Healthcare…
Because improvement matters, we all deserve the best healthcare (as patients) and the best healthcare workplaces (as nurses, physicians, pharmacists, or other healthcare professionals). More highly engaged staff leads to better safety, better quality, and lower cost. That's the passion that drives me.
… And Beyond Into Other Industries
With my background in engineering, business, and manufacturing, I have varied experience and practical methods that can be used in many industries and settings, from the shop floor to the office to the executive suite, in hospitals, software companies, and beyond.
Measures of Success Workshops
- “Measures of Success” – learning the best way to manage our metrics, connecting that to the way we improve systems and processes
Kaizen and Continuous Improvement Coaching
See workshops and services related to my book, Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements.
One very successful and popular approach is the “Kaizen Kickoff” workshop, where we work together to start continuous improvement practices, coaching leaders and staff to get the ball rolling. And it's not just healthcare — I've taught and coached groups in various service sector settings, including a non-profit and a utility services company.
As an independent practitioner, I prefer to help clients by focusing on short, strategic (or tactical) engagements that provide specific experiences or value to an organization, leadership team, staff, and patients. I can also serve as an advisor or coach in an ongoing relationship. I generally work with people on-site, but I can also do virtual coaching.
Learn more about my various workshops on Lean, Psychological Safety, change management, and other topics.
My clients appreciate a consultant whose style is teaching and coaching — with a big dose of learning by doing — to guide leaders and team members in how to practice Lean methods and learn Lean mindsets.
One former client said, in a published case study:
“Lean wasn’t done to us. We participated in the process and learned from it.”
At another client, a front-line staff member said:
“You're not like other consultants. You're teaching us how to figure things out ourselves.”
Comments from a Client CEO:
Read what one client wrote about Mark Graban's visit to his health system in a blog post:
“We got Lean at NorthBay last week during two one-day sessions for managers.
Our seminar leader, Mark Graban, a consultant, author, keynote speaker and blogger, is the author of Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety and Employee Engagement. The principles of Lean were presented to more than 60 NorthBay attendees.
We heard some eye-opening examples of how applying Lean principles made significant improvements possible in hospitals and physician practices. These examples helped to open minds about how lean could make NorthBay Healthcare and how we can become an even better provider of health care. The reaction from the NorthBayers in attendance was uniformly positive.
To the question why should NorthBay embark on the Lean journey, I say “kaizen”! It's a good idea.”
Areas where Mark Graban can help:
- Establishing systems and processes for harnessing staff suggestions and improvement ideas, coaching managers and leaders in the mechanics and the soft skills of “kaizen” (as featured in my book Healthcare Kaizen).
- Lean healthcare strategy – how to get started, selecting a long-term consultant, etc.
- Assessing your existing Lean transformation approach – what is working well, what are opportunities for improvement?
- Understanding and improving psychological safety
- Teaching your staff members how to observe their workflows in a structured and systematic way to drive improvement and identify waste
- Current-state and future-state value stream mapping
- Coaching managers and front-line staff in identifying waste, with an eye for improving quality and improving flow
- Executive Lean education and coaching
- Teaching and coaching on problem-solving skills and methods
- Designing and implementing kanban systems for effective materials management
- Leading “Lean design” activities with staff, leaders, and architects
- Patient flow improvements
- Lean laboratory flow and turnaround time improvements
- Much, much more
Contact Mark or click here to reach me for more information.
Published case studies and articles about Mark Graban's work:
- Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee, Illinois — PDF
- Children's Hospital (confidential location) — PDF
- NHS Northampton General Hospital, England – Summary of Lab Work — NGH-summary
Mark is fully trained and certified in HIPPA compliance, bloodborne pathogen awareness, and all other requirements of a vendor certification process. Constancy, Inc. is incorporated in the State of Texas.