Education is important to our children, but even more so is the continued support and education for our teachers. Lean Six Sigma classes for teachers can help with many of the daily struggles people in the education field run into.
This year when my kids went back to school, I was saddened to learn that many of their after-school programs and in-school elective programs were being cut due to lack of budget. The arts program, the sports programs and many others were being reduced or completely eliminated.
Sending my kids to school to just learn math, history, science, social studies and reading is not good enough. I want my kids to have the opportunity to be well rounded, just like I was afforded the opportunity when I was in school.
Cut Programs or Free Up Budget?
Schools continue to say that they need to reduce the budget, but, what they really need is waste reduction. Instead of cutting programs, they should find ways to increase their budgets by cleaning up their inefficient processes. They can learn how to do this by attending a Lean Six Sigma class.
Instead of cutting programs, they should find ways to increase their budgets by cleaning up their inefficient processes.
Lean Six Sigma introduces organizations, functions and individuals to a problem-solving process using a structured model called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control). This model ensures that identified problems are resolved by finding the root cause of the performance or process problem rather than just blindly jumping to solutions.
When thinking about this for a public-school system, it is not just about the curriculum, and not just about focusing on the students, teachers or administration. School systems are complex systems, much of which have commonalities with traditional businesses. There are many opportunities to look at process improvements and money saving efforts so they can continue to support a well-rounded curriculum of programs.
Where Schools Can Look for Savings
Schools can optimize processes and save money by streamlining the purchase requisition and vendor management processes. There is a significant potential to remove inefficiencies in these areas that can lead to big savings.
Schools can also reduce costs and waste with proactive and process driven facilities management. This includes not only preventative maintenance but also energy management, technology integration, green and sustainable building projects.
Applying Lean Six Sigma to the cafeteria can ensure that staff orders right quantities of food and prepared in order to eliminate food waste.
Let’s Improve Our Schools Together
These are just a couple of examples to highlight the potential. All of these improvements require an understanding of who the internal customer is as well as their requirements. The next step is mapping these requirements to the current situation, identifying the root causes for the process or performance gap and then finding solutions which will improve the current situation.
What Gets Measured Gets Managed
Once the situation is improved, they can establish measurements to monitor and maintain the changes, including using a balanced scorecard. This is exactly what Lean Six Sigma can help with. It provides a foundation for not just problem resolution, but also elimination of waste and improved efficiency.
[Lean Six Sigma] provides a foundation for not just problem resolution, but also elimination of waste and improved efficiency.
I’d like to see all our public schools incorporate these principles and reduce waste rather than cut out the well-rounded programs that help our children thrive in this world.
Want to Take a Lean Six Sigma Class?
We make it easy for teachers and students in K-12 and Higher Education to learn about Lean Six Sigma. Learn how to solve problems, do more with less and create better outcomes by taking any of our Lean Six Sigma classes and getting certified. Check out the infographic below for an overview of each class.
- Yellow Belt Training & Certification
- Green Belt Training & Certification
- Black Belt Training & Certification
