Lean Government - Common Methods and Approaches

Common Methods and Approaches

Many Lean manufacturing methods have been adapted successfully to identify non-value added activities (waste) in administrative, transactional, and office processes common in government agencies. Several common Lean methods include:

Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – Value stream mapping refers to the activity of developing a high‐level visual representation of a process flow involved in delivering a product or service (a “value stream”) to customers. VSM events, which are typically 3-4 days, focus on identifying sources of non‐value added activity and prioritizing future improvement activities.

Kaizen – Kaizen means to change for the good of all. Kaizen activity is often focused in rapid process improvement events (kaizen events) that bring together a cross‐functional team for 3‐5 days to study a specific process and immediately implement process changes. Kaizen is based on the philosophy of continuous improvement.

5S – 5S is the name of a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words which, translated into English, start with the letter S—Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain.

As more and more government services are delivered electronically, Lean government initiatives are commonly applications of Lean IT.

Lean government approaches typically have the following characteristics:

• Take a customer service perspective that seeks to optimize value delivered to the public, the regulated community, and/or other stakeholders;
• Involve employees and external stakeholders in continual improvements and problem-solving activities;
• Deploy a rapid continuous improvement framework that emphasizes implementation over prolonged planning;
• Seek to reduce the complexity of processes and the variation in process outputs;
• Use performance metrics and visual controls to provide rapid feedback to improve real-time decision-making and problem-solving; and
• Approach improvement activities using systems thinking.

Lean government does not necessarily promote low taxes, only efficient use of those taxes levied. Tax policy is discerned by the legislative and executive branches of government with oversight of the judicial branch of government. Lean government is implemented by the administrative function of government through executive order, legislative mandate, or departmental administrative decisions. Lean government can be applied in legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.