Leading through change and lean times

May 12, 2006 by Col. Sheri Andino
11th Mission Support Group commander

We live in a world today in which change is constant and accelerating. Change certainly exists in the 11th Wing with the maturation of the Air Force District of Washington, the evolution of joint basing on the Anacostia peninsula and the fast-paced and wide-ranging force-shaping cuts affecting our personnel on a daily basis. We are challenged to lead and embrace this change while continuing to provide the world-class customer support we are known for. How do we accomplish this seemingly daunting task?

Change is never easy, but it presents opportunities. Each of us must become a better resource manager in today's increasingly tight fiscal and personnel environment. Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley said, "We must fundamentally change the culture of our Air Force so that all Airmen understand their individual role in improving their daily processes and eliminating things that don't add value to the mission." This is the core of an Air Force-unique process-improvement program called "Smart Operations 21." The essence of this program of self-improvement is based on "Lean and Six Sigma" business process improvement tools.

The Lean concept includes two predominate process attributes:

* Do it right the first time.

* Stop doing non mission-critical tasks.

We make a process lean by changing it to eliminate steps that add no value to the end product or by combining steps to save time. For instance, moving tools and supplies closer to the work area reduces the number of footsteps required by workers to complete the job. Lean is all about getting the right things to the right place at the right time the first time while minimizing waste and being open to change. Lean is about less -- less waste, fewer organizational layers, and also about more -- more teamwork and worker empowerment, more flexibility and capability, more productivity and more customer satisfaction.

Six Sigma, or 6S, deals with quality control. It enables us to maximize our processes to deliver the highest-quality product or customer service. The Six Sigma process improvement tool includes:

* Sort through items and keep only what's needed.

* Straighten and keep things orderly.

* Shine and keep things clean; this makes it easy to see if something is wrong.

* Standardize or develop systems and procedures to maintain and monitor the first three "S's."

* Sustain or maintain your new standard.

* Safe workplace design.

The 11th Mission Support Group is integrating Lean and Six Sigma process improvement tools to continue to deliver the highest-quality customer support with fewer resources available.

The 11th Communications Squadron has worked aggressively to bring the new Project, Workflow, Requirements, and Resource Management System (or PWRR) onboard. The system provides a standardized, secure solution for communications and information-requirements processing. PWRR (pronounced "Power") is a Web-enabled, database-driven application that provides real-time processing, tracking, auditing, reporting and management of customer requirements. In the past, customers physically submitted a signed AF Form 3215 to the communications squadron in person, by fax or via mail to request support for their communications requirements. PWRR changed all that. Requirements are now submitted by the customer directly into the system for paperless processing and management. Customers now have the capability to check on the status of their requirements online, and the system enables much smoother workflow within the communications squadron (reducing processing time and meeting customers' needs faster).

The 11th Civil Engineer Squadron has led the way in examining their processes in light of increased Aerospace Expeditionary Force deployments and tighter fiscal constraints. For example, the purchase of any parts or materials called for the operations fight commander or deputy to personally sign "approval" on the material request form. This was cumbersome in emergencies or when individuals were not at their desks. In order to streamline the process, CE delegated the approval of parts and material purchases to the element chief level (one level above shop foreman).

They placed a $5K weekly budget on paper for the heavy repair and infrastructure element chiefs to fund all their emergency and urgent requirements. At the end of the week, if the element chiefs did not need to purchase emergency or urgent requirements, they can fund routine work requirements. As a result, parts were purchased quicker, since a level of paper handling was removed. This had a secondary benefit of getting the element chiefs involved in resources and requirements, not simply "available shop labor."

The 11th Security Forces Squadron is embracing change through process improvements to progress to the next level of force protection. Process application and improvement is "front and center" to accomplishment, accountability and execution of the mission. They began by flowing out the process. First, you grant yourself no more than 12 steps. Step one is the process purpose, step 12 is the desired process outcome.

Each step of the process may be independent or may be a process all its own, integrated into the process at hand. Each step should be the desired outcome of that step. A process need not take twelve steps but it can have no more than that. Determination of the process must be accomplished in 15 minutes or less. Application of this method is designed purposefully to prevent a practitioner from "getting into the weeds" during process identification. Once the "high points" of a process are identified, other process-improvement techniques can be applied.

Our 11th Mission Support Squadron Family Support Center offers seminars and classes to groups or individuals that are helpful in equipping us to lead change. Courses include: Time Management, Organizational Change Management, and "Who Moved My Cheese -- The Change Program." In concert with Lean and Six Sigma process-improvement tools, these courses enable us to discover how to deal with change positively and constructively so that we can experience more success and less stress in our careers and in our lives.

We cannot continue to do business as usual in today's environment of fewer resources and higher operations tempo and still provide the highest-quality product. We must take a look at our processes and eliminate any unnecessary steps. We must continually ask ourselves why we are doing things the way we are and work smarter, not harder. Every individual is important and empowered to lead change.

Leading change, through lean process improvements, provides opportunities to improve morale as we reduce the strain on our Airmen. Our core values -- integrity, service, excellence -- provide the foundation for standardizing and streamlining our processes and systems. We achieve the desired results of highest quality, lowest cost and shortest lead time for our customers; deployment predictability, job security, a safe work place, and involvement and satisfaction for our Airmen; and combat capability, flexibility, efficiency and sustainability for our Air Force. With a commitment to leading change at all levels, we will continue to fly, to fight and to win whenever and wherever we are called.