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AFMOA launches new, lean approach

  • Published
  • By Technical Sergeant Rolando A. Guerrero
  • Air Force Medical Operations Agency
Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland --  The Air Force Medical Operations Agency took a step toward creating a robust process improvement culture recently by implementing "Lean Management Rounds." 

Lean Management Rounds are an extension of the Air Force Problem Solving model and create a vehicle for senior leaders to speak with front-line staff about their challenges.  The venue also allows senior leaders to coach lean thinking and assist if additional resources are needed.

"We needed to change the way we approached our problems," said Brig.  Gen. Lee  Payne, Commander of AFMOA.  "I too needed to re-evaluate how I lead and I asked my staff to do the same."

The launch was preceded by 16 weeks of planning.  "We knew we needed our senior leaders' buy-in to this different approach," said Ms. Beth Kohsin, Director of Transformation. "During this process, we kept our leadership informed and laid out a plan to educate our staff." 

The Office of Transformation's team of Air Force Smart Operations Black Belts began the arduous task of planning and educating 27 different rounding sites.  Additionally, one-on-one coaching sessions were conducted to assist personnel in clarifying the goal and identifying the ways to measure and track that goal.

At the conclusion of the Lean Management Rounds, Payne and his directors met to discuss what they learned and if any additional assistance was needed.  Col. Roseanne Warner, Director of Air Force Nursing Operations, said "It was nice to be able to coach our personnel and to see them make the connection...you could see the light bulbs come on."

This first step in creating and fostering process improvement may seem like a small step, but AFMOA coaches and partners with 75 Military Treatment Facilities worldwide.  Now, armed with this new approach, AFMOA is in position to provide better service to those facilities that care for our most valuable asset, our military family.