Lean Administration

The challenges in improving administration processes

Most companies focus on traditional shop floor processes, because they are more easily quantifiable, and costing is based on machine utilization and direct labour allocation. While most ideas and tools in Lean can also be adapted for administrative processes, there are some elements that are more challenging in administration than in manufacturing:

• Work content is less standardized: process steps can show a high volatility regarding the time and effort to fulfill them. For example, processing an insurance claim can be more or less complicated, depending on many external factors, even if the delivered ‘product’ – in this case a bank transfer – is highly standardized
• Progress is hardly observable: administration is usually done on a computer or a piece of paper. Observing an administration office means normally seeing a lot of people working on computers – and unless paying close attention, delays, mistakes, double work, rework and even unsatisfied customers remain undetected
• Introducing standard work can be more challenging: In manufacturing, for example, if you change the sequence of a process by rearranging machines, it would be highly impractical to do the old sequence with the new layout – the new standard becomes obvious. In administration it is usually a bit more difficult to maintain standards only through the design of the process. This is especially true if the process is done on paper, but also in computer programs. Even if it requires an input in a certain sequence to proceed, experienced administrators often know how to work around it to move ahead swiftly

How Lean can be applied effectively in administration

Waste in administrative processes can be identified, classified and minimised in the same way as waste in manufacturing. To distinguish between ‘unnecessary waste’, which can be eliminated, and ‘necessary waste’, which is needed to fulfill the customer’s demand and therefore can only be reduces, we start our improvements from re-defining value from the – internal as well as external – customer’s point of view:

• CUSTOMER JOURNEY: Identify customers touchpoints to derive actions for improvement of their experience of services
• VALUE STREAM MAPPING: Understand the needs and requirements of co-workers up- and downstream of themselves to optimize the information flow and eliminate bottlenecks and rework
• OPERATIONAL REDESIGN: Allocate and balance resources to facilitate an improved process flow and customer service
• PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Break down top-level objectives into clear, measurable targets for workers on every level of the organization and continuously track the progress of improved customer experience and manage deviations instantly
• CHANGE MANAGEMENT: Enhance a customer orientated mindset based on a leadership style which facilitates a bottom-up approach for problem-solving as well as constant skill development of employees
• DIGITIZATION: Automate processes to reduce lead times. Engage customers in the process and let them participate in the optimization of the product or service. Use the interaction with customers to collect data and information to improve continuously

What will this course achieve?

With our Lean Administration Training Course, you will learn to apply the Lean principles and tools through running a simulation of administrative processes. You will be able to experience how the concept improves the quality of services and learn the most effective Lean Administration methods and tools, like:

• 7 Types of Waste
• 5S workplace organization and layout
• Standard Work
• Continuous Improvement (Kaizen)
• Value Stream Mapping
• Task Structure Analysis
• Kanban and Scrum
• Agile Management
• Structured Problem Solving
• Visual Management and Daily Direction Setting (DDS)

With our Lean Administration Training Course, you will experience in 2 days, how a Lean Mindset and the respective methods and tools can improve quality, cost and delivery time of any service.

Who should attend?

Managing directors, executives, supervisors and process managers in administrative functions or service companies; all individuals who want to gain an overview of Lean and its advantages in administration.