State and Tribe Deployments
The EPA Lean management system uses Lean principles and tools paired with routine monitoring, measurement, and engagement to identify process issues, solve problems, and sustain improvements. The EPA Office of Continuous Improvement (OCI) is in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) and is comprised of lean practitioners who work with teams to help them meet their goals and objectives.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, EPA offers state and Tribal governments a variety of Lean services and training at no-cost. OCI's State and Tribe Program is based on the premise that successful protection of human health and the environment relies on federal, state, and tribal governments effectively working together. Because our work constantly crosses boundaries, each has a vested interest in helping the other maximize efficiency.
As a result, we offer the following resources to our state and Tribal partners:
- Visual Management Workshop with State, Tribal, and EPA partners: EPA offers workshops where state and tribal partners connect with their EPA counterparts to create and use tools to improve communication, understanding, and achieve mutual goals.
- Metrics Workshop: A multi-session event where teams identify short- and long-term metrics that support their work and the mission of the organization.
- Lean Essentials Workshop: Also known as foundations training, a series of four one-hour experiential modules walks teams through specific continuous improvement tools to help them map their process, problem solve, identify metrics, and create visual management.
- Support in Establishing a Lean Management System: OCI offers training and resources to help interested states and tribes establish their own Lean management system and create an internal support team of Lean practitioners to help them maintain and grow the system themselves.
- Problem Solving (Train-the-Trainer): OCI offers interactive training consisting of Lean problem-solving tools and facilitation techniques. The training is designed to equip state and Tribal agencies with their own cadre of internal Lean problem solvers to guide teams through the problem-solving process, when needed.
- Continuous Improvement Resources: To help EPA improve its processes, OCI created a large repository of resources including toolkits, recorded trainings, problem solving tools and more that can be made available upon request.
- Annual Continuous Improvement Summit: Join Lean and continuous improvement experts and practitioners at the EPA for a week of networking, training, best practice sharing and discussion.
- Benchmarking and Knowledge Sharing: OCI regularly benchmarks with organizations, domestic and international, as well as public and private, to share best practices and to seek opportunities for learning and growth.
Please feel free to request a meeting with OCI at OCFO-OCI@epa.gov.