Common roles in lean include: senior management, lean event sponsor, lean event team and process employees.
Senior Management
Senior management engagement and commitment is the most important factor in long-term success. Lean is a top-down drive to change the culture to one of continuous improvement.
Lean Event Sponsor
The critical role of a team sponsor is to support the team, both during and after the event. To ensure team success a sponsor must be:
Passionate - Enthusiastic support of the team
Strategic - Utilizing the event activity to advance a business objective by improving the performance of the targeted process while being aware of the impact to the total system
Committed - Engaged from pre-event planning through sustainment
Willing to Take Risks - Encourage creative thinking to drive paradigm breaking results
Open Minded - Influence the team to develop the best solution without introducing pre-conceived ideas
Lean Event Team
The team is expected to attend the entire event and fully participate by providing input and ideas. The team is also expected to complete assignments identified during the meeting or tasks that may be defined after the event. The members should be cross-functional. Remember the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 Rule:
1/3 who work directly on or are close to the process
1/3 who are somewhat touched by the process
1/3 who have no knowledge of the process, i.e., external stakeholders/customers
The ideal team has 12 members, although larger teams may be accommodated as necessary.
Process Employees
Employees not directly involved on the team may be asked questions by team members to clarify your part in the process. Team members may observe and time employees while they complete a step in the process, or discuss the time necessary to complete a step. Events are performed under the assumption that everyone involved is already doing their best – but with some assistance, efforts can be altered to reduce steps, delays, and time, with no loss of performance or quality.