On August 15, we had the privilege of leading our largest Lean 101® training to date at the MMANC Summer Symposium. As a corporate partner for the Municipal Management Association of Northern California, Partners in Public Innovation (PPI) was thrilled to bring our expertise to this event, where we trained 93 staff members from 32 different cities, counties, and special districts across Northern California. MMANC accredited the course, offering credentialed government leader credits to its members. Some participants traveled up to five hours round trip to join the course--we love that commitment to enhancing work processes!
Lean 101® is an introductory course designed to equip public sector professionals with the tools and mindset to identify waste, improve efficiency, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. By the end of the session, participants were not only familiar with the Lean principles but also ready to implement small but impactful changes in their daily work. Jenessa and Ryan from PPI guided participants through the fundamentals of Lean process improvement and facilitated many hands-on activities so participants could get the hang of applying the tools and techniques.
John Cunha shared the inspiring results of Lean initiatives at San Francisco Recreation and Parks, including 5S initiatives both small (transformation of the electric shop) and big (eliminating 74 tons of broken, excess, and obsolete material) and streamlining work order systems to eliminate redundant requests and get stuff fixed faster. He also discussed how these lessons are being applied in his current role as Facilities Director at the San Francisco Public Library. These real-world examples provided participants with tangible insights into how Lean can drive meaningful change in public sector organizations.
At every Lean 101® session, we challenge participants to implement one small innovation in their daily work. The response from MMANC members was nothing short of enthusiastic—one participant even sketched out her new visual management board design before leaving the table! Simple innovations participants came up included:
a visual tracker for insurance expirations created by a staff member from the City of Walnut Creek, which is already improving their workflow
a new AR vendor spreadsheet implemented by West County Wastewater, streamlining the processing of incoming payments.
What We Learned:
Besides having a blast--the creative energy was buzzing!--here are some of our take aways:
Medium-sized Cities and Counties as Innovation Hotbeds: Whether it’s Stockton’s lean program or the creative approaches shared by other cities, it’s clear that medium-sized municipalities are leading the charge in public sector innovation.
Building Connections Across Jurisdictions: For many participants, being the sole management analyst or specialist in their office can be isolating. This training provided a valuable opportunity for participants to connect with peers from other jurisdictions, fostering collaboration and shared learning.
Evolving Our Training to Meet Emerging Needs: During the pandemic, we transitioned all our training online. We never wanted to simply read off PowerPoint slides; instead, we built our content into Miro to replicate the group experiential learning of our in-person courses. Now, as demand for in-person training rises, we've developed Lean 101® to be deployed flexibly, ensuring it meets the needs of today's hybrid working environments.
We are excited to continue evolving our training offerings. On-demand training is on the horizon, allowing us to reach even more public sector professionals with the tools and techniques they need to drive innovations small and large!
Thanks so much to MMANC President Justin Lovell, Megan Siren and all the volunteers who organized the Symposium, and all the passionate public servants who showed up ready to innovate!
Are you interested in exploring training for your team or learning more about driving simple innovations in your organization? We'd love to help! And don't forget—see you at the MMANC Annual Conference in November!
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