Best Practices
Bright Spot: Mark Smith
Sometimes it feels as though there isn’t enough time in the workday, especially to have a one-on-one meeting. Just ask Mark Smith of Denver Human Services. On August 17, 2015, […]
Sometimes it feels as though there isn’t enough time in the workday, especially to have a one-on-one meeting. Just ask Mark Smith of Denver Human Services.
On August 17, 2015, Mark identified the process of One-on-Ones with the floating CM (Content Management) Team’s Employees as one that needed a little improvement. According to Mark, “there were inconsistencies in scheduling, time frames, time limits, etc.”
Furthermore, one-on-ones with employees on the floating CM team were taking place every 4-6 weeks for approximately 60 minutes. The conversations were inconsistent and there was no schedule set in stone on when a one-on-one would take place with each employee. At times, one-on-ones just took place when an opportunity opened up in Mark’s schedule.
Therefore, Mark leveraged the Peak Academy’s A3 tool to make and execute a plan to improve the quality and value of this process. For example, Mark decreased the lead time (wait time) between one-on-ones to every 3 weeks (3 week improvement); gave employees a 72 hour advanced notice of the meeting time in their respected Outlook calendar, which provided ample time for Mark and his employees to properly prepare for the upcoming meeting; and decreased the average time of a one-on-one to 30 minutes (30 minute improvement) by creating a comprehensive agenda in collaboration with the employee being met with, which also led to the timely identification and elimination of issues affecting Content Management’s daily operations.
Through perseverance, teamwork, dedication and hard work, Mark’s aforementioned innovations identified and actualized savings of roughly 56 hours in employee time and $1,229.20 in soft dollars per year.
When asked what lessons were learned, Mark said, “It takes time management to rotate between three locations. At times meetings run over, which I am working on for the 60/90 day check-ins. However, the process overall has been extremely helpful from a leadership perspective.”
JerraudPeakAcademy
Jerraud Coleman is a creative, data-driven, focused, and positive Deputy Director for the City and County of Denver's Peak Academy.
For the past seven years, alongside an exceptional team of continuous improvement professionals, he helps direct, generate, and facilitate process improvement events throughout Denver, Colorado, and the nation.
He trains employees of government, non-profits, and other enterprises (nationally, abroad and at all levels) in the principles and methods of continuous improvement, performance, and change management tools like Lean, the Four Disciplines of Execution (Covey), & PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act/Adjust).
He also works at promoting and sharing the methods mentioned above via blogs, social media, workshops/improvement events, and conferences.
Jerraud believes that "sharing and talking about continuous improvement tools can help enterprises identify and sustain the elimination of any waste or pain point found within any process or system." Thus, resulting in happier customers, employees, and organizations.
Moreover, regarding his work with the City & County of Denver, Jerraud believes in "creating a world-class place where everybody matters matter," primarily through systems-thinking, more productive, valuable, and efficient processes.
Jerraud holds a BFA (in Integrated Arts) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, a Lean Black Belt certificate from Regis University, and a handful of certifications from Coursera in Data Science tools and methods.
Denver Peak Academy 