Public Sector Innovation ShowcaseLean and Continuous Improvement

Rachel Kampus, Assistant Deputy MinisterTreasury Board Secretariat, Ontario Digital ServiceMay 26, 2021

leanoffice@ontario.ca

Core Idea of Lean

MAXIMIZE VALUE TO THE CLIENT

while

MINIMIZING WASTE

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“Government has a tendency to

publish content that is more

focused on what it wants to say,

than what the user needs to

know. This makes content difficult

to understand and act on.”-

Gov.UK

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● Falls under eight categories

● Applying lean methods can help to successfully eliminate waste from any

process

Modern Toolbox: What do we mean by waste?

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Example of Waste: Avoidable Contact or Failure Demand

•Work that is preventable, but:

• Some information is missing

• Some information is wrong

• It’s not clear (clarification is required)

• Looking for information (trying to find a human)

• It takes too long

• Citizens frustrated, public servants chasing complaints instead of focusing on clients

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Cycle of Overwhelm

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“The French Language Services Unit coordinates year-round

French training, enrollment to the program is now easy and

takes 1/3 of the time compared to the previous method.”

(ONTerm, MGCS)

Typical process improvement result

Day 1 Day 30Lead Time

After Lean project

Value Added

Non- Value Added

Waste eliminated

22 days

Before Lean project

Lead Time

Day 1 Day 8

Business Non-Value Added

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What Does Waste Sound Like? Value to People?

Applicants call us because they don’t know the status of their application after applying.

Citizens write their MPPs to inquire about the status of their application. It can take weeks to receive a response.

We use paper forms, ink signatures, fax machines.

We hear: delays… backlogs… wait times. Repeat complaints/calls about the same thing.

Client applications are sent back due to (preventable) errors.

We keep adding staff and hire consultants to get rid of old problems.

If we just apply a tech solution, we can get rid of old problems.

If we want to stop this: We need more of this:APPLICANT FOCUS/CLEAR CONTENT: Look at user needs, make the application available online and easy to understand. Enable the applicant to see the status of their application in real time.

TRIAGE: Process simple applications quickly so that most applicants are resolved asap. Tackle complicated applications in a separate process so the simple ones aren’t stuck.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT/GEMBA: Talk to staff, look at how things are being done through their eyes, and tap into their ideas. Empower staff to make practical improvements in real time.

ERROR FINDING: Identify top (call centre) inquiries -understand the top reasons that someone doesn’t get what they need. Use that information to make improvements quickly.

SMALLER LINES, FASTER SERVICE: Understand the reasons for the queuing and help it move more quickly - so applicants have everything at hand to get on their way.

OPTIMIZE PROCESS BEFORE DIGITIZING: Review and optimize your manual process for a better efficiency and flow before implementing digital solution.

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Who Creates Value?

Those closest to the client (they interact with and see the client’s experience)

because

Those closest to the client understand better than anyone not only what clients value but they also understand what is getting in the way.

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Relentless Focus on The User, See the Process

What we think the process is:

What the process

actually is:

What the process

should be:

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What Ontario is Doing

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Ontario’s Lean Journey

March 2019-Start Up: New Lean Office announced to respond to Ernst & Young deficit-reduction recommendations ‘‘implement lean management systems, reduce self-imposed administrative burden, improve service delivery;’’. Demo projects start. Ontario Public Service lean capacity baseline assessed (<1000ppl out of over 60,000). Premier champion.

December 2019-Operationalize: grow capacity, demonstrate results. First targets-100% ministries with a lean project. 100% with trained staff. Voluntary participation.

Fall 2020-Turbo Charge: “Ontario Onwards” modernization plan announced. Treasury Minister and Future State Modernization Committee create lean“Work Process” Results Unit to drive “nimble, effective public service”. New priorities, targets and outcomes.

Winter 2021 to current-Scale Up: shift to greater capacity in ministries to identify and deliverlean results on individual projects. Central Lean Office focussing on tools, standards, advanced training, support and ‘big ticket’ projects and processes (repeat wastes). Organiclean projects continue while accountability and formal direction to apply lean (ie part of budget planning process and 'minuting’) increases.

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Appendix:More About LeanLean Strategies

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Resources

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BooksThis is Lean: Resolving the Efficiency Paradox by Niklas Modig and Par Ahlstrom

Extreme Government Makeover by Ken Miller

We Don’t Make Widgets by Ken Miller

The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook by Michael L. George et al.

Courses No single organization or institution holds the authority issue lean certifications..

Use your best judgment when choosing a certification provider.

Questions to ask about potential courses:

1. Does the course have a government and/or service focus?

2. How much of the content is lean vs. Six Sigma?

3. Is there a practical component to the training? Ideally to earn a Green Belt

certification you should have to assist on a Lean project. To earn a Black Belt

certification you should have to lead a Lean project. To earn a Master Black

Belt certification you should have to lead 20 projects.

Relentless Focus:Who is the

end-user/client?• A clear understanding of the end-user

(client) is critical.

• It is needed to determine what is Value Added (VA) and what is Non-Value Added (NVA) in your specific business process

• Looking at your process from the point of view of the End User allows you to most easily see Value and Interruptions to Flow

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Shift the focus from adding resources to improving flow (crisp, fast responses) and reduced delivery/resolution time

(less waiting/faster turn around) by:

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How long it takes to deliver something from

request to fulfillment?

How many steps does take?

How many handoffs are there?

Have you tried to improve the quality of

information entering the system?

Where do we have the most errors?

What are our top complaints/calls for help?

Asking the right questions: Right lean knowledge and lexicon:

Lean Language

• Kanban

• Kaizen

• 5s

• Gemba

• One Piece Flow vs.

Batching

Mapping Flow

● If you were to follow a file through a typical service organization, what would you see?

● Mapping these interruptions to flow tells you where your end-to-end process might be breaking down.

● Bottlenecks● Large batches● Unnecessary approvals● Missing information● Unbalanced workload ● Last in – First out● Too much travel● Waiting, waiting, waiting

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Why root cause analysis? 5 Why

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Why root cause analysis?

The Washington Monument was disintegrating

● Why? Because of harsh cleaning chemicals● Why were harsh cleaning chemicals used? To clean pigeon poop● Why was there so much pigeon poop? Too many pigeons● Why so many pigeons? They eat spiders and there are lots of

spiders at the monument● Why so many spiders? They eat gnats, and lots of gnats at the

monument● Why so many gnats? They are attracted to light at dawn and dusk,

and there is a lot of light on the monument at dawn and dusk

Root cause: Lighted monument at dawn and dusk

Solution: Turn off lights during dawn and dusk28

Application-Based Programs Generate A Lot OfFrustration for Citizens, and Waste for Public Service

● The Lean Approach to Application-based programs answers common key process/capacity questions from senior

management and political officials, such as:

○ How many applications are coming in every day?

○ How many applications are processed in a day? (i.e. what’s the daily throughput? = processing/decision speed)

■ How many resources are needed to process these?

■ Can this be better?

■ How many applications are eligible?

■ How many applications are ineligible?

● Why?

○ Do we have a backlog of applications? (e.g. applications that have not yet been processed)

■ Why?

■ What are we doing to address the backlog?

○ What are the top applicant inquiries/complaints?

■ Why?

■ What are we doing to address the inquiries/complains?

■ What improvements can we make to the process to eliminate the issues that are causing complaints?

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Proof it works/Example:

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Upstream Work

Inefficient processing flow - key staff members are overwhelmed with multiple functions and questions from all staff. (Other high performing) staff are not empowered to find solutions.

Lean (efficient) processing flow - roles and responsibilities are clear and information flows more efficiently. Key staff members are not overwhelmed, other high performing staff are empowered to find solutions.

Lean application processing

Proof it works/Example:

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Upstream Work

Application-Based Programs

Avoidable Work: Clear content

Original application content

● The definition in this checkbox was not clear

● 47% of all applicants selected this checkbox and the majority selected it in error

Proof it works/Example:

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Upstream Work

Application-Based Programs

After- Clear content

After clear content principle was applied

● After the definition was revised, most applicants selected the right checkbox

Participant Workbook:Page 3 - Map your process

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Plan, Do, Check, Adjust, (PDCA)

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