Dr. Tyson R. Browning

Leading Operational Excellence

An interactive course with industry examples, exercises, and discussion...

for Executives and Managers

Contemporary organizations face challenges of increasing complexity and interdependency in their work, from unique projects to ongoing operations. Many enterprises fail to achieve strategic goals because of poor operational implementation and execution, and a great amount of organizational work fails to meet expectations for time, cost, and quality. New approaches and insights are available for sustainable success: This course delivers critical knowledge about how to lead and manage in such a way that the work in an organization is done right—and how to make sure it’s the right work.

“There’s got to be a better way to do this.” We often think this about the work we manage or do. We want our results to be good, but how do we ensure quality results—consistently—while also being efficient? Or, in the current economy, maybe the better question is: How can we work more efficiently without sacrificing quality and resiliency? How can we get “leaner” without becoming emaciated and brittle? Can we cut costs without cutting the workforce? Colleagues and direct reports may have a variety of suggestions for change, and approaches such as Lean and Six Sigma promise improvements, but how can we know what will work in a particular situation? These are the types of questions that this course will help you answer. While the specific answers will vary by industry and company, powerful tools are available to help you analyze the situation and find those answers. Do you know those tools? Do you (or does your company) know how and when and to what extent to use them? Do you ever wonder if some efforts at change such as Lean and Six Sigma are misguided? This course is geared towards giving you the key to unlocking the answers and gaining insight to the real possibilities for the better ways of doing work, whether you work on products or services or both.

Main Topics

  • Aligning company strategy and operational capabilities

  • Integrating marketing, engineering, and production functions

  • Processes to design and produce products and services

  • Making processes measurable, effective, efficient, consistent, and value-adding

  • Applying the right amount of the right process improvement tools (Lean, Six Sigma, etc.) at the right times

  • Discerning real process improvements from temporary “mirages” (why improvements fail)

  • Distilling key approaches and insights for operational excellence

Who should attend?

  • Executives, managers, and professionals with responsibilities for determining, planning, and/or managing work, including planning, scheduling, budgeting, monitoring, and controlling

  • Individuals from all departments in a firm, including, but not limited to: Strategy, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Research and Development, Information Technology, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, and Supply Chain Management

What will you gain?

  • An ability to recognize and avoid critical pitfalls in managing diverse kinds of work

  • Critical questions to ask to uncover problems before they become crises

  • A system view of your organization, and how to see where and how value emerges from the various parts

  • Understanding when (and when not) to improve productivity, utilization, efficiency, effectiveness, and value

  • Leading-edge techniques and best practices

  • An ability to spot high-leverage points in processes, where small changes can yield huge benefits

  • Become a thought leader on risk management in your organization

  • An opportunity to network with industry colleagues