The Role of the Lean Champion

 

Companies adopting and deploying Lean and aspiring to become Lean Enterprises are often driven internally by a dedicated Lean Champion. The role is usually assigned to an individual exemplifying the drive, leadership, training, and commitment to lead a company towards improving the organization’s operational performance, a.k.a. Operational Excellence or OPEX, as well as improve product and service quality and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 

Lean champions are often the most critical part of a Lean deployment initiative, by providing the knowledge, vision and dedicated focus required to maintain the momentum of continuous improvement across the organisation. Lean champions typically have varied responsibilities and can come from different areas of the organization. Often times the individuals have a role within the company that represent the operational side of the business.

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It’s not uncommon to find a senior Executive, such as a vice-president, spearheading the organization’s Lean initiative; however, most often, the role of the Lean Champion is assigned to the middle management and supervisory levels in the organisation. Some may contend that it may be harder to affect change from these organisational levels, but, the most important element of championship is the person’s ability to relate to, and level with, those he or she is leading. Successful Lean leaders are people who have earned the trust and respect from both upper management and the front line workers.

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Champions are more than just process improvement leaders. They also:

• Set the vision, goals, objectives, and KPIs associated with the Lean deployment and ensure that same are aligned with the business goals and objectives

• Ensure that the goals and objectives of improvement projects are aligned with the above corporate goals and objectives.

• Are effective project managers, who understand the underlying business issues that must be addressed through the Lean deployment.

• Act as trainers and coaches, educating the workforce on the fundamentals of Lean and the importance of the Lean deployment for the future of the organisation.

• Act as facilitators, helping to address organizational issues, and keeping Lean deployment-related activities on schedule.

• Have the ability to inspire and motivate others.

 

Successful Lean Champions seem to communicate effectively and work well with all organisational levels, skilfully navigating through the organizational politics, red tape and other roadblocks.

• An effective lean champion is someone who has a clear vision, good communication skills, and a relentless drive to implement change that will improve everyday work life.

 

Teaching the philosophy of Lean Thinking, and training people in the associated principles, concepts, tools and techniques is relatively simple; however, driving organizational cultural change is nearly impossible without a Lean Champion.

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Companies at their infancy in Lean deployment need to appoint an experienced Champion to help and support them through the cultural change process and the Lean way of thinking and working.

• Seeking outside consultant assistance for training, coaching, and guidance in the development of the Lean Champion is a common approach to get started.

• Engaging with a Lean subject matter expert (SME) will provide the classroom knowledge base, and mentor the Champion in how to successfully facilitate improvement projects.

 

The most effective way to accomplish this is by hosting an organized event, or series of events, under the guidance of a Lean Coach, a.k.a. Lean Sensei, to enable the Lean Champion gain practical lean experience within their own working environment.

 

N.B. An important point, often overlooked by companies adopting Lean, and committing time, money, and other resources to support the Lean deployment and spearhead their efforts, is that the Champion cannot be successful without visible commitment, engagement, and support from the top management.

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