Lean Principles in Project Management: A Case Study

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1.Initial reasons of implementation of LPM....................................................................................3
2. Benefits of stakeholders...............................................................................................................4
3.Critical success factors.................................................................................................................5
4.Steps to ensure that Critical success factors are in place and achievement of LPM..................6
5.Training requirements for staffs...................................................................................................8
6.Methods to assess the consultancy adoption of LPM approach...................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Lean project management helps in reducing the waste generation as well as also helps in
making the workflow for different projects simple and less time consuming. Therefore it is
important for every organization to adapt to lean project management principles. In case of SMS
management and technology it has been seen that the use of lean project management principles
have become necessary to employed. This is because it would help in securing government work
as well as the value of the work would increase in the minds of the customers.
The aim of the memo is to address the need of implementing project management
principles in the organisation and ensure different aspects that would be affected by the decision.
The memo has outlined the reasons for implementing lean project management principles
to undertake future projects. It has also helped in understanding the benefits of stakeholders. On
the other hand, critical success factors and steps to ensure that critical success factors are
effectively used have also been discussed. Training requirements of staffs and methods to assess
the efficient adoption of lean project management have also been addressed.
1. Initial reasons of implementation of LPM
The reasons that have been identified to be important for implementation of lean project
management have been outlined as follows;
It would help in standardising the projects and its different elements
With the help of standardisation, designs, output, procurement of raw materials as well as
the process of conducting the projects would be assessed on the similar parameters. It has been
seen that the projects undertaken by the consultancy would follow a similar set of design, process
and hence if the output varies, then it can be compared effectively (Azharul & Saviz, 2011).
Comparison would help in finding out faults and hence variability would be reduced to a larger
extent.
Reduction in time as well as costs
Lean project management would also help in reducing the time and costs associated with
different projects. This is because the project would be of identical nature if standardisation is

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adopted hence the time and cost related to the projects would be also same (Azharul & Saviz,
2011). As per the opinion of Ansah, Sorooshian & Mustafa (2016), lean project management
principles if are adopted by organisations then the workflow or process becomes simple thus
reducing complexity and confusion.
A structured approach is followed for solving complex problems
It has been seen that projects are solved with the help of a structured approach in case if
lean project management principles are implemented. For example six-sigma can be used so that
processes can become smooth. On the other use of DFSS helps in making the designs of the
project very simple and helps in identifying issues easily (Snee, 2010).
It helps in bringing improvements in projects
Lean project management principles application would also help in bringing
improvements in every subsequent projects being undertaken by the organisation. On the other
hand, it has been seen that system and process analysis is done at each step so that problems if
any can be identified at an early stage (Snee, 2010).
2. Benefits of stakeholders
It helps in improving the results or outcomes of the projects so that critical interests of the
customers are met accordingly (Snee, 2010). On the other hand, staffs who are working for the
projects have been seen to lose interest in those projects which are of long duration. Therefore,
with the application of lean project management, longer running projects are divided into sub
projects and staffs are allocated jobs on a similar basis (Snee, 2010).
The elements which are valued more by the customers are focused upon so that the
customers immediate needs and values needs can be improved as well as met (Arnheiter &
Maleyeff, 2005). Moreover it has been seen in case of Motorola that they undertook the approach
of “lowest hanging apple” in order to improve upon the most valued needs of its customers
(Arnheiter & Maleyeff, 2005).
In addition to this employee engagement is achieved with the application of lean project
management principles (Cima et al. 2011). For example the process management of the projects
gets improved and simple as well as the longest running projects are divided into various
subprojects. Hence the staff satisfaction is improved as their concerns are taken care of and in
lean project management system flexible work hours are given. On the other hand it has been

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seen that the assessment of their performance is also done in an effective way (Cima et al. 2011).
It has also been seen that lean project management makes the flow of communication better and
thus the issues of staffs are addressed on an immediate basis.
3. Critical success factors
For the successful implementation of LPM in SMS management and technology, there are
certain CSF that needs to be followed. According to Jeyaraman & Kee Teo (2010), the CSFs that
are required for the proper implementation of LPM are
 Management and Leadership
 Financial Capabilities
 Expertise and skills
 Culture of organisation
These are the roots for every organisation and without these no project can be successfully
implemented.
Management and Leadership: Leaders are highly required for any success of the project and it
is essential that commitment that they are giving are fulfilled properly. Without any support from
leaders and managers the LPM project cannot be made successful. The initiative needs to be
taken by the top management so that success can be achieved properly. It has been found in some
of the companies that due to poor management and not supporting the staffs, the project got
entirely failed. Hence, support and commitment is highly required at any level (Orzen & Bell,
2016). In addition to this, it is a responsibility of the managers to provide recognition and reward
system because in 90% cases, the employees perform well after getting rewards and
recognitions.
Financial Capabilities: Financial resources are those resources on which the company’s ability
depends. Therefore, it can be said that financial capability is the major factor for successful
implementation of the LPM. Finance majorly covers certain avenues and provides certain useful
provisions to SMS management and technology and moreover useful provisions are given to
trainings given to staffs. LPM needs certain investments for developing resources, for purchasing
license software and for seeking advices from different consultants. Therefore, it can be said that
for proper implementation of project, it is required to have huge financial capacity of the
organisation and hence, success can be achieved effectively.

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Expertise and skills: Skills of the employees are highly required for success of this project and
hence, training is highly required so that skills can be improved at that level. Effective training
must be given for LPM programs. As commented by Jeyaraman & Kee Teo (2010), apart from
software training and hardware training, human-ware training is also required for achieving
productivity level within the organisation. Communication on how and why of LPM is required
and the chance must be given to people so that they can improve their level of comfort with the
help of training classes. Therefore, it can be said that training program needs to be explored with
appropriate duration and coverage that ensures LPM transformations.
Culture of organisation: Culture and belief of the organisation is highly required for proper
implementation of LPM. Adjustments within organisation needs to be done based on the
attitudes of staffs who are working within the company. The employees needs to be aware about
various change in organisation. If the culture is revolutionised in company, level of fear can arise
which hampers the proper implementation of project. It can be said that if fear needs to be
mitigated, therefore, employees who are involved must adopt those changes in the organisation.
In addition to this, it can be said that restructure of the company is highly essential for driving
culture change and make LPM as a part of life (Furterer, 2016).
4. Steps to ensure that Critical success factors are in place and achievement of
LPM
There are several steps by following which it can be ensured that all the CSF factors that
are discussed above are in right place.
In case of Management and Leadership, if it is seen that the top management are taking
properly the responsibilities of LPM implementation, then it is ensured that all the things are
going in the right direction (Jeyaraman & Kee Teo 2010). Moreover, it is seen within the
company that top leaders are supporting effectively in LPM improvement process. It has been
seen that rewards are properly given to the employees and they are getting motivation to work
properly. The fairness of team performance is properly evaluated and this helps in proper
implementation of LPM within the company.
In context to financial capacity of the company, if it is needed to check the CSF factors are in
right place or not, therefore, the financial capacity of an organization needs to be evaluated

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properly. Adequate funding is highly required for the LPM projects and moreover, it required for
training purposes. Funding is majorly required for providing reward for success projects.
For expertise and skills, training must be provided to the employees in an effective manner and
without any fail it should be provided. All the employees must be provided with specific training
for LPM that includes Yellow/Green/ BB training. Moreover, if employees are aware about the
LPM training, then implementation of all CSF factors will be done correctly.
As opined by Chadha (2017), activities of Continuous Improvement (CI) has a major
role in ensuring that CSF factors are implemented in a right way. This is majorly required in the
manufacturing sector. However, from the perspectives of management, it can be said that CI is
highly applicable for ensuring the sustainability and success. As it is discussed above that
organisational culture plays a major role in the implementation of LPM, therefore barriers
created due to organisational culture must be improved, however these are not at all obvious
every time. If all these factors are maintained properly, then it can ensured that CSF factors are
maintained properly.
As mentioned by Furterer & Elshennawy (2005), processing times for every factors must be
estimated properly and that needs to be summarised properly. Documentation procedure is
highly significant for the proper implementation of the project and in addition to this, employee
training is required on improved procedures. It can be said that this duty is of process analyst to
look after every steps. There are several steps such as:
 Performance measure must be properly designed and implemented. This is majorly
required for the financial purposes.
 Approach of Continuous process of improvement is highly required for the
implementation of the project and therefore this helps in improving the quality of
financial process.
 Finally, success must be properly celebrated and it can be done through reward, success
and recognition.
Therefore, it can be said that if these steps are properly followed, then it helps in ensuring
that CSF factors are in the right place and LPM implementation is achieved (Furterer, 2016).

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5. Training requirements for staffs
Trainings are required for each employees within the organisation. For this LPM, there are
several training programs at several levels. The list of trainings that are required for staffs are:
 Particular training on LPM
 Awareness among the staffs that trainings on LPM are going on.
 Training of problem identification
 Training needed to solve all required skills, improvement of skills on quality
improvement and skills of waste identification.
 Training regarding statistical techniques that includes control chart, histograms,
experiments design and the regression analysis.
 Resources needs to be available so that proper training can be delivered to employees.
 Most importantly, training must be given to employees on interactive skills that includes
appropriate leadership skills and communication skills (Jeyaraman & Kee Teo, 2010).
Apart from all these trainings, it can be said that there are major some parts on which team or
staffs must be trained properly. As mentioned by Sunder (2016), employee training must be
majorly given on the lean principles before the implementation of LPM within an organisation.
For achieving measurable progress within organisation, employees must be trained on
productivity, efficiency and morale of overall workplace. A strong management team is
required for implementation of lean principles in entire organisation. Major issue is waste
management on which the employees are trained. There are more several steps through which
training needs to be given to employees. Those steps are:
 Hurdles or impediments needs to be listed so that progress on the project can be done
properly. Employee morale, resource shortages and leadership lacking can be hurdles and
these need to be mitigated.
 The employees must be assigned with various responsibilities so that strategy can be
implemented properly. The employees must be trained on responsibility balance across
the management team. Through this, proper training can be provided to staffs.
 Training can be given by sharing the documents on working strategy so that they can
learn from their managers and leaders and implement accordingly (Sohi et al. 2016).

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6. Methods to assess the consultancy adoption of LPM approach
For the assessment of whether the consultancy has adopted LPM approach or not, it is
required for first mark the KPIs. Based on those KPIs, the measurement can be done and based
on that, it can be understood that Government work such as start-up of providing healthcare
services. There are certain principles that needs to be strictly followed while assessing and those
are:
 As mentioned by Kollberg, Dahlgaard & Brehmer (2006), value specification is highly
required. It is highly needed to see whether the customers can be assessed in the correct
manner or not because customers are the primary requirements for each and every phase
if the work. If the Government work is based on healthcare services, then certain factors
must be assessed such as medical quality, their comfort, treatment and many more.
Values must be specified from the perspective of a patient.
 As it is discussed earlier that waste management is highly essential and for this,
identification of value stream is highly needed. For assessing this, every steps need to be
mapped and individual action must be noticed that is included in the process. If these are
taken care properly, then it can be said that the consultancy has significantly adopted
LPM and ready for government work. For example, if the healthcare services need to be
introduced, then three things must be taken care of: Accessibility of healthcare services,
Interaction with patients and healthcare organisations and most importantly, patient
participation.
 Proper assessment can be done only when waste management can be distinguished which
is of 7 types:
1. Mistakes are identified properly that needs rectification.
2. Production must be rejected which is not at all required.
3. Processing steps are not necessary
4. Noticing employee movements
5. Goods transportation without any purpose
6. A team in the downstream activity which is on waiting.
7. Products not meeting the customers’ needs
If all these are properly maintained, then it can be said that consultancy has adopted the
LPM and ready for the government work as waste management is highly required.

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 As mentioned by Cima et al. (2011), in the healthcare services, performance can be also
measured through noticing certain factors such as Starting time, Operations, Average
turnover, Operating rooms and Change in the operating margin. If all these factors are
properly measured, then it can be clearly understood that SMS management and
technology has properly adopted LPM and hence, government can work can be initiated.
 Finally, perfection is needed to process any required and it helps in maintaining the
workflow. Perfection is highly needed in all healthcare services. Therefore, it can be said
that perfection needs to be assessed properly before agreeing with the fact that
Consultancy is ready with the Government work.
Conclusion
Implementation LPM is required in the company, because there are certain principles of
working and if that is followed properly, then a successful government work can be initiated
effectively. While doing a government project, there will be several wastes that needs to be
managed properly and hence, LPM is required significantly. If LPM is implemented, most of the
stakeholders will be benefitted and those customers, employees and also other stakeholders. In
other words, it can be said, that majorly customers are benefited because customers needs are the
primary needs for fulfilment of a program successfully. As it is discussed earlier that if there is
any healthcare services, then patients are primary customers and their needs must be primarily
sorted out. In addition to this, it has been seen that employee engagement is made to huge factor
if the LPM principles are followed and hence, it is highly essential to implement LPM within
organisation. However, it needs to be evaluated if the CSF factors are properly followed while
implementing the LPM.

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References
Books
Furterer, S. L. (2016). Lean Six Sigma in service: applications and case studies. UK: CRC press.
Orzen, M. A., & Bell, S. C. (2016). Lean IT: Enabling and sustaining your lean transformation.
UK: Productivity Press.
Journals
Ansah, R. H., Sorooshian, S., & Mustafa, S. B. (2016). Lean construction: an effective approach
for project management. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 11(3),
1607-1612. Retrieved from:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/60fb/e487a49b3c5bfb3178c1418caad4b884d06a.pdf
Arnheiter, E. D., & Maleyeff, J. (2005). The integration of lean management and Six Sigma. The
TQM magazine, 17(1), 5-18. Retrieved from:
https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2661262/mod_label/intro/7%20The
%20integration%20of%20lean%20management%20and%20Six%20Sigma
%20%281%29.pdf
Azharul, K., & Saviz, N. (2011). Lean Project Management in Large Scale Industrial &
Infrastructure Project via Standardization. Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering,
Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved from:
https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2661262/mod_label/intro/10%20QUT%20Lean
%20Project%20Management.pdf
Chadha, R. (2017). Value through continuous improvement. FAIMA Business & Management
Journal, 5(1), 40. Retrieved from:

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https://search.proquest.com/openview/03b8eed7ce5551c82f5e7223b54b5755/1?pq-
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Cima, R. R., Brown, M. J., Hebl, J. R., Moore, R., Rogers, J. C., Kollengode, A., ... & Team, S.
P. I. (2011). Use of lean and six sigma methodology to improve operating room
efficiency in a high-volume tertiary-care academic medical center. Journal of the
American College of Surgeons, 213(1), 83-92. Retrieved from:
https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2661307/mod_label/intro/15%20Use%20of
%20Lean%20and%20Six%20Sigma%20Methodology%20to%20Improve%20Operating
%20Room%20Efficiency.pdf
Furterer, S., & Elshennawy, A. K. (2005). Implementation of TQM and lean Six Sigma tools in
local government: a framework and a case study. Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence, 16(10), 1179-1191. Retrieved from:
https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2661278/mod_label/intro/17%20TQM%20and
%20Lean%20Six%20Sigma%20for%20government.pdf
Jeyaraman, K., & Kee Teo, L. (2010). A conceptual framework for critical success factors of
lean Six Sigma: Implementation on the performance of electronic manufacturing service
industry. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 1(3), 191-215. Retrieved from:
https://www-emeraldinsight-com.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/204014610110
75008
Kollberg, B., Dahlgaard, J. J., & Brehmer, P. O. (2006). Measuring lean initiatives in health care
services: issues and findings. International Journal of Productivity and Performance
Management, 56(1), 7-24. Retrieved from:
https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2661307/mod_label/intro/5%20Measuring