Upcoming Events
March 5 | 12 – 1 p.m. | Zoom Webinar
Hoshin planning can be an intimidating component of lean to implement. Sure, organizations are quick to start daily stand-ups and embrace structured problem solving to root out waste—but strategic planning requires a commitment to thoroughly think through where they're headed and how to get there. And who has time for that when today's problems must be solved and current customer demand must be met?
Unfortunately, if an organization doesn't take time to clearly understand its true north and fails to have clearly defined KPIs and accountability reviews, it could be stuck in a world of incremental process improvement initiatives.
This webinar will explore how a small investment in hoshin/strategic planning and thinking through where an organization should be headed can pay tremendous dividends. We'll show it doesn't matter how big or small an organization is and show that it isn't even necessary for the organization’s leadership to be expert or fluent with Hoshin. We will show—with evidence—how implementing hoshin helped Michelle’s business define its true north, refine its strategy, and observe exponential growth in identified KPIs after implementing a hoshin plan and accountability review.
Takeaways will include:
- An understanding of the value of hoshin
- Firm evidence supported with data that hoshin implementation delivered significant (breakthrough) financial improvements
- A starter kit for asking the right questions for a hoshin session(s)
- A playbook for reviewing the hoshin plan and reviewing for accountability without an X-matrix (for those who find it confusing or intimidating to follow)
- An appreciation for when it is okay to modify or re-think a KPI or goal
Jason Risser is a lean practitioner and master black belt who has lived in the process management/Operational Excellence world for three decades, executing continuous improvement initiatives for multiple organizations in different industries (military, logistics, credit card marketing, and insurance) and implementing the Lean Management System for multiple organizations. He holds degrees from Ohio State and Bluffton College and loves helping teams on their Op-Ex journey. Jason is active in church ministries, is a member of the American Legion, and passionately volunteers time for organizations benefitting veterans, leading the Military Associate Resource Group in Central Ohio for Nationwide among other opportunities. He lives in Dublin with his wife and daughter and loves to travel in his spare time.
Michelle Risser is a licensed therapist in private practice and a multi-passionate entrepreneur as a sole proprietor of 2 businesses, including a mental health therapy practice as well as a coaching business. She believes that diversified income streams are the key to more impact and less burnout for mental health professionals. Michelle is passionate about helping therapists step into their expertise as approved CEU providers so they can have more income and more impact! She’s a graduate of Ohio State and the creator of several courses as well as her group mentorship program, The Therapist Educators Academy. Michelle lives with her family in Central Ohio, rows on a rowing team, is a cat lady with no cats, is obsessed with knitting, and still finds time to volunteer for the American Red Cross and play guitar.
March 5 | 12 – 1 p.m. | Zoom Webinar
In the pursuit of operational excellence, companies invest significant resources to launch programs that include software deployments, process optimization, and training. Yet leadership teams are often markedly disappointed with the results. Well before drafting the project proposal and timeline, it is crucial to assess and determine whether the company’s current culture realistically supports its strategy and ultimate goals. Decades of OpEx experience have taught Carol Christobek and Chhevi Sharma that people, processes, and technological improvements must be reinforced by and aligned with an INTENTIONAL culture to achieve success.
This webinar will focus on developing an intentional culture capable of continuously adapting and evolving. Carol and Chhevi will describe the concept of Intentional Culture and illustrate the classic “culture quadrant” (Command & Control, Chaotic, Accidental, and Intentional) relative to OpEx initiatives.
Further, this session will highlight the four Culture facets of the speakers’ OpEx model and discuss how each cultural characteristic fosters a continuously improving organizational culture aligned with the company’s strategy, objectives, and plans.
Attendees will learn:
- Why people are at the center of any existing organizational culture
- Why an intentional culture is critical to sustaining operational and organizational excellence
- How to recognize their organization’s current culture and place it within the culture quadrant
- The keys to developing an intentional culture capable of adapting and evolving to support continuous improvement
Carol Christobek (Process Driven Performance) and Chhevi Sharma (The Reflection Group) have a combined 50+ years of experience in operational excellence in a variety of manufacturing and distribution industries. Their expertise spans numerous functions and disciplines, including finance, governance, supply chain, quality, IT, HR, EHS and they have partnered with business teams around the world. After decades in corporate roles, they are now independent consultants who specialize in leading projects to improve operational performance for small to mid-size manufacturing companies.
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April 8 -10 | COE Summit 2025