Lean Office and Service Processes: Value Stream Mapping, Flow and Kaizen – London, 2–6 Aug 2027

Programme overview

Introduction:

Requests, applications, invoices and approvals in office and service functions often spend most of their lead time waiting in queues, inboxes and approval loops, while the actual work takes minutes. Because information rather than material flows, this delay stays invisible and customers experience it as slow, inconsistent service. This Core Concept course applies Lean Office thinking to transactional service processes, using office value stream mapping, flow metrics, work-in-process limits and daily visual management. Participants build an Office Value Stream Improvement Plan for a request-to-completion process from their own function.

Course Objectives:

• Translate the five Lean principles into the customer requests, cases and documents handled by an office or service team
• Classify the 8 wastes in transactional work, including approval loops, handoffs, batching and information overload, from process evidence
• Map an office value stream and calculate process time, lead time, percent complete and accurate and activity ratio
• Set work-in-process limits and pull rules for a service queue using Little's Law and throughput data
• Establish standard work, digital 5S, visual boards and tiered huddles that keep a service team's flow stable
• Design and facilitate a kaizen event for an office process and prepare an Office Value Stream Improvement Plan

Target Audience:

• Process owners accountable for end-to-end request, case or application handling times
• Team leaders running daily work allocation in back-office and shared services teams
• Improvement coordinators supporting Lean initiatives in administrative functions
• Customer service supervisors responsible for queues, backlogs and service levels
• Operations analysts who measure workload, turnaround and rework in service processes

Course Outline:

Day 1: Lean Thinking for Office and Service Work

• Five Lean Principles Applied to Requests, Cases and Approvals
• Customer Value Definition for Internal and External Service Users
• 8 Wastes in Transactional Work with the DOWNTIME Checklist
• Information Flow Versus Material Flow in Office Processes
• Request-to-Completion Walk and Waste Observation Log

Day 2: Office Value Stream Mapping and Flow Metrics

• Transactional Value Stream Map Symbols, Swimlanes and Data Boxes
• Process Time, Lead Time and Queue Time Capture from Case Data
• Percent Complete and Accurate and Rolled First-Pass Quality
• Activity Ratio and Flow Efficiency Calculation
• Future-State Office Value Stream Design Questions

Day 3: Creating Flow and Pull in Service Queues

• Little's Law: Work in Process, Throughput and Lead Time
• Work-in-Process Limits and Pull Rules for Shared Queues
• Batch Size Reduction for Forms, Reports and Approvals
• Standard Work for Knowledge Tasks and Checklist Design
• Demand Analysis: Value Demand Versus Failure Demand

Day 4: Visual Management, Digital 5S and Kaizen Events

• Visual Management Boards for Office Work Status
• Tiered Daily Huddle Agenda and Escalation Routine
• Digital 5S for Shared Drives, Inboxes and Workspaces
• Kaizen Event Charter, Team Roles and Three-Day Agenda
• Leader Standard Work and Improvement Sustainment Audit

Day 5: Case Work and the Office Value Stream Improvement Plan

• Supplier Invoice Approval Case: Queue and Rework Diagnosis
• Customer Onboarding Case: Handoff Reduction and Future-State Map
• Flow Metrics Dashboard for a Participant Process
• Office Value Stream Improvement Plan Drafting
• Peer Challenge Panel and Ninety-Day Kaizen Roadmap

Skills You Will Gain:

• Transactional Waste Analysis
• Office Value Stream Mapping
• Flow Efficiency Measurement
• Queue and WIP Management
• Knowledge Work Standardisation
• Daily Visual Management
• Kaizen Event Facilitation
• Demand Pattern Analysis

Why Attend This Course:

• Return with an Office Value Stream Improvement Plan for a process from your own function, with baseline flow metrics
• Show managers where days of waiting sit between minutes of real work, using figures taken from case data
• Cut backlog and turnaround in your team through queue rules and huddles you can start the following week
• Compare office and service improvement practice with peers from finance, public services, banking and healthcare administration

Conclusion:

Office and service processes improve when teams can see how requests actually flow, measure the waiting between steps and change the rules that create queues and rework. The course moves from Lean principles and transactional wastes, through office value stream mapping and flow metrics, to pull, work-in-process limits, standard work, visual management and kaizen events. The final day applies these methods to multi-sector cases and produces an Office Value Stream Improvement Plan that participants can take straight into a kaizen event.