by Leandro Barretiri
Last week, we all had an amazing opportunity to attend a Continuous Improvement (CI) training day. With a special guest from DEFRA, we embarked on a journey of growth and transformation. This blog post will walk you through the highlights of our training and the positive changes it can bring us.
After spending some days preparing for the event, and just 20 minutes before it began, I realized I had forgotten something crucial – checking the technical equipment in the room. Things like sound, lights, Wi-Fi, and the slide projector. Murphy’s Law, right? Fortunately, with help from Dem Services and ICT colleagues, we managed to recharge and reconnect the iPad controlling the whiteboard and find an HDMI cable to connect laptop to the projector with a few minutes to spare!
As the session began, I noticed that the screen setup wasn’t right for the projector, and we didn’t have a wireless presenter to switch slides. For a few minutes, I worried about the session’s quality. But as I saw how engaged the participants were, I relaxed and started thinking about how collaborative and inclusive MVDC is as an organization. I had forgotten something important, but I received amazing support from our colleagues – a big thanks to all.
We began our journey by looking at the progress we’ve made in our transformation programme so far, including introducing Continuous Improvement (CI) in a way that’s easy to understand. In simple words, CI is a systematic approach to make small, long-lasting improvements in how we do things. It’s like fine-tuning the way we work to cut out waste and get better results.
Our training also covered important Continuous Improvement (CI) concepts. We took a closer look at being customer-focused, which means making sure what we do matches what our customers need. We also talked about eight types of waste (anything that add no value to a service), like waiting and defects, which we identified as the top three waste problems in an online poll. Lastly, we discussed failure demand, stressing the importance of getting things right the first time and giving clear information.
Participants in the session were given hands-on tasks to apply what we’ve learned about Continuous Improvement (CI). We were given forms to track waste and failure demand within internal services. In the next three weeks, we’ll fill out these forms and then come back together to chat about what we found.
As a final update, we discussed one of our first Continuous Improvement (CI) projects in MVDC, aimed at improving the allotment management process. This marked our initial CI effort, with participation from various services linked to or affected by the allotment process.
As an additional info, we now hold a list of 92 improvement ideas from our service review under the CI category. To make sure we’re focusing on the most value adding ones first, on October 19, 2023, during the upcoming Strategic Design Authority (SDA) meeting, we’ll be picking the top 12 initiatives from this list as our year one priorities. This is an important step in prioritising continuous improvement a regular part of how we work in MVDC – embedding a CI culture.
In a nutshell, feedback was that our CI training day was valuable. It’s given us a foundation of skills, tools, and a fresh perspective that will help us on our transformation journey. As we go ahead, we’re excited to put these ideas into action, spark innovation, and keep making our work even better. Keep an eye out for more updates on our journey toward growth and positive change.
For those who were unable to attend last week, we’ve made the training handout available online, which includes the “Waste Identification Form” and the “Failure Demand Identification Form.” If you’re interested in taking on the challenge and completing these forms, we invite you to join us at our upcoming meeting on November 1st (10 – 11am or 03 – 04pm). To express your interest in participating in the CI forms review meeting, please reach out to me at Leandro.barretiri@molevalley.gov.uk. We look forward to your involvement!
Should you have any inquiries or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Transformation Team. Additionally, we warmly welcome you to visit us in person at your convenience for a face-to-face discussion. We are delighted to connect with you and discuss these valuable topics.
Don’t forget about Transformation and CI online trainings available for you at out Mole Valley Learn Go1 portal.
Here is a selection of eLearning courses that are currently available:
- Dealing with Change
- Creating a Digital Culture
- Project Management Module
- Introduction to Continuous Improvement
- Introduction to Business Improvement Techniques