Designing Workshops for the Introduction of Lean Enablers to Engineering Programs

There is a large and growing body of knowledge regarding so-called Lean best practices, including most recently in the area of program management and systems engineering. However, there is little elaboration of how these documented best practices are to be introduced to a professional workforce. One way of introducing new practices to a workforce is through the use of training workshops, but there is no well-defined method or framework to systematically design workshops for the implementation of a new body of knowledge. This study focuses on the development of a framework that facilitates the systematic design of workshops focused specifically on the introduction of Lean principles and practices to program management and the professional workforce in a program environment. The framework is based on a thorough review of literature on training, workshop delivery, and Lean principles, as well as empirical evidence obtained from data collection and interactions with training professionals from industry. It is embodied in an Excel-based tool that allows the user to quickly assemble a structure for the workshop, including the topic, an agenda and defined goals, and also the theoretical content about the Lean principles. The framework was validated through interactions with training professionals in a large automobile manufacturer, and using subject matter experts from a variety of industrial sectors. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.