When a new way of working changes how you lead.
A pharmaceutical manufacturing organization was introducing LEAN across the plant. Experienced managers and supervisors needed support rethinking familiar leadership responsibilities within a new way of working.
LEAN was changing more than plant processes. It was changing what leadership looked like.
Experienced managers and supervisors already knew their teams, their operation, and their responsibilities. As the organization introduced LEAN across the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, those familiar leadership responsibilities had to work within a more systematic, data-informed way of operating.
Coaching, feedback, delegation, performance management, reporting, and day-to-day decisions all had to connect with the organization's new LEAN expectations.
How do we help experienced managers apply familiar leadership responsibilities—coaching, feedback, delegation, and performance management—through a LEAN lens?
Use each part of the learning experience for what it does best.
I helped shape the learning as a blended experience rather than treating every objective the same way. Foundational information could be introduced before class, giving managers a common starting point.
Live sessions could then focus on the work that benefited from having other people in the room: discussion, reflection, practice, feedback, and application.
Teach managers about LEAN and LEAN leadership.
Build understanding first, then use live learning to practice how leadership changes in a LEAN environment.
Help managers connect LEAN with the way they think, lead, and work.
The learning experience needed to do more than explain LEAN concepts. Managers needed to understand what the new operating model meant for the decisions they made, the conversations they had, and the way work was managed.
Build understanding, create space to practice, then support application at work.
The blended solution connected learning before the classroom, practice during the facilitated experience, and resources managers could use after formal learning ended.
Foundational eLearning
I designed digital learning that introduced foundational concepts before the live experience, giving managers a common starting point and preserving classroom time for higher-value discussion and practice.
Design decision: Move information delivery out of the classroom when managers didn't need an instructor or peers to learn it.
Facilitated Leadership Experience
I designed facilitated learning around the situations where conversation and feedback mattered—how managers coach, delegate, address performance, interpret information, and lead within the new LEAN environment.
Design decision: Use live learning for the things managers could not get from simply reading content or completing a course: discussion, practice, feedback, and perspective.
Performance data shows a recurring issue. What happens next?
Rather than only discussing what LEAN says about performance, managers could work through how they would interpret the situation and lead the conversation.
Leadership Tools & Resources
I designed supporting resources managers could return to after the formal learning experience, helping connect what happened in training with leadership situations back on the job.
Design decision: Don't expect managers to remember everything from training. Give them practical support they can return to when they need it.
What if managers didn't have to remember which course had the answer?
Leadership support could continue beyond the LMS with a simple resource organized around the situations managers encounter during the workday—not around the courses they previously completed.
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Useful resources
Learning shouldn't disappear when class ends. The strongest solution helps managers understand the change, practice the change, and apply it when the work is actually happening.