Is Lean the umbrella and then you attack it with Six Sigma projects or is it mostly Lean? Or, mostly Six Sigma? What’s the relationship between the two? -jd
Jason Kilgore: Well, from a project management standpoint and I have to try a little bit of project management I by nature because of my background in Six Sigma always follow Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve and Control framework. From that respect, it is Six Sigma like, but Lean is really what tends to resonate with people. When I go to a project, I usually don’t get a well-defined project like what’s described in Six Sigma training. I am usually told to figure out what’s wrong in the department XYZ and fix it. I don’t always know what fix it means. I just know there is a problem, and I need to look at it.
Following the Six Sigma framework in my head, I try to define it and figure how we are going to measure. But, what I find resonates with people is really the Lean principles of streamlining, reducing, defining the process and in many cases, I find that no process really exists. Once you get outside of the manufacturing world, people have a very different idea of what process means and what a process is and so that is where I typically started with a value stream map to map out the process, understand what’s going on and then from there, applying the appropriate Lean technique depending of both the process and the problem.
Joe: I liked how you say that because most of the time, people do say let’s just go and fix it. Nobody is out there really thinking there is this grand project we need to go through. They just want to fix it, and usually that is the direction you get from people.
Jason: Yes, absolutely. And for projects like that, the people that are actually in the process doing the work are a great source of information. When I go to them and say hey, I understand there is an issue here. How can I help? Usually, that is all I have to say because especially in health care especially with nurses and doctors, they are not shy. They will lay it on the table, what needs to be fixed. They don’t always have a good idea on how to fix it, but then that is where I come in. I do the research, analyze the problem, figure out who and what resources are needed and then run it like a Six Sigma project behind the scenes.
Related Podcast and Transcription: Manufacturing to Healthcare
Jason Kilgore is a Business Process Manager for Riverside Health System in Newport News, Virginia, where he has utilized his expertise in Project Management, Lean, and Six Sigma (Black Belt) to streamline processes, saving millions of dollars annually.
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