Value Stream Mapping - Facilitator's Guide
Value Stream Mapping - Facilitator's Guide
Value Stream Mapping - Facilitator's Guide
There are many ways to build a Value Stream Map. This workshop
approach is intended for knowledge and service work, where
processes are more flexible and concrete measures less available.
Contents
Introduction......................................................................2
The Process-at-a-Glance............................................ 4
Roles & Responsibilities .............................................5
Workshop Preparation................................................ 6
Setting Up the Map..................................................... 13
Workshop Agenda.......................................................14
Leading the Workshop.............................................. 15
Managing Time Across Sessions............................ 21
Three Ways to Document Results........................ 22
Resources for Achieving Meeting Mastery ...... 23
About the Author........................................................ 24
This guide walks you through the creation of a current state Value
Stream Map (VSM) and identification of both kaizen “quick win”
changes and big change projects. A current state VSM shows the
process as it works today, reviewing a recent experience or a specific
case, not as it worked in the past nor how we might wish it to work
in the future.
Stepping back from a VSM, people can see a workflow and often
grasp its full scope for the first time. They discover workflow
bottlenecks or disconnects, and transfers between groups that
hinder progress. They can identify lost time, defects and the “churn”
of rework. They may see opportunities to help people downstream
of them or inform those upstream of their needs or timing. It is
often best to map an actual recent case of service or knowledge
work, such as the last product designed or the last service offering
delivery.
lanes with the tasks step 1 , Group 4 step 1 step 2 step 3 step 4 step 5
decisions , and
work in process inventories Group 3 step 1 step 2 step 3 step 4
they complete as part Group 2 step 1 step 2 step 3 step 4 step 5 step 6
on “bursts” or big changes Group 1 step 1 step 2 step 3 step 4 step 5 step 6 step 7 step 8
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Pre-Workshop
Initial Planning Meeting
The facilitator schedules and leads the pre-workshop meetings.
Closing
For example, a VSM for knowledge work can help identify problems
that arise when different groups need to share information,
highlighting opportunities to standardize the way information is
stored and formatted.
Or, service organizations might use a VSM to find times when a
customer is left waiting too long, and work to eliminate delays in the
work process, a common example in hospital emergency rooms.
After clarifying the operations issue, review the project charter form
(see details on the next page) and discuss the workshop purpose,
scope, target date and time allocation for the event. A VSM requires
cross-functional flow and collaboration, so it’s important that all
functional leaders buy in to the need for a full VSM and attend.
Note: If the champion cannot get buy-in from key functional leaders,
elevate the disagreement to the higher sponsor to resolve these
commitment issues and consider delaying the workshop, or reducing
the scope to those who agree. The coach or facilitator should never
take the role of sponsor, as s/he will usually lack the line authority to
implement kaizen quick wins or big changes.
Decide also if it make sense to collect task measures of job cycle
times, total lead time through to completed result to a customer,
wait times, and similar quality measures.
These measures aren’t often automatically collected for knowledge
or service work, but if they will be useful here, decide that up front.
These measures can also just be estimated within the process to give
a qualitative sense of the room for improvement.
Pre-Workshop
Planning Meeting 2
Discuss Concerns
Define Schedule
5 Closing
Once the participant list looks good, surface and discuss any of
the key players’ doubts or misconceptions about what the VSM
workshop will accomplish and the time and effort it will require to
be successful. They should be aware that both quick wins and big
changes will be required, and big changes such as new technology
could require funds and weeks or months to complete.
1 2 3 4 5
Group 4
Group 3
Group 2
Group 1
Welcome
Level-Setting Presentations
7 Final Review:
Identify Bursts and Prioritize Action List
8 Closing
2 Level-Setting Presentations
(If needed)
Functional leaders now present the level-setting
information they prepared, giving participants a
common understanding of the business background and
information related to the VSM.
Keep all presentations on time by signaling the
presenter when five minutes remain in any presentation.
Following each presentation, take no more than 5
minutes to add any issues raised to a “parking lot”.
These issues will be incorporated in the later VSM
discussions.
1 2 3 4 5
Take a Break
7 Final Review:
Identify Bursts and Prioritize Action List
During the final review, call out anywhere “bursts”, or
big changes, are needed. These will be places there is
lots of waste or churn of communications, indicating
major issues that need to be addressed.
“Bursts” create big-change solutions. A problem-solving
team(s) should be assigned to each burst following the
workshop.
8 Closing
Finish the workshop strong by reviewing the results and
confirming next steps.
• Confirm action items and deliverables.
Review the items on the action list and check off
the deliverables on the workshop plan.
• Address the parking lot.
If issues remain on the parking lot and need to
be worked in a future session, clarify them. Close
out the initial parking lot list with assignments or
elevation to higher responsible managers.
• Assign bursts.
Identify team members and a leader or co-
leaders for burst projects.
• Decide: is a future state VSM justified?
Discuss the need for a second workshop to
define a radically better future state process
vision. If the group decides a future state VSM is
not needed, they are saying that improving the
current state is sufficient to meet the workshop
purpose and scope.
• Preview the follow-up meeting schedule and
messages to communicate.
Clarify the date for the next follow-up meeting
and discuss how the results of the workshop
will be shared with functional groups. Then, if a
closing presentation is needed for the sponsor(s),
run through it prior to his or her arrival.
• Plus/Delta
Complete a brief reflection at the end of the VSM
on what worked well (pluses) and what should be
changed for future workshops (deltas). Polling a
sample of participants works well and saves time.
Books
Karen Martin and Mike Osterling
Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and
Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation,
McGraw-Hill Education (2013)
Mike Rother and John Shook
Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to Add
Value and Eliminate Muda
Lean Enterprise Institute (1999)
On the Web
Monthly meet-ups among lean practitioners are
listed online.