December 1 , 2004

Bend the Curve Value Stream Mapping Update

Good afternoon! I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

I wanted to take a few moments to update you on Bend the Curve activities. The Value Stream Mapping (VSM) teams that met in early November continue to work. As I reported last time, we didn't get through the entire VSM process at our conference. The teams are continuing to work at this time to complete the Future State Maps and to measure the changes from the Current State Maps. There will be a meeting of VSM Sponsors and Managers this Friday to determine the status of each team, and to identify any assistance that is needed to complete the Maps. I'll share those status reports with you next week.

In addition, we are planning a series of periodic team check-ins. These will occur every six weeks, and will be used to update team members on what's happening with the process, to keep the momentum going, and to identify any roadblocks that have been hit. The first of these half-day sessions will be held the morning of December 16. A location will be identified shortly. I do understand that this is short notice. I, along with the Project Team, felt strongly about a check-in before the upcoming holidays. For those of you on a VSM team, please make every effort to clear your calendars for that morning. Two additional half-day sessions have been scheduled: February 3 and March 17. Please hold these dates as well. It is our intention that by the March 17 session, that some of the current VSM teams will be winding down, and new teams will have been formed. This will be an opportunity for those who didn't get to participate in the current round to do so.

Another opportunity for involvement surrounds our need for facilitators. One of the stumbling blocks we have hit is the availability of facilitators to work with the VSM teams. We are looking to develop in-house facilitation skills that can be used not only for BTC, but also in our everyday work. In the next week, we'll be sending out requests for people who are interested in becoming a certified facilitator. This request will be open to all MDOL employees and partners. There will be certain minimum requirements, but specific skills will be learned during a one-week training event to be held mid-January. More information will be provided in the next week.

Have a great week!

Back to Bend the Curve homepage