legal & General. Simon originally trained as an accountant and auditor before moving into a wider consulting role to deliver mergers and acquisitions, company integrations, product launches, outsourcing etc. but started a career in CI after meeting John Seddon in 2001.
After initially moving away from finance into customer services and operations roles, Simon has now combined both skill sets and has worked in finance change for over ten years. ensuring that CI plays a key role in any finance transformation, programmes or projects.
Simon’s L3 Programme cases focused on the culture and leadership required for Lean and CI to thrive. He reflected on his own experiences in the financial services sector and asked the question of whether a successful business, and a successful leadership, have the appetite to make the cultural changes required to create an environment for systems thinking to survive.
The studies conclude that the value of CI will be inhibited by the wrong culture and behaviours and that a significant part of our role as CI leaders and missionaries includes helping others to discover the power in empowerment!
The picture shows Simon (on the right) receiving his LCS certificate at a recent LCS network meeting.
Continuing Professional Development for LCS
The LCS is developing a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) component to complement the existing qualifications framework and is inviting members of the lean community to comment on the proposition being developed. The feedback will help inform the development process, as it moves to prototype testing later in the year.
How to Provide Feedback
- Visit the CPD section of the website which provides an explanation of what it offers, how it will operate, who it’s aimed at, the benefits, costs, etc. You should start by reading the Overview, moving left to right along the tabs. There are also some Frequently Asked Questions. Click here >>>
- Make a note of any queries that may arise when you are scrutinising the CPD offering – for example, is anything unclear or missing, the processes involved, too difficult to understand and consider if the benefits would be appreciated by the intended audience.
- Record your feedback via the online questionnaire, which should take no more than about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Links to the questionnaire are on the web page, or it can be accessed from this page.
- Please do not attempt to complete the questionnaire before scrutinising the web pages, though you can refer to the web pages while completing the questionnaire. This will be made simpler if you open a separate browser tab for the LCS website and questionnaire website.
