Denver Peak Academy

Around the start of 2019, Denver’s Real-Estate Team (Jason Clements, Jason Mathis, & Kasha Przywitowski) decided it is time to make a change to the “Space Planning Project Process.” At the time, the Real-Estate Team found themselves not being as proactive as they’d like. Also, they wanted to manage customer expectations better.

Thus, they reached out to the Denver Peak Academy to facilitate an improvement event. The event aimed to increase collaboration across customer groups, improve process standards, & help customers navigate the system more successfully.

With that said, over six months ago, the Real-Estate Planning Process consumed too much time, above $2,100/project in the Real-Estate Team’s time, which created confusion, and generated a hefty defect/error rate (e.g., changes to project timelines).

Moreover, the process didn’t belong to the Real-Estate Team alone; they share the process with other departments like Denver’s Public Works Department, Technology Services, & General Services’ Facility Management Division. All these stakeholders & sub-processes only added to the complexity of the process’ improvement effort. 

However, despite the obstacles, the Real-Estate Team collaborated & dedicated themselves to improving the “Real-Estate Planning Process.” By first working with the Denver Peak Academy to map out the system in question. Afterward, the team identified the pain points of the process through the Denver Peak Academy’s set of gap analysis tools (e.g., a Gemba Walk, The Eight Wastes’). These tools helped the team to determine what part of the system would benefit the most from improvement first.

Next, the team built a process map to define what they want the future/improved process to reflect (what an improved method/ looks like) based upon what they identified as gaps to a better flow.

The team developed over thirty ideas to improve their system of work. They filtered those down to nine prioritized innovations for improvement. One of the first significant ideas improved and leveraged the mission statement of the team, which increased and achieved focus. The second major innovation created a standard of work that helped the team increase value to the customers by decreasing defects by approximately 30%, which also reduced the team’s time spent fixing mistakes by $500 per year (a conservative dollar amount).

Finally, I want to give the Real-Estate Team kudos, as the team’s story is about dedication. Without commitment and hard work, we can’t accomplish anything. This team stuck with its innovation plan and ideas despite the ‘whirlwind’ (daily routines and interruptions), and that focus, despite the consistent storms, is what makes this team one of Denver’s Bright Spots.