Seize the opportunities: invest in continuous improvement

More with less is the basic idea of Lean. Years ago, it made its presence felt in the business world to eliminate waste and continuously improve processes. Now Dutch municipalities have also discovered it, driven in part by the need to cut back in recent years. It appears that municipalities have three strategies to implement the changed financial goals: staff reduction, task reduction and continuous improvement. A large number of municipalities chose the first two strategies. But there are also an increasing number of municipalities that choose continuous improvement as their primary strategy. This means that municipalities themselves will work more effectively and efficiently. So the design of work must change. Municipalities need to become more process-oriented rather than functional. Given the changing needs and demands of residents, community organizations and business owners, municipalities are forced to continuously improve in order to continue to meet changing demands.

Lean and Six Sigma

Continuous improvement is about restructuring front and back offices, entering into amenity partnerships and, last but not least, optimizing processes.

Lean tries to maximize the flow of value in an organization. This means spending as much time and money as possible on creating added value for a client. For each activity, the question applies, “Would the customer be willing to pay for this?” Anything that has no value to a customer is basically considered waste and should be reduced as much as possible.

The goal of Six Sigma is to reduce variation in business processes. This maximizes the chances that a product or service will be in line with what the customer expects. The number of faulty products, and thus failure costs, can be drastically reduced in this way.

Lean and Six Sigma are complementary to each other and are therefore used in conjunction. Looking at an organization through a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) lens differs significantly from the traditional way:

The traditional way:
– Focus on cost savings
– Focus on average
– Focus on problem solving
– Focus on own organization
– Hierarchical and departmental-oriented
– Products and services
– Decisions based on feelings

The LSS way:
– Eliminating waste
– Eliminating variation
– Prevention of errors
– Focus on customer satisfaction
– Knowledge in the workplace
– Processes
– Decisions based on facts

By no means all permits have to be signed by law but it still happens. The result? Towering notebooks in rooms that are not needed and unnecessarily delay the permitting process. By analyzing processes, reducing lead times and improving process steps and starting from the facts, the first successes can be achieved quickly.

Where are the opportunities for continuous improvement at municipalities?

Here are some examples of processes in which improvements can be achieved using Lean and Six Sigma:

• ICT/ Information provision: practical studies show that easily 1/3 of the hours spent are spent on troubleshooting. This is too often taken as a given instead of structurally solving the real causes of failures.
• Public space/handling of reports by residents: again, there are often long lead times or back and forth of reports (who resolves it).
• Creation of the budget (P&C Cycle): a very natural process within the municipality that requires time from many people. The process has a long lead time and program texts are tinkered with repeatedly. Do municipalities actually know what their budgets cost in deployment? And is that commitment commensurate with the value of the product? This process certainly presents opportunities for simplification!
• Lean not only delivers optimal processes and higher customer satisfaction, but employees (internal customers) are also more satisfied with workload and work processes.

Avoiding disappointments

Many municipalities have enthusiastically begun a the implementation of Lean or Lean Six Sigma in recent years usually by starting one or more projects. Permanent change and savings have been realized at several municipalities as a result of LSS thinking and action. Others, however, after a brief flying start, fall back into old work habits and have to start over and over again. Retaining the changes and new processes is not always easy. To truly work in accordance with LSS and achieve significant, sustainable improvements requires knowledge and experience within the organization. But steering for Lean thinking and encouraging each other in this must also become permanent and become part of the employees’ DNA.

Seize the Opportunities and invest in the following preconditions to prevent the organization from falling back into old working methods/modes of operation:

• Invest in shared vision, support and enthusiasm in management. It is crucial that management develop a vision, be enthusiastic and support initiatives. Make a board member ultimately responsible for the LSS project.
• Invest in sufficient capacity and budget. Research has shown that the returns of a Lean program are proportional to the amount invested in it. A higher investment yields substantially higher returns. Make sure there is sufficient capacity. Workers can’t just throw it in.
• Invest in knowledge. Bring in outside knowledge (e.g., from other municipalities as well) and do it together. External experience provides continuity and direction and can sometimes contribute in persuasiveness toward management or organization. Ensure support by training employees and having them redesign processes themselves.
• Invest in the right match. Make sure external consultants/ trainers fit the congregation in terms of attitude and behavior.
• Invest in the small. Don’t get bogged down in too big a project, but “practice” first with a smaller and therefore more manageable project. Step by step. Proceed from there.
• Invest in support, both Top Down and Bottom Up. Make sure there is always support and approval from management, but on the other hand, just keep going.
• Invest in good preparation. Don’t think too easily, but always go prepared.
• Invest in expectation management. Manage the expectations of all involved and properly delineate the boundaries of the deliverable.

Go for sustainable success!

Improvement involves trial and error. So don’t quit after a project with disappointing results. With process optimization using Lean and Six Sigma techniques, significant improvements are achievable. However, as with everything, without commitment no results! For sustainable success, a clear vision and support from management are essential. It is not a one-time action, but continuous improvement. This requires a long haul. This requires investment in time, capacity, knowledge and competence. Well-trained people are indispensable to successfully execute and implement improvement projects. Choose clear objectives that fit within time and budget. Use outside expertise: by looking from knowledge and experience and with a “fresh perspective,” this expert asks the right critical questions, introduces the right redesign methodologies, and implements and trains “on the job.

Municipalities: seize the opportunities for Continuous Improvement within the organization. Invest purposefully. This delivers the desired goal step-by-step.