Legend has it that during World War II, Navy fighter planes had a watch embedded in the steering column – not to help the pilot keep time, but to help save his life.  You see: the first step in a pilot’s emergency response process was to wind the watch.  It may sound crazy, but Navy psychologists had proven that the split second required for a pilot to wind the watch was enough time for him to clear his head of distractions and to focus instead on the emergency at hand.  The one second spent winding the watch bought him considerable time, enabling him to react in a more logical, coherent way.  In today’s business world, we are all so busy, so stretched, so overcommitted, and so inundated with information, that we sometimes forget to wind the watch – to focus on what’s important and create space to accomplish our ultimate objectives…

People are busy.  Very busy.  And very stressed.  If you are out of a job, you’re probably spending most minutes of your days trying to find one.  And if you’re fortunate enough to have a job, you’re probably spending most minutes of your days trying to keep it – working like mad to do your own work, and possibly the work of others who have departed.  Long term, this stress may really have a negative impact on health and well-being.  But in the short-term, I think individuals can follow some simple tips to reduce workload, refocus on priorities, and improve their professional productivity – allowing them to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time (and hopefully with reduced anxiety).

Last month, the Council hosted a half-day workshop facilitated by Dr. Art Hill, a professor at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.  The workshop, “Lean Principles for Getting Good Things Done” outlined several tips for improving personal productivity – at work or at home.  Dr. Hill had many excellent insights, but I’ll offer only a few:

• Keep Focused.  Dr. Hill cited research that there is, on average, about 2.5 minutes between distractions for managers in the workplace.  Yikes – 2.5 minutes?!  In an average 9-hour day, that’s 216 interruptions a day (actually, come to think of it: that sounds about right for many of my days!).  Think about it: the phone rings, you get an email, someone stops by your office/cube, your mind wanders to another task, etc., etc.  And to compound the problem, other research claims that professionals’ recovery time from distractions at work to be about 10 minutes per interruption – time to re-gather your thoughts, dig back into your task, and so forth.  So basically, we spend most of every day being interrupted and recovering from those interruptions.  That can’t be very efficient.

Like the “wind the watch” story above, we should all practice staying focused.  Try tuning out your distractions by turning off your phone while you’re focused on a major task, shutting your door, turning off your email.  Find a quiet place to work.  Remove clutter from your desk to reduce distractions and temptations.  And practice something Dr. Hill calls “capturing your tasks.”  Basically, if something pops into your mind – someone you forgot to call, something you need to do later, etc. – take two seconds to write that down, but resist the temptation to do it then. 

• Set Priorities.  Similar to staying focused, Dr. Hill says that we all suffer from “polluted priorities” – doing things that we should not be doing, procrastinating (by delaying important but difficult tasks in favor of easier tasks), or doing what he calls “chasing rabbits” (think of a puppy walking down the street…he sees a rabbit, he chases the rabbit – setting a new priority and completely forgetting about the original task at hand).  I think we’re all somewhat victims of chasing rabbits.  Charles Hummel’s 1967 paper called this behavior the “tyranny of the urgent” rather than staying focused on the important. 

Dr. Hill suggests that we should all keep one consolidated calendar and one consolidated task list.  He’s also developed what I think is a very effective triage process for handling one of our most time-consuming (and oftentimes low value-added) activities: email.  This process helps us think through how to quickly and efficiently handle the growing volume of emails we all receive (by deleting, delegating, filing, suspending, processing, or taking other action).

• Set Boundaries.  Do you mow your neighbor’s lawn?  Probably not (unless you have some sort of arrangement, I guess).  But we all spend time every day doing the work that others should probably do.  Dr. Hill says that this problem is because we don’t often enough set – and maintain – boundaries at work (or home).  As a result, roles sometimes become unclear, leading to redundant work and/or misplaced work.

Dr. Hill recommends that we use methods like project charters, role descriptions, and RACI (Responsibility, Accountability, Consulted, Informed) to set clear boundaries, allowing workers to focus on their core strengths and responsibilities.  Dr. Hill says that you’ll be “…doing others a favor by not doing their job.”  That behavior, he suggests, can lead to unproductive co-dependency at work (or at home).

• Increase Capacity.  Dr. Hill says that we all are suffering from “minimal margins” – a phrase first coined by Richard Swenson in his 2004 book “Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives.”  We are all overcommitted – personally and professionally – which is complicating our lives, and reducing our capacity to perform.  In fact, Swenson calls it “chronic overloading” and it’s impacting our ability to maintain emotional, mental, physical, and financial balance.

Think about it in a financial sense: if you have a credit card with a $10,000 limit but you’re carrying $9500 in debt (a scenario that’s far too common these days, I might add), you don’t have much margin – much capacity – to maneuver if something happens and you need access to cash.  The same scenario is true with your emotional bank account, your physical bank account, your professional bank account.  You need capacity – not being completely overcommitted – to be able to respond to the needs of your changing environment.

Dr. Hill suggests that there are many ways to increase our margins – simple things like learning to say “no” to new tasks (as appropriate), using a phrase “I’ll get back to you” before you commit to new assignments, and trying to accurately estimate the time tasks really take so that we don’t over-commit (he suggests tasks take 2-3 times what you originally estimate, so build that in).  There are also other ways to create margin – like eliminating waste and low-value added tasks, reducing the number of meetings you attend (if you can), and reducing your email and calls (using do-not call lists, opt-outs).  Margin happens because we make it a priority: we should get out of the habit of trying to fill every single second of every hour of every day with scheduled activity.  Then, if we encounter a new priority, we’ll actually have the capacity to respond.

If you are interested in learning more from Dr. Hill, consider attending a workshop hosted by the Carlson School on May 14 (information at http://www.csom.umn.edu/page9514.aspx).  Dr. Hill is also publishing a book on the subject, which should be ready later this spring.

There’s one more tip I’d like to add to the four above, and it really cuts across a few of them (and, truth be told, it’s not my tip, but was written by Liz Reyer in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about two months ago).  Her advice is, quite simply, to slow down – to take a long look at a situation at work before acting.  Really, her advice is like winding the watch.

Reyer says that “slowing down is not about doing less; it is about working more effectively and efficiently.”  She says: “[we must] understand the cost of haste.  For many of [her] clients, much of the pressures they face comes from fixing mistakes.  Look at the project that you and your team work on.  What happens on rush jobs when you have insufficient time to plan?  Consider the impact on quality and cost, along with the effect it has on morale when people know that they can’t do their best work.”  

She says that the old adage “measure twice, cut once” makes sense in building a house, making a dress, or working with people in business.  And imagine the impact on your capacity – your personal margin – if we all just took a deep breath, wound that watch, and then moved forward in more thoughtful, calculated ways.

*****

I have a correction from last month’s column (“Keeping the Faith: The Role of Leaders and Employees during Crisis”).  I quoted Stevie Ray regarding his views on leadership during crisis.  Unfortunately, I misattributed his affiliation.  Stevie Ray is the founder of Stevie Ray’s Improv Company; I regret the error – but Mr. Ray’s insights were worth noting.

Yours in Improvement,

Brian S. Lassiter

President, Minnesota Council for Quality

Time (and space) is running out to register for the 2008 MN Quality Award workshops and recognition event, and Early Bird extended to EOD April 16 – register today!!

Are you interested in learning from and networking with organizations on the journey to performance excellence?  Would your organization benefit from hearing how businesses, schools, and healthcare providers are integrating Baldrige, Six Sigma, Lean, Scorecard, and other tools to improve outcomes and results during these tough times?

You are invited to the 18th annual Minnesota Quality Award event Thursday, April 30.  Hear best practices from 11 organizations, including eight recipients of the 2008 MN Quality Award.

A half-day luncheon and learning workshops are followed by an evening reception and recognition event, featuring the following:

• Governor Pawlenty invited to share how continuous improvement is paramount to Minnesota and the nation’s future.
• Cargill Corn Milling (Alan Willits, president, will speak about how this recipient of the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award reached world class status
• Mercy Health System (Javon Bea, CEO, will speak about how Mercy has reached and sustained excellence, despite the economic challenges in healthcare)
• Rochester Community and Technical College (will share how they are aligning strategy, resources, people, and processes using scorecards and dashboards)

• 2008 MN Quality Award recipients will share some aspect of how they are improving their outcomes and processes:
• Academy of Holy Angels School
• Albert Lea Medical Center
• Forthright
• Immanuel St. Joseph
• Mayo Cardiovascular Diseases Division
• Mayo Health System
• Memorial Blood Centers
• US Bank Client Services Group

In addition, a panel of CEOs (featuring Mayo, US Bank, Holy Angels, and others) will focus mainly on their organizations’ journey to excellence – of how they engage their board with continuous improvement, how they engage their workforce (particularly during these tough times), how they maintain momentum during tough times and good, how they sustain improvement/quality efforts.  This session will be a candid dialogue about what’s working with these organizations' continuous improvement efforts, what lessons these organizations have learned, what things they might do differently, and how they see their journey continuing in the future.

The event will be held at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront, and we expect about 300 leaders and professionals to attend; the event is open to the public.

Workshop Cost: $99 for members ($75 early bird extended to April 17); $199 non-members ($149 extended to April 17); Award recipients should inquire about complimentary passes.

Reception/Celebration Event Cost: Free for employees of 2008 Award recipients and 2008 Evaluators; $25 for Council members and Award recipient guests; $40 for Council partners; $50 for the public; $175 for a group of 8 registering together.

The Council would like to thank its sponsors for this event: 3M (Gold); Benedictine Health System, Cargill Children’s Hospitals & Clinics of Minnesota, Olmsted Medical Center, Padilla Speer Beardsley, and University of Phoenix (all Silver); BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota, Hoglund Coaching, MN Healthcare Quality Professionals, Pillsbury United Communities, Reller Consulting, Rochester Community and Technical College, Schwan Food Company, Stratis Health, and VisionOne Consulting (all Bronze) for their generous contribution to our mission of advancing excellence in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Council for Quality is pleased to announce the formation of a new community forum, the “Twin Ports Performance Excellence Network” (TPPEN).  The Network was formed late last year by community leaders in the Duluth-Superior area with the support of the Morgan Fund and the Duluth-Superior Community Foundation. 

“The Network is intended to provide a permanent forum for leaders and practitioners from across sectors and industries to share information and best practices on driving excellence within their organizations,” says Brian Lassiter, president of the Council.  “Not only do we hope that this Network promotes the improvement of local organizations, but we hope it also encourages professional networking, leadership development, community building, and civic engagement.”

Similar to the Performance Improvement Networks in Minneapolis and St. Paul and the Rochester Area Quality Council in Rochester, the TPPEN hosts a monthly breakfast series that features a local Twin Ports organization, focusing on how they improve some aspect of their business.  So far, the Network has featured organizations such as Cirrus Aircraft, Duluth Public Schools, maurice’s, SMDC, United Health Group, and UMD.  Attendance has averaged 25-30 leaders per meeting, and is growing.

“Building this forum was an imperative, essential for the survival of the community’s organizations and workforce,” says Keith Dixon, Superintendent of Duluth Public Schools.  “The schools need help in breakthrough improvement, and I know that we are learning a great deal from other industries and sectors through this forum.  I also believe that all organizations can share and learn from each other in the region, helping us all benefit from the good ideas in other industries.”  

Eventually, the Network will also be used to help facilitate cross-organization problem solving and community development.  “We have a vision for using proven quality tools and principles within this forum to address community issues,” says Lassiter.  “Those issues usually cut across organizational boundaries, so leveraging this Network will allow local leaders to collaborate more systematically.”

The Minnesota Council for Quality announces the election of Tony Wagner, CEO of Pillsbury United Communities to its Board of Directors. “Tony brings rich experience to our Board,” said Brian Lassiter, president of the Minnesota Council for Quality.  “He has led a large non-profit for more than 20 years, and as such, as a deep understanding of what it takes to sustain excellence in that sector.  Given the challenges facing organizations today, Tony’s perspective will help us better serve our non-profit constituents.  His insights will also help the Council, also a non-profit, ensure that we are the most effective at leveraging our resources and advancing our mission.” 

Tony Wagner is President of Pillsbury United Communities, an association of community centers and affiliated organizations with 250 employees in multiple locations in Minneapolis neighborhoods.  Pillsbury United Communities was honored by the Minnesota Council for Quality with its Achievement Level (Gold) MN Quality Award in 1999, which was the first non-profit to receive this prestigious honor based on the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.

Leading change successfully requires that we learn from our experiences.  But how does learning occur most effectively?

The Minnesota Council for Quality is pleased to welcome Dr. Rama Kaye Hart, Asst Professor in the Dept of Organizational Learning and Development at the University of St. Thomas, to our May 7 PIN meeting.  Rama will share how we must incorporate critical reflection and analysis so that we can learn from other perspectives.  Rama will also share how it is important that we engage in action, to try on new roles, build efficacy and confidence, and experiment with new solutions. We have different preferences for "doing" versus "thinking," for "analysis" versus "action."  Join us as we explore the experiential learning process and how it can help us individually and organizationally navigate change.

The discussion is from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on May 7 (networking and continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m.) at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC), 1501 Hennepin (15th and Hennepin), downtown Minneapolis, Room L3000 (Wheelock-Whitney Library). 

Admission to PIN is FREE for Council members; $10 for partner organizations; $20 for the public.

The worse the economy gets, the more important the role of the manager becomes.  Investing in your leaders is critical to benefit the performance of your employees and ultimately meet or exceed your business targets.

The Minnesota Council for Quality is pleased to welcome Maile Topliff, senior consultant with Seabury OCI, a Minneapolis consulting firm, to May 13 PIN meeting.  Maile’s discussion will help attendees:

• gain an understanding of the strategic implications of assessing their leadership talent during tough economic times
• outline the long-term benefits of taking specific actions now
• prepare leaders for conversations about their talent with senior executives who are focused on bottom line results

Participants will review a talent management systems model with a main focus on talent assessment of leaders. Attendees will walk away with a checklist of the top 10 leadership talent assessment factors.

The discussion is from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on May 13 (networking and continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m.) at Metro State University, 700 E 7th Street, downtown St. Paul. 

Admission to PIN is FREE for Council members; $10 for partner organizations; $20 for the public.

Just like any other organization, Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) is not insulated from external environment and that the speed of change outside will continue to challenge RPU and other public utilities.  Those public utilities that can adapt to changing conditions will continue to serve their communities.

The Rochester Area Quality Council, an affiliate of the Minnesota Council for Quality, is pleased to announce their May 5 program “Implementing a Culture of Performance Improvement at RPU.”  The session is supported by our sponsor Grant Thorton, and will be led by Sue Parker of RPU.

The journey of improvement for RPU started long before the current economic crisis.  With impending deregulation, the risk of being sold to investor-run utilities was the real case for change for RPU.  Therefore, RPU decided to embark on a course of action to decrease costs, increase operational efficiency, improve customer service, improve employee satisfaction and create sustainable advantage in the organization through a focus and discipline around performance improvement. 

Improvement efforts are not new to RPU – but the current effort and objective is clear – create a culture of performance improvement that brings to bear the improvement potential of each and every RPU employee – create a culture where every employee is focused on improvement every day.

Speaker: Sue Parker, RPU
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Time: 7:30 Registration, continental breakfast, networking; 7:45 announcements; 9:00 adjourn
Location: RCTC University Center, Coffman Building (CF) 206/208
Cost: $0 members; $10 partners; $20 non-members

The Council would like to recognize 79 organizations and individuals who joined or renewed their membership in the third quarter.  Special appreciation goes to the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, as they renewed their Sponsoring Membership.  Sponsoring members’ contributions not only provide benefits to the member organization itself, but also support non-profits, school districts, and small businesses on their journey to excellence. 

“Times are tough for all organizations today,” says Brian Lassiter, president of the Council.  “But many organizations are serious about continuous improvement and performance excellence.  And the 79 organizations becoming or renewing their memberships this quarter are investing in their futures.  We thank them for supporting our mission of excellence, and we look forward to working with them on their journey to excellence.”

These individuals and organizations became members last quarter (asterisks indicate renewal members):

Ability Building Center, Inc., Rochester, MN*

Acceleren Consulting , Minneapolis, MN

Ashok Agarwala, Eden Prairie, MN

AgStar Financial Services, Rochester, MN*

Alvin E. Benike, Inc., Rochester, MN*

Edward Andrews, Mound, MN

Tim Andrews, Apple Valley, MN*

Bartels Management Consulting, St. Paul, MN

Bellcomb, New Hope, MN*

Business Architecture, Inc., Stillwater, MN*

Cardinal of Minnesota, Rochester, MN*

Clear Vision Consulting, Inc., Rochester, MN*

Clinton Consulting, Eden Prairie, MN*

cPMT, Rochester, MN*

Dahlen Company, The, Verona, WI*

Dairy Strategies, LLC, Madison, WI*

Datacard, Minnetonka, MN

e7 Success Strategies, Burnsville, MN

ELCA Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, MN*

Forthright, St. Louis Park, MN*

Gauthier Industries, Rochester, MN*

Gerard Goulet, Rochester, MN*

Gromala, Karen, St. Paul, MN*

Hampton Inn Rochester, Rochester, MN*

Hanson Performance Alliance, Plymouth, MN*

Don Hartinger, Hastings, MN*

Hitachi, Rochester, MN

Steve Hoisington, Greenfield, WI*

Inver Hills Community College Customized Training, Inver Grove Heights, MN*

Carolyn Koch, Maplewood, MN

Patrick Ladwig, Minneapolis, MN

Paul Langlois, Mendota Heights, MN

Mark Lanz, Mark, Edina, MN*

Laura A. Kinkead Consulting, Minneapolis, MN

Laurel Consulting

Leo A Daly, Minneapolis, MN

Lifeworks Services, Inc., Eagan, MN

Sarah Lindeman, Minneapolis, MN*

Sue Link, Mounds View, MN*

LynTek Engineering, Winona, MN*

Makela Performance Inc., Bloomington, MN*

Mate Precision Tooling, Anoka, MN*

Linda Mazzuco, Andover, MN*

Sue Mechache, Brooklyn Park, MN*

Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Workforce Development, Cont Ed, Cust Training (MCTC), Minneapolis, MN*

Minneapolis Veteran's Administration (VA) Medical Center & Clinics, Minneapolis, MN*

MN Healthcare Quality Professionals (MHQP), St. Louis Park, MN*

Mary Ann Nelson, Minneapolis, MN*

Normandale Community College, Center for Applied Learning, Bloomington, MN*

Olmsted County Public Health Services, Rochester, MN*

Olmsted County, Department of Licensing & Property, Rochester, MN

Olmsted Medical Center, Rochester, MN*

Organizational Concepts International (OCI), Minneapolis, MN*

PDG Consultants, Inc., Minneapolis, MN*

Prime Therapeutics, Eagan, MN*

Katherine Reller, Rochester, MN*

Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, Rochester, MN*

Rochester Area Math and Science Partnership (RAMSP), Rochester, MN*

Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC), Rochester, MN*

Rochester Post-Bulletin, Rochester, MN*

Rochester Public Utilities (RPU), Rochester, MN

Kim Rupprecht, Pine Island, MN*

Satisfaction Management Systems, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN*

Solutia Consulting, Stillwater, MN*

Robin Sommer, Rochester, MN*

State of Minnesota, Dept of Administration Commissioner's Office, St. Paul, MN*

Stat-Ease, Inc., Minneapolis, MN*

TeamWorks International, White Bear Lake, MN

Thomson Reuters Legal & Regulatory OD Department, Eagan, MN

Tiny Green Cabins

TruthPoint, Eden Prairie, MN

Brad Tuttle, Hopkins, MN

University of Phoenix, St. Louis Park, MN

University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI*

US Bank, Client Services Group, St. Paul, MN*

Visuell, LLC, Minneapolis, MN*

Winland Electronics, Mankato*

Woodside Quality Solutions, Carver, MN*

Zimmerman Consulting, Pine City, MN*

We thank all members for their support.  As of March 31, the Council represents a growing community of over 300 members representing over 150,000 employees.  A complete list of members is available at http://www.councilforquality.org/member.cfm.

Why should you or your organization consider membership?  There are many reasons. Your or your organization receives:

* recognition (in this newsletter, in press releases, on the website, and with a certificate/letter);

* discounts to Council services (Evaluator training, organization assessments);

* access to Council services (Clearinghouse, Consultant Referral Network, and free admission to Performance Improvement Network discussions); and

* discounts to our partners’ services (other improvement-related non-profits, universities/colleges, and professional/trade associations).

Imagine your organization without quality.  Imagine your life without quality.  Because of the importance of quality in every aspect of your life, the focus of ASQ’s 2009 World Conference on Quality and Improvement is to create, promote, and grow the culture of quality on a global scale.

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) is pleased to announce that the World Conference on Quality and Improvement – “The Culture of Quality: Serving Customers, Organizations, and Communities"—will be in Minneapolis May 18-20.  Keynote speakers include Howard Behar, former President, Starbucks North America and Starbucks International; Jerry Greenfield, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.; and Wally Amos, Founder, Famous Amos Cookie Company.  Dozens of other speakers present case studies and best practices on organizational quality.

* Learn new and classic quality tools, methodologies, and techniques.

* Make an immediate impact on your organization’s bottom line.

* Attend in-depth breakout sessions.

* Network with more than 2000 attendees and exhibitors.

* Benchmark best practices in the International Team Excellence Award Process.

* Gain inspiration to take back to your workplace.

The Association for Strategic Planning-Minnesota Chapter, an alliance partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to announce its next meeting: “Performing the Strategic Plan: How Dashboards Drive Alignment, Empowerment and Action.”  The session is facilitated by Tim Brands, President and CEO of iBusiness Solutions.

Learn how leadership teams use timely, actionable metrics from across an enterprise to gain alignment on goals and achieve business results.  This program describes how performance management provides focus and empowers people to take action with examples.

The Minnesota Chapter of Project Management Institute (PMI), an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announced its next breakfast session: “Management and Resource Capacity Planning.”  The session will be held May 12, and will be facilitated by Susan Trahan is currently Director of Product Development at NeoMetrics, and Gary Wereley, PMP, CMII, director of Product Development Processes at St. Jude Medical.

In the discussion, we will investigate portfolio development and top-down resource planning in the product development environment. Both must be conducted in concert to provide a data-driven roadmap for project prioritization, product mapping, and resource allocation. Multiple scenarios and iterative analysis is necessary for development of a balanced portfolio that is capable of predictable execution. A close partnership between product planning, program management and finance is essential. Each is a primary owner of a triple-constraint component.

The session is May 12 from 7:00-8:50 AM at the Holiday Inn East in St. Paul.  Cost is $22 (5% for Council members) before Apr 30 (MCQ members should call 651.209.8991 for discount).  For more information, visit http://www.pmi-mn.org/.

In addition, PMI’s MetSIG is pleased to announce its Third Annual Global Online Congress.  During this month-long event, PMI plans to deliver at least one new webinar every business day.  This year's Congress features keynote speaker Ray Burchett presenting on "Intuitive Performance.”

Within each track are presentations on such relevant topics as:

1. Persuasion and Influence for Project Managers
2. Consistent Delivery of Successful Projects through the PMO
3. Influencing Without Authority: Rev up your Internal Consulting Skills
4. Business Development, Project Management, and Knowledge Management Maturity Models: The Prelude to Organizational Excellence
5. Availability: Key Parameter or Metric Muffin?
6. Achieving Excellence in these Challenging Times – delivered by Council president Brian Lassiter

Enterprise Minnesota, formerly Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) and a partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to present “The Next Generation of Lean” on April 29 in Elk River.  Competing and winning today in business requires foresight that includes Green (environmental sustainability) and Lean (reduced costs and increased efficiency) to create strategies that deliver clear, measurable, and rapid returns. Come learn how today's successful organizations are combining Lean and Green practices to improve productivity, competitiveness and opportunities for growth.

In addition, Enterprise Minnesota is pleased to announce several other events, all focused on using Lean or other methods to improve organizational performance:

• May 20: Idea Generation for Success in Manufacturing, Twin Cities
• Jun 24: Supply Chain: Strategies to Drive Performance, Twin Cities
• Jul 22: Finding New Revenue Streams in Sales, Marketing, and Product Development, Twin Cities
• Aug 19: Boost Work Performance Through New Safety Solutions, Twin Cities

The MN OD Network, an alliance partner of the MN Council for Quality, is please to announce is May 5 program: “Collaborative Design and Change Leadership in an Architecture Firm.”  The presenters are John Plfuger, Design Leader at Cuningham Group Architects, and Cino Adelson.

The session is $20 for members ($25 for non-members) and will be held from 4:30-6:30 on May 5 at St. Thomas, MOH Room 201.  No RSVP needed.  Contact Greg_Rodgers@cargill.com or visit  http://www.mnodn.org/mc/page.do with questions.

The Carlson School of Management is pleased to announce a Lean Educator Conference May 28-30.  Designed for academic and industry leaders who teach (or want to teach) and deploy lean principles in the classroom, plant, office, or clinic.  This conference brings together the leading lean thinkers and educators for sharing best practices with a highly interactive format with keynote speakers, breakouts, and networking.

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The Universty of Minnesota’s College of Continuing Education, an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce their spring improvement and business courses.  Council members receive a 10% discount on all CCE courses.

04/21, Principles of Employee Compensation, $395

04/21, Problem Solving and Decision Making, $395

04/21, Successful Manager’s Leadership Program, $2,995

04/22, Managing Performance and Developing Talent, $395

04/22, Measuring and Improving Processes, $995

04/23, Introduction to E-Learning and Webinars, $495

04/24, How to Deal with Difficult People, $395

04/24, Project Procurement Management, $395

05/01, Project Leadership, $395

05/05, Exercising Organizational Influence, $395

05/05, Employee and Labor Relations, $395

05/06, Professional Writing, $750

05/07, Project Management and New Product Development, $395

05/12, Business Process Management and the Balanced Scorecard, $995

05/13, Strategic Planning and Measurement, $750

05/13, Leading Through Change, $395

05/14, Talent Acquisition: Recruiter as Talent Advisor, $395

05/15, Project Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, $395

05/15, Advanced Editing and Proofreading Strategies, $395

05/16, Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) Test Preparation – Part 4, $750

05/19, Performance Management Process, $395

05/19, Handling People with Tact and Diplomacy, $395

05/20, Integrated Management, $395

05/21, Supply Chain Management, $395

05/21, Eight Steps of Instructional Design, $990

05/22, Project Management for IT Professionals, $395

05/29, Project Management and Chaos Theory, $395

06/02, Writing Business Reports, $395

06/02, Creative Training Techniques, $1,485

06/03, Legal Issues for Managers and Supervisors, $395

06/03, Small Group Professional Communication, $750

06/04, Applied Project Management, $395

06/04, Enterprise Process Management, $995

06/09, Successfully Dealing with Conflict at Work, $395

06/09, Organizational Training and Development, $395

06/10, Coaching for Excellence, $395

06/11, Human Resource Management, $395

06/12, Project Management Foundations, $395

06/16, Business Acumen for Human Resource Professionals, $395

06/19, Project Initiation, $395

06/19, Writing for the Web, $395

06/23, Strategic Human Resource Planning, $395

06/24, Building Teamwork and Commitment, $395

06/25, Project Planning, $750

06/25, Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Skills, $395

South Central College is pleased to announce their spring quality and performance improvement curriculum.  Council members are entitled to a 10% discount.

The following courses will be held at the Faribault campus (prices before member discount):

4/29: Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) Review, $250

4/30: Certified Quality Technician (CQT) Review, $300

5/5: Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) Review, $250

5/5: Understanding & Implementing ISO 9001:2000, $235

5/6: Internal Auditor Skills, $235

5/27: 8-Discipline Problem Solving Tools & Methods, $235

The following courses will be held at Mankato campus (prices before member discount):

5/13: Supplier Quality Management & Improvement, $235

Normandale Community College, an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce upcoming spring programs.  Council members receive a 15% discount.  The programs are as follows:

5/4-5/5                  ScrumMaster Certification, $1260 (15% off for MCQ)

5/6-6/4                  Six Sigma for Healthcare (8 sessions), $3355 (15% off for MCQ)

Six Sigma is a customer-driven approach that provides an overall framework for quality improvement.  The methodology follows a disciplined problem solving approach.  The goal of a six sigma program is to improve customer satisfaction through reduction and elimination of nonconformities.  It is achieved, not through increased inspection activities which only add cost, but through breakthrough process improvement and the reduction in variation.  The results are increased customer satisfaction, product and service reliability, and improved company financial performance.

All Six Sigma sessions facilitated by Dale K. Mize, the lead Six Sigma Instructor and Program Coordinator for Six Sigma at Normandale.  He is also president of Advanced Quality Engineering, which co-markets Six Sigma classes with Normandale.  He has more than 19 years of consulting and training experience and 21 years of technical and managerial experience comprised of customer service, product engineering, and manufacturing as a quality engineer, quality manager, and corporate director of quality assurance, and 17 years teaching experience as an adjunct faculty member for a private university. Dale is the He is co-author of the SPC training workbook, “An Ounce of Prevention.”

The MN Healthcare Quality Professionals, an alliance partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to host a (free) monthly webinar seminar series.  The series, hosted by MHQP and HealthForce Minnesota, is a monthly "quality in the trenches" brownbag education series.  The objective of these sessions is to provide a healthcare quality "survey course" using selected materials from the National Association of Healthcare Quality (NAHQ)'s Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) preparation materials. 

Upcoming webinars include (all over the lunch hour):

4/23        Lean & Six-Sigma

5/28        It’s Overwhelming !   Where/How do you start? (Panel Discussion)

The intended audience includes healthcare quality professionals who want a re-grounding in the breadth of their profession, and clinicians who want to learn more to become champions of change.  MHQP especially wants to reach out to healthcare professionals in rural/outstate Minnesota who don't get many quality education opportunities.

For more information (and previous slides) are posted at:   http://www.healthforceminnesota.org/pages/Programs/courses.html.

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