Lean IT Foundation & Leadership (LITA)
This five-day course leads to the Lean IT Association foundation and Lean IT Leadership exams. Candidates will be taken from foundational understanding through to getting a practical appreciation of how to apply Lean IT Principles to specific business problems, pain points, trigger events and waste scenarios within the organisation. They will learn how to implement and apply Kaizen improvement activities into their enterprise and how to efficiently use it for client initiatives, and how to effectively use Lean IT for different organisational scenarios.
The leadership learning objectives are focused on building on the learning objectives from the Lean IT Foundation to provide a specific Lean leadership development training for IT professionals in a leadership role, both formal (i.e. managerial) and informal.
The course will make use of the Lean A3 tool as the basis for progressively investigating all aspects of Lean IT Leadership. The aim is to ensure that each participant gains a detailed view of their personal Lean IT Leadership development by the end of the course.
Application of learning outcomes will be demonstrated by each student through the completion of an A3. Validate the creation of the A3 as part of the class outcomes.
The Lean IT Leader is someone who is committed to ensuring that the IT organization embraces Lean principles and operational excellence as its way of operating, and can be at any level of the organization in any ‘department’.
The course material is supported by practical case-based exercises. Candidates will learn how to apply the Lean IT approach to address customer value requirements and establish and maintain a sustainable approach to long term improvement of value delivery from IT.
This five-day course leads to the Lean IT Association foundation and Lean IT Leadership exams. During the course delegates, will get the opportunity to prepare for the exam and utilise our extensive database of practice questions. This course will enable delegates to gain both a foundational understanding of all the key parts of the Lean It approach and a more in-depth focus in IT Lean Leadership, this includes:
Introduction to Lean
Lean IT Dimensions: Customer
Lean IT Dimensions: Process
Lean IT Dimensions: Performance
Lean IT Dimensions: Organisation
Lean IT Dimensions: Behaviour & Attitude
Kaizen Continual Improvement
Lean IT Foundation Exam Preparation
Develop yourself toward becoming a Lean IT leader
Understand Cascading Communication
Establish vision, mission and improvement prioritisation with all levels of stakeholders
Use the Lean IT Leadership development model
Apply Walking the process (Gemba)
Use Lean Visual Management and Meeting Structure
Apply Employee Performance dialogue and review processes
Plan and organise for a Lean IT Organisation
Develop a holistic measurement framework
Plan and design Lean organisation transformational strategies
Although there is no mandatory requirement, ideally candidates should have at least two years professional experience working a process environment. The Lean IT Leadership qualification would suit candidates working in the following professions or areas:
CxO’s
IT Managers/ Directors
Senior Project Officers
Project & Program Coordinator/Managers
Operations Managers
Quality Managers
Business Analysts
Engineering Managers
IT Infrastructure Managers
Internal Consultants
Professional Consultants
This qualification is aimed at anyone working within a quality improvement environment that has responsibilities for identifying, assessing, planning, or managing improvement activities, or reporting on continual improvement activities across the organisation.
The above list is a suggestion only; individuals may wish to attend based on their own career aspirations, personal goals or objectives.
The Lean IT Foundation certificate is required to take the Lean IT Leadership exam.
Whilst the Lean IT Kaizen level is not a pre-requisite, candidates who complete the Lean IT Leadership scheme can benefit substantially from first understanding the Lean IT Kaizen role. One of the core tasks of Lean IT Leadership is driving and teaching continuous improvement, and the tools for this task are covered in detail in the Kaizen course.
Module 1 – Introduction to Lean
History of Lean
Key Principles of Lean
Aspects of Lean
Customer Defined Activities
8 types of waste
Primary drivers of Lean
Lean and Six Sigma
Characteristics of Lean IT
Module 2 – Lean IT Dimensions: Customer
What is value
The customers
Critical to Quality
Voice of the customer
Module 3 – Lean IT Dimensions: Process
Value streams and processes
Process elements
Basic processes
Push vs pull systems
SIPOC
Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
Lean IT Time
Process metrics
The 5 s concept
Heijunka
Module 4 – Lean IT Dimensions: Performance
Defining performance
Performance indicators
Defining KPI’s
Time usage
Process Cycle Efficiency (PCE)
Skills and Knowledge
Module 5 – Lean IT Dimensions: Organisation
Organisation structures
Key behaviour
Organising Lean IT
Communications cascade
Objectives, feedback and performance
Performance dialogue
Visual management
Work boards
Module 6 – Lean IT Dimensions: Behaviour & Attitude
The Lean mind-set
The Lean attitude
Lean Behaviours
Lean transformation
Lean leadership
Jidoka
Module 7 – Kaizen Continual Improvement
Continuous improvement
Kaizen events
Business benefits criteria
Feasibility criteria
Selecting a subject for a Kaizen event
Roles in a Kaizen event
A3 Method
Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control
Common Kaizen tools
Common Kaizen Pitfalls
Module 8 – Introduction to Lean Leadership
Shingo Model: four key guiding principles
Key components to systems thinking
Definition of a True Value north
Lean style of leadership
Four aspects of the lean leadership development model
Five flows of IT value as defined by bell
Organisational context of the IT leader
Leadership aspects applied to the IT organisational context
Module 9 – Committing to Self-Development
Self-development principles and requirements
Leaders standard work
Resources efficiency vs Flow efficiency
Kaizen mind-set: always seek improvement
Accountability: role of taking responsibility in a lean IT setting
Kata of leadership
PDCA cycle for practicing lean leadership to the Gemba
Module 10 – Helping Others to Develop
Definition of Genchi Genbutsu/Nemawashi
T-type leadership
5 Whys: method for finding the route cause
Questioning techniques
Importance of Lean IT leadership in eliminating Mura and Muri
Gemba walk contrasted with a gallery walk
Module 11 – Continuous Improvement
Definition of continuous improvement
Daily Kaizen and Kaizen events
Definition and key characteristics of a team (Katzenbach & Smith)
The core elements of the Kaizen mind-set
Importance of standard reference models as the basis of improvement
The five levels of team development (Lencioni)
Characteristics of IT teams – technically-oriented, project-based, customer-oriented
Module 12 – Vision, Goals and Communication
Performing dialogue: Leading meetings and listening skills
Nemawashi for ensuring adoption strategy and policy and execution of projects
Noshin Kanri: method for translating strategy to operations
The key aspects of performance dialogue
Visual management – for development, IT operations, service desk
Cascade and catchball mechanism
The aim of the Pyramid principle
MECE and its use
The goal of a change story
Module 13 – Lean IT Transformation
Business case for a Lean IT transformation
Eight mistakes when carrying out a transformation, and their mitigation
Key phases in accepting change
The importance of a change story
5 lean IT dimensions for structuring Lean IT transformation
7 phases of the transition curve
3 key phases of the organisational level of a Lean IT transformation
Role of the Lean IT Leader in relation to the Lean IT Coach
The top down and bottom up aspects of a Lean IT transformation
Module – 14 The A3 Method
Goals of the A3 method
Sections of the A3 report
Advance-Prepare-Do-Check cycle
Organise information into the A3 format
Communicate the key message and create involvement
Define personal Lean IT Leadership goals