Lean Certification to Improve Performance

Lean certification is important in today's competitive business environment. It is designed to help individuals plan their career and companies to remain viable by developing milestones. It is also a way to gain a career credential that can be taken along to every job. Once a person is certified, he or she can mentor others and share what's been learned. This process helps each person gain competency as well as to obtain industry recognized abilities. Creating a portfolio of knowledge and experience is part of the plan. This business model produces a tighter and leaner organization overall. Here are some things to think about:

- Today's business climate: In today's economy, businesses of all kinds must be sharper and leaner than ever. Each worker that takes care of his or her own career advancement is steps ahead of others. In order to be competitive, steps to be leaner than ever must be taken. The leanest are the ones who survive in tough economic climates.

- Eliminating wastefulness: When times are lush, many individuals forget to pare down and be thoughtful about resources, materials and pricey expenditures. By being mindful of all resources, energy and materials that are being used, wastefulness can be cut out. Belt tightening can be a good thing if waste is eliminated.

- Lao Tzu quote: Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher, made a wise observation that is still quoted today. He said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." This quotation is woven into the lean philosophy as well. Everything that is worth doing takes time, isn't a quick fix. Instead, it is a process that will involve a multitude of steps. In order to start working toward improvement, a person or organization must take that first step and then keep walking toward the goals.

- Goals and strategies: Setting a timeline of goals and developing strategies to achieve them is a good method for organizing a process. Taking a look at what's currently being done and figuring out ways to balance and improve upon it will begin to steer projects in new directions.

- Training: Once a business starts thinking about training employees for lean certification, some research should be undertaken. First reading up on the subject will help to shed light and allow management to come up with options for progressing toward this goal. There are various methods for training those at the top and then providing a way for it to trickle down into the workforce and company in general. Onsite consultants are one option for learning more and beginning the implementation process. Online courses are also available which can be convenient and doable. Some organizations prefer a combination of onsite consultants and online courses for the best of both options.

When a company becomes interested in lean certification, there are various ways to proceed in that direction. Reading up on the subject, making a timeline, calling in onsite consultants and taking online training courses are all methods of progressing toward the leaner model of an organization.