Lean Management

Driving ongoing organizational excellence

The business world moves at lightning speed, and standing still means falling behind. This means organizations must not only adapt to change but anticipate and embrace it. One way to achieve this is by cultivating a culture of continuous improvement through lean management and coaching.

Lean management lasers in on doing more with less by eliminating waste and maximizing value, which provides a blueprint for sustained growth and operational excellence. Meanwhile, coaching empowers employees at all levels to seek better ways to work. In a culture that embraces these two approaches simultaneously, improvement isn’t just encouraged but expected and achievable. 

When teams combine lean management strategies with effective coaching as well as leaders that foster and encourage psychologically safe work environments, they learn to work smarter — delivering better results with less waste while continuously improving their processes and solutions.

Lean Management and Continuous Improvement

The core tenets of lean management are:
 

• Define what the customer truly values
• Map out the steps that add value
• Ensure a smooth workflow
• Create a system that pulls resources based on real-time demand
• Strive for perfection at all times (while still practicing empathetic leadership)

However, for lean management to work effectively, organizations must go beyond the theory of continuous improvement and be executed in practice. Having a list of best practices is a great start, but taking action and achieving results based on those practices is a task in itself. 

Along with continuous improvement, psychological safety must be woven into the fabric of an organization’s operations, and employees must be empowered to identify and innovate when they see opportunities for improvement. When psychological safety is prioritized, frameworks such as lean management can be implemented more smoothly and effectively. This is because psychologically safe employees feel secure enough to speak out, take chances, and act when they see areas of untapped potential.

According to McKinsey research, organizations that adopt a culture of continuous improvement can expect to see up to a 20% boost in productivity in just a few months. The idea is to make ongoing, incremental improvements that accumulate into substantial gains over time.

Lean Management and Coaching

Integrating coaching into your lean management practices can be the assistance needed to make small but meaningful changes that refine processes and drive success. Coaching takes the principles of lean management and turns them from nebulous concepts to practical, actionable habits. These behaviors promote a continuous improvement mindset while honing the skills, confidence, and engagement necessary to foster a motivated workforce dedicated to furthering the practical applications of that mindset.

Employees who receive coaching are more likely to be engaged because they better understand their role in reaching organizational goals. Coachees view improvement initiatives as opportunities to contribute and have their voices heard. Engaged employees are often happier and more committed to their organization, which drives retention and reduces costly turnover.

Coaching can also help develop the human skills employees need to succeed at work across all experience levels, whether they’re new hires or organizational leaders. Additionally, coaching sessions are safe, supportive environments where employees feel valued, respected and motivated to focus on improving skills like empathy, communication and conflict management. 

Further, coaching helps cultivate the growth mindset necessary to drive a culture of continuous improvement within the lean management framework. Integrating coaching with lean management practices ensures employees at all levels can be both learners and leaders who champion continuous improvement and perpetual innovation. 

Here are three strategies for successfully embedding coaching within your lean management practices:

1. Develop structured coaching programs to empower employees to polish their human skills while focusing on continuous improvement. Managers who receive coaching to improve their leadership skills are better equipped to lead by example and boost engagement, productivity and, most importantly, psychological safety.

2. Promote knowledge sharing, transparency and open communication through coaching sessions that can act as a platform for collaboration to drive collective improvements.

3. Promote coaching that celebrates taking thoughtful risks and encourages reflection on outcomes, whether they be successes or failures, to uphold continuous improvement as a regular practice.

By integrating coaching into lean management practices, organizations can reap the benefits of continuous improvement. Offering coaching across all levels of a company enhances employee engagement, promotes innovation and sets all workers up for success so the organization can thrive in the long term because of the resilience and adaptability of its workforce. 

Future-proofed organizational success hinges on sustainable growth and operational excellence driven by lean management principles.

Jen Paterno is Senior Behavioral Scientist at CoachHub. Jen is an influential Global Talent and Learning leader, an ICF PCC & DEIJB certified coach, a human experience enthusiast and an authenticity champion. Jen specializes in developing programs that unlock the human potential within individuals. She feels passionately about the evidence-based impact coaching can provide in creating sustainable behavior change toward positive outcomes for both employees and organizations.