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Episode 37Process Mapping at the Speed of Conversation In Episode 37, I get to nerd out with Craig Willis about the importance of process mapping. Craig’s goal is to make process mapping and analysis easy and accessible so that anyone can do it...

Hosting Effective Meetings Meetings are an important part of the organization’s ability to share information, build consensus, and making decisions. To get started on improving your organization’s meetings, check out the provided resource...

5 Whys The 5 Whys exercise helps project teams to identify the root cause issue(s) of a specific problem by repeating the question “Why?” until the underlying issue is identified. As the exercise is performed, the Belt will iterate and dive deepe...

Process Mapping Process mapping is the activity of documenting the process steps taken to create/deliver the organization’s products and services. Process maps are useful for many reasons. From an improvement perspective, process maps help mana...

Forms of Waste The concept of waste is important to understand for a variety of reasons. Waste is the inefficiencies that exist within a process. Waste consumes valuable resources, and in most cases, it goes unnoticed Henry Ford and other improvement...

SMART Aim Statement The SMART Aim Statement helps the project team to articulate the project’s goal. The acronym SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Need help completing your SMART Aim Statement? Schedul...

Problem Statement A good problem statement can serve as the main touchstone for a project team as they undertake any improvement effort. The problem statement helps to create a shared need by clearly explaining what the problem is, where the problem ...

Episode 36 Wabi Sabi In Episode 36, guest Minid Epstein gives the Improvement Nerds audience permission to be their authentic selves. To embrace their imperfections and to go forward even when you don’t have it all figured out. By practicing Wa...

Episode 35 Designing Your Career Have you found yourself at a career crossroads and not known what to do? In Episode 35, Marla Holdread shares that the best thing to do when at a career crossroad, is to think like a designer. Her advice is......

Business Case Canvas The Business Case Canvas provides the Project Sponsor with a framework for presenting the project’s business case to key stakeholders to garner support for prioritizing and activating the project. The Business Case Canvas, like...

Episode 34 Best Places to Work In Episode 34 I have the chance to nerd out with Angie Redmon about some of the strategies that an organization can employ to help improve their work culture, while embarking on a journey to become one of the......

Change Readiness Assessment The Change Readiness Assessment allows the change agent, project team, and other key stakeholders to measure the effectiveness of their change management efforts. The Change Readiness Assessment is completed at the start o...