Dr. Shannon Flumerfelt presents on Lean change management

The Greater Detroit American Society of Training and Development held a presentation on Lean change management Wednesday, June 23 at the Michigan Education center located in Troy.

The presentation was given by Dr. Shannon Flumerfelt, associate professor in Educational Leadership at Oakland University and director of Lean Thinking for Schools at the OU Pawley Lean Institute, and Debra Setman, change leader of enterprise supply chain at Johnson & Johnson and Michigan Lean Consortium chair.

Flumerfelt, who could not attend in person, presented via webcam using Elluminate software.

Focusing on the basic concepts of Lean and change management, the presenters discussed how Lean can provide a structure to continuous improvement and how change management can provide organizations with a structure to accomplish a set of goals.

Flumerfelt provided a review of Lean and discussed what change management can look like in an organization, while Setman spoke about the change management curve, sighting specific examples from her experiences at Johnson & Johnson.

“[The change management curve] is a way of looking at change management from inside someone’s mind to a wide organization’s view, and the steps to go through as they change,” Setman said.

Setman also mentioned her involvement in the Michigan Lean Consortium, a non-profit organization comprised of Lean professionals who come together to share innovative practices in order to build a Lean culture in Michigan in the hopes of creating economic growth in the state.

According to Flumerfelt and Setman, the audience of about 50 people was made up of trainers and developers who were interested in Lean. Setman also said that the audience showed a lot of interest and energy at the presentation, asking many questions.

“We were trying to impact the dispositions as well as the actions that people take in an organization,” said Flumerfelt, who presents Lean at conferences and trainings across the country as part of the Pawley Lean Institute.

For more information about the Pawley Lean Institute, visit www.oakland.edu/lean.