Manitoba Housing: The Lean JourneySteven Spry, CEOBrent Timmerman, COO

Agenda

� Intro to Manitoba Housing� What is Lean? And why is it needed in the public sector?� What is waste?� Kaizen� How is Lean being deployed in Manitoba Housing?� Principles for Lean Transformation� What NOT to do on your Lean journey� Final thoughts

A Little About Manitoba Housing

� A Crown Corporation� 705 employees� Under the Department of Housing and

Community Development� We cover all of Manitoba

� From Churchill in the north� To the Town of Emerson in the South� To the Town of Emerson in the South� From Swan River in the West� To Middleboro in the East

� 18,200 Units Owned� Direct managed = 14,200� Sponsor managed = 4,000� $3.16B Estimated Asset Replacement

Value� Support for further ≈17,000 Units

� Operating agreements with Private Non Profits, Urban Native Groups, Co-ops.

� Rental Supplements, etc.

Before We Begin�

What is Lean?

Lean is a management philosophy and business practice with a set of tools to eliminate waste and maximize flow

The Principles of Lean

� Define value from customer perspective

� Flow the process

� Eliminate waste

� Engage (involve and empower) employees

� Pursue to perfection (continuously improve)

The hardest one to get right, the most likely one to get wrong!

Why Lean in the Public Sector?

� To improve program and service delivery to our clients

� To evolve our organizational culture by engaging and culture by engaging and empowering ALL employees

� To help involve staff in decision making

� To develop and maintain efficient processes

What is Waste?

� Key concept in Lean thinking is the elimination of waste (does not have to be scary)

� Waste is any activity that does not add value for the organization or the client/customer

� Intelligence & Energy

� Transportation

� Inventory

The Eight Wastes

� Inventory

� Motion

� Waiting

� Over processing

� Over production

� Defects/Correction/Rework

Kaizen Events: Driving Our Lean Transformation

� Kaizen- A Japanese word meaning �Continuous Improvement� or �Change for the Good�

� �Kaizen Event� (or Rapid Improvement Event)- A short (2-3 day) workshop where staff analyze and implement day) workshop where staff analyze and implement improvements to a process

Rent Supplement Application Kaizen: Lean in Action

� Intent of Kaizen was to reduce time to approve/reject a rent supplement application

� Applicants frequently failed to submit a Certified Income Tax (CIT) document

� Many program documents not clear or user-friendly

� Data collected from applicants not being used by staff

� Program Staff now collect CIT directly from Revenue Canada on applicant�s behalf

� Staff implemented new, clear and user-friendly Application Form & Checklist, greatly reducing defective applications

� Cycle times for applications reduced from 20 working days to 15 working days since Kaizen event

How is Lean Deployed in Manitoba Housing?

� Start with the Why� Build the Community of

Practitioners from the staffstaff

� Change from top-down leadership to coaching, questioning and the PDCA cycle:� Key Performance

Indicators, Huddle Boards...

Work Completed to Date

� 14 Kaizen events completed in business units across our organization

� 120 Staff completed half-day Lean 101 training� 5S (Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) transformations

completed in 6 senior leader�s offices, more on the way!

� Huddle boards used by CEO and COO offices� Huddle boards used by CEO and COO offices� Key Performance Indicators used in major business areas,

visible to all staff� 20 Staff completed Kaizen Facilitator training� Department Lean website created containing information relating

to all Lean activities

� Starting on the next challenge: Standard Work

� The transformation of our culture is a long term process. This will not happen overnight.

A Philosophy, Not an Objective�

� We are learning as we go. There is no handbook for implementing Lean in a government environment.

� In seeking to improve our business processes, staff are encouraged to think creatively and be unafraid of making mistakes. If nothing is tried, nothing will be learned.

This Doesn�t Sound

Hard...What�s the Big Deal?

� Senior leadership commitment is key

� Senior leaders must be able to speak in plain language about Lean and why we are doing it

� Senior leaders need to be prepared to show up at Lean event to recognize and thank staff for their efforts. Consistently!

� You MUST lead by example. All the time...

� You want a 5S workplace? You do it yourself first!

Ack...Really?

� You want people to take Lean training? Make yourself the first student.

� You want to hold your leaders accountable to their KPIs? Post your own outside your office alongside those of your leaders.

It�s About Building TRUST Between

Management and Staff

� Adopting a whole new way of thinking is required

� Staff generally come to work each day wanting to do a good job. They don�t like wasteful processes either.

� They probably have good answers about how to improve these processes...likely better than the senior leaders.processes...likely better than the senior leaders.

� They need to be trusted to offer suggestions about improvements.

� Use proven change-management methodologies, like ADKAR

� Be �hard on processes, soft on people�

� Sometimes the best way to help the team improve a process is by leaving the room!

� If you want your Lean Journey to fail, make sure to:� Centralize all Lean training to a small group of secretive experts

� Don�t explain what Lean is, or why the organization is doing it

A Great List of Things NOT to Do�

(But some of you accidentally will...)

� Make it complicated, filled with math and statistics, so that the average worker can�t understand the Lean language

� Invite only the branch leaders and not the crucial front-line subject matter experts to a Kaizen

� Start with your most complex and difficult organizational project first

� If you want your Lean Journey to fail, make sure to:� Have the leader of the area affected by a Kaizen stay in the room during

the event to attempt to �control� the change that might take place

� Have the senior leader walk into the final moments of a Kaizen and criticize the team�s work or recommendations

A Great List of Things NOT to Do�

(But some of you accidentally will...)

criticize the team�s work or recommendations

� Minimize or eliminate positive recognition for the Kaizen team

� Keep the process changes secret after the Kaizen

� Have the senior leaders no-show at the Kaizen presentation

� And the biggest sin of all: Use Lean for downsizing or layoffs

If You Are a Senior Leader...

� In order to really change the culture of your organization...

� The person that might need to first change the most is you...

Online Resources

Government of Manitoba

http://intranet.mbgov.ca/office-of-the-clerk/lean

Government of Saskatchewan

www.thinklean.gov.sk.ca

Videos

�Morning Improvement Walk�

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OEePS7Oh_g

Government of Minnesota

http://mn.gov/admin/lean/

Lean Enterprise Institute

www.lean.org

Lean for Government

http://leanforgovernment.com/

�The 5 Main Steps Of The Lean Manager"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZvsqm4Jok8

�Coaching Leaders & Employees�

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3Y4Zw7WEhw

Our Favourite Lean Books�

Integrated Pest Management Group Kaizen

�The intent of the Kaizen was to improve time from notification of bed bug activity to first physical attendance in unit and to reduce bed bug spray treatments required in Manitoba Housing units

�Inconsistent mechanism for requesting BB treatment was causing duplications of requests f/service. Also led to situations where property managers were not fully aware of IPMG activity in their units. This led to lack of preparedness by tenants for spraying and higher refusal rates.�Portfolio Management played needless role as �middleman� between internal pest group (IPMG) and

sponsor groups, increasing wait times for treatment�Lack of Standard Operating Procedure for dealing with tenants who refused treatments was potentially root cause of persistent BB activity

�Standard Operating Procedure created to ensure BB treatment refusals dealt with in standard manner across portfolio. �All reports of BB activity are now channeled to single source (MMS) ensuring constant visibility of IPMG activity in units and greater likelihood of tenant preparedness for treatment �IPMG now works directly w/sponsors instead of having Portfolio Man. act as go-between �Inspections are used as customer service opps/educational opportunity to increase awareness of tenant role in combating BB�s

�Since Kaizen, MH has experienced a 70% reduction in total number of treatment refusals in units with live activity. This will have a significant impact on MH ability to successfully combat pest issues.

HR Recruiting process Kaizen

Intent of the Kaizen was to improve the Manitoba Housing recruitment process. Specifically, MH executives identified that recruitment times were excessive and that this was leading to reduced service levels and over-taxed staff.

�There were delays with internal approvals which were resulting from paper forms being routed to MH Head Office and back out to field offices�Segments of the staffing request form were unclearly written, led to defects and delays�Lack of clarity on where staffing request form ended up after being submitted caused challenges in following up (and further delays).

�MH switched from paper form to an electronic staffing request (ESR). �Coding and identification of positions has been simplified making forms easier to complete�Staffing request form was simplified to reduce defects�Total cycle time for MH controlled portion of hiring process reduced from 30 calendar days to one week�These changes have now been adopted by the Manitoba Civil Service Commission in their internal hiring processes and is also being adopted by the Department of Family Services.

Questions? Comments?

Steven Spry, CEO, steven.spry@gov.mb.caSteven Spry, CEO, steven.spry@gov.mb.caBrent Timmerman, COO, brent.timmerman@gov.mb.ca

Adrien Sala, Operations Analyst, adrien.sala@gov.mb.ca