|
|
|
04/22/2011 10:38 AM
|
|
|
Governments have processes that run through different departments. They are functional organized, which means that running processes tend to clash against bulkheads. Here in the Netherlands governmental organizations are experimenting with socalled Proces-oriented organizations: processes are like supply chains and there are no departments but process teams 'doing' the complete process from start to end. Every process has a process owner who is responsible for the quality of the process and product/service and is responsible for the people doing their job in the process. No bulkheads.
Sounds clear, nevertheless there is resistance from managers. It appears that the root of the resistance comes from a natural preference to organize people in what they do and not in to what customer and process they are oriented. The logic of a functional division is stronger than the logic of the citizen/customer.
Introducing Lean, the functional organization will obstruct dramatical improvement.
Do you recognize this? Are their examples from other countries?
Bert Teeuwen
|
|
|
|
|
04/25/2011 10:03 AM
|
|
|
The issue is certainly not limited to government. The same thing happens everywhere we have sub-tasks where specialized skills and knowledge are required.
The reason the traditional organization does not work very well is:
- Each silo tends to be isolated from its customers and suppliers.
- Each function tends to batch and queue up work, causing delays as things sit in in-boxes or out-boxes.
But, as I said, this is certainly not unique to government. Any process where multiple departmental approvals or sign-offs are required is going to see the same issues.
|
|
|
|
|
04/25/2011 10:03 AM
|
|
|
Hi Bert
Whether it is a big company or a government, people try to build an empire around them, the more people under you the more important you are. The only good examples of Lean in government, come from departments like police and fire, where they need to do more with the same people, and their people understand there is no other option. There Lean helps them do a better job with the same resources. A really good example is the Jacksonville Florida sheriff's department they have adopted Lean very heavily.
Robert Drescher
ELSE Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
04/27/2011 10:49 PM
|
|
|
Not ot disagree with any of the above, one of the challenges for the government is to identify who the customer is. Where in private industry the customer is defined as the end user that pays for the product or service, this isn't always as clear cut, at least here in the States.
Over the past weeks, data has come out indicating that something like 40%+ plus of Americans don't pay income tax. While the exact figure is irrelevant let's apply this to Lean:
A. Who's the customer of the EPA? Individuals who don't pay income taxes? Individual who pay income tax? Corporation who pay income taxes? When a part is sold to a single customer this is easy to define. Identifying the customer requirements becomes a little more difficult as the number of customer's expands such as a a model line of cars, but within a certain scope the basic requirements are somewhat similar within a certain price range. Now lets look at emission controls and "Superfund", who are the EPA's customers and how varied are their requirements? Can they ever be satisfied or is it possible to "over"-satisfy? (Overprocessing)
B. How about higher education? Are the customers the students who pay tuition, or are they the general public whose taxes provide the subsidies and use the end product? (educated students)
The easy answer is to say they both are. The difficult challenge is to determine how to allocate and manage limited resources to efficiently satisfy all the customer's wants and needs
|
|
|
|
|
04/29/2011 05:22 PM
|
|
|
Hi All, excekkent observations with the whole lean thing in governments. I could not agree more with the comments made on "silos", "turf issues" and certain skills sets attributing to each. It ceratinly is evident in the US Dept of AG, not only on the IT side but also the business arena. In Ag's environment and I suspect other like type governments as well, much is predicted on how the orgins of organization cultural. There are many lean 6Sigma initiatvies ongoing within the AG environment, but very much disjointed.
If anyone has experience dealing with large bureaucratic government organizations and has some lessons learned, I would certainly like to engage in a dialog. Thx Ron
|
|
|
|
|
06/07/2011 12:42 PM
|
|
|
Bert,
In the United States Air Force, three things seemed to have to coagulate before effective change can take place:
1. A sense of urgency, usually caused by a budgetary problem or an impending crisis.
2. A change champion that has a large enough sphere of influence to sponsor necessary change.
3. A strategic motif clearly stated, that will perpetuate change past the tenure of the above mentioned champion ( we move to new jobs every three years, and transformation efforts usually take longer than that).
These three combined vectors proved in a few instances to be stronger than the power of silos and tradition, but the enemy of change is ever present in our organization and the fight is far from over.
|
|
|
|
|
06/13/2011 09:56 AM
|
|
|
leanwannabe,
In response to point A. I believe the government must exist in accordance with the Constitution of the US of A. I'm in the Defense sector of government, and the customer is clearly the American people. The people choose their representatives, and they have a right to good government whether they pay taxes or not. Therefore, it's the people's elected representatives who determine our requirements.
In Defense, we need to answer to the customer requirements as stated in the National Security Strategy. The EPA must have a national level strategy that is approved by elected officials ... this is your statement of customer requirements.
Of course, this is slow, beaurocratic and political, but it must be to ensure the "voice of the customer", the electorate, is adequately represented and heard.
Corporations are stakeholders and they are free to represent themselves through lobbyists and various media to advise and shape the agenda.
I think your question about overprocessing in government is very key and merits a lengthy discussion.
|
|
|
|
>
Community >
Forums
Send to a Friend
