Help your work processes be more efficient
The Center for Government Innovation’s Lean specialists can help you make your government’s work processes more effective and sustainable.
Whether it’s permitting, payroll, purchasing or any other workflow, we can help you develop unique solutions that mean greater success for your organization.
Lean services are available at no cost to Washington governments.
Schedule your Lean experience today!
What is Lean?
Nearly everything you do in your organization has a workflow or process involved. There are obvious processes, like permitting or utility billing, and others you may not have considered, like the process you use to create council meeting agendas, immunize patients, or coordinate work with the courts. Much of our work in government can be broken down into individual steps.
Over time though, as employees or technologies change, your processes may not be as efficient or effective as they once were, or maybe you’ve been doing the same thing for 25 years and it’s time to see how a process could be improved. This is where Lean helps.
Lean is a methodology applied to process improvements for all kinds of work. It leads to innovative ways of making existing work more efficient, services more customer-focused and change more empowering for staff.
Customize your Lean experience
We design Lean services specifically to meet your government’s needs. Your Lean journey might start with training and facilitation, or maybe you’re ready for more in-depth Lean concepts for high-performing organizations.
A typical Lean engagement is done onsite at your agency, although we offer a virtual format as well. Our webinar on improving permitting processes (June 2024) is a great example:
Costs
Lean services are available at no cost to Washington governments.
Success stories
We have worked with Washington governments for years and take pride in our ability to help you optimize efficiency, quality and customer service. Here are a just handful of our success stories.
Cowlitz County: Real Estate Excise Tax and Court Dockets (opens new tab) – Improving handoffs and coordination among departments was a significant benefit of developing a Lean approach to government in Cowlitz County.
Kittitas County Permitting (new tab) – Focusing on single-family construction helped this county examine all of their services to issue permits more quickly.
City of Ridgefield (new tab) – By taking a deep dive into the utility billing process, the city was able to get more customers onto autopay, streamline the monthly shutoff process, and reduce the number of shutoffs during a period when the number of accounts was increasing.
Neill Public Library in Pullman – Pullman city leadership wanted to instill a culture of process improvement by using the Lean method in city operations. The library, meanwhile, already had started to work on improving customer experience. Library staff weren’t familiar with Lean, though, making the library a natural place for a pilot project.
Walla Walla Treasurer’s Office – Freeing up staff time for other important tasks helped the Treasurer’s Office employees become quick and efficient at their daily work.
Benton-Franklin Health District – The Benton Franklin Health District used Lean to improve its immunization process, making it more efficient for customers and staff.
Lean resources
The Lean charter document – This 15-minute e-Learning describes what a charter document is and why it’s important, along with step-by-step instructions to create your own.
Ready to get started?
Contact the Center for Government Innovation to learn more about Lean services and how we can customize a project to meet your agency’s needs.
- Phone: 564-999-0818
- Email: Center@sao.wa.gov
Looking for a flyer about Lean to share with others in your organization? Download a Lean flyer (PDF).