Description
In this virtual training and certification program, you will learn how Lean tools and techniques have been effectively implemented in for-profit organizations, healthcare, manufacturing, offices, clinics, nonprofits and government agencies (basically everywhere).
Not only will these methods lead to efficiency and productivity gains, it will also increase the engagement of staff and frontline workers, reduce time to complete tasks, reduce rework and delays, and have a bigger impact on the customers of your organization.
Participants will learn ways to methodically approach problems in their organization to improve their problem solving skills and better help their organization reach their strategies and goals. With more consistent and reliable processes, workers and managers will be able to improve their work-life balance and reduce stress.
It’s not about making people work harder. It’s all about removing tasks and activities from their workload so they can get more accomplished with the same or less effort.
What is the cost?
The cost for this guided program is $997 per person (goes up to $1197 on July 12, 2026), which includes lifetime access to the training material, check-in calls to ensure participants are staying on track with completion of online modules, and coaching calls to ensure improvement projects will be successful and the participant will complete the certification.
If you are self-motivated, you might consider our self-paced program. This program does not have the coaching support, but is more cost-effective. You can either take the training as a stand-alone course, or include the certification review (recommended) which requires completion of a real-life project but comes with the Lean certification.
If you would like a program dedicated to your entire company (private), please check out our Lean Project Coaching Program for Organizations >>>
What is the time commitment?
There will be 5 training sessions (2 hours), 3 coaching sessions (2 hours each) and 1 presentation day (2 hours) for a total of 18 hours of live sessions. In addition, you will be asked to complete online training of 2-4 hours per week over 4 weeks at your own pace (estimate 12 hours). Each person will be asked to complete an improvement project at their work (estimate 20-30 hours). Total commitment will be 50-60 hours over 3 months (about 20 hours per month or 5 hours per week).
All sessions will take place virtually over Zoom from 4:00PM – 6:00PM EST (1:00-3:00PM PST) on Mondays
Training and Review Sessions – review training videos and how it applies to your work
- Aug 31, 2026 – Week 0 Kickoff Meeting – Explain program, set up with online training platform, explain requirements for certification, review your nonprofit organization (mission statement, products and services and processes) and answer questions
- Coursework: Intro to Lean Principles and Concepts, 8 Wastes, Gemba Walks, Kaizen
- Sep 14, 2026 – Week 1 Review – Review course assignments and content from previous week, discuss upcoming coursework and discuss application to your current work
- Coursework: 5S workplace organization and Visual Controls, Process Measurements, Data Collection Methods, Selecting a Project, A3 and PDCA
- Sep 21, 2026 – Week 2 Review – Review course assignments and content from previous week, discuss upcoming coursework and discuss application to your improvement project
- Coursework: Value, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Process Mapping, Data Analysis Methods, 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagrams, Capacity Analysis (OEE), Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Continuous Flow Methods (One piece flow, Heijunka, SMED or setup reduction, Standardized work, Single-stall)
- Sep 28, 2026 – Week 3 Review – Review course assignments and content from previous week, discuss upcoming coursework and discuss application to your improvement project
- Coursework: Pull and Kanban, Mistake Proofing, Team Decision Making, Testing and Validating Ideas, RACI, Kaizen Events, Standard Work and SOPs, Behavior Change, Daily Management System (huddles) and Yokoten
- Oct 5, 2026 – Week 4 Review – Recap the entire training program and ensure everyone is making progress on their improvement project
- Coursework: Complete remaining training and continue project work
Coaching Sessions – check-ins every 2 weeks to keep your project on-track
- Oct 19, 2026 – Coaching Session #1 – Review project status and get questions answered
- Nov 2, 2026 – Coaching Session #2 – Review project status and get questions answered
- Nov 16, 2026 – Coaching Session #3 – Review project status and get questions answered
- Dec 14, 2026 – Final project presentations – Present your project A3 and receive your certification
What is the requirement for the certification? To receive a Lean certification, you will need to:
- complete the online training
- complete your improvement project
- present your project on Dec 14th.
What do you mean by a project?
This program is more than just training. It’s about practicing what you learn on a real-life problem at your work or at your home. We will walk you through a series of steps to improve the process that is contributing to the problem.
Examples of typical problems come from the following processes that:
- Take the longest to complete?
- Have the most complaints?
- Require the most employees to support?
- Seem inconsistent month to month?
- Have the most mistakes?
- Have costly mistakes?
- Seem the most hectic?
- Is the most cluttered and lacks organization?
- Have the highest risk (keep you up at night)?
- Have legal risk or potential reputation damage?
- Have “heroes saving the day” to meet deadlines?
During the program, we will help you select a project to work on, so you don’t need to select the project right away. To give you some ideas to consider, check out this comprehensive list of project ideas.
The steps involved in the project will consist of the following tools you will learn in the training:
- Gemba walk to identify wastes
- Process map to document the current process
- Data collection of the current process
- Root causes of the current problem (data analysis, fishbone diagram or 5 Whys)
- Kaizen to improve the process (5S, flow, pull, remove waste, reduce setup, mistake proof, etc)
- Data collection of the new process
- Document results into A3 template and present
Who is this training geared for?
- Anyone interested in learning best practices for how to improve their work or get more organized in their home (ready to start now? Consider our Lean at Home course)
- We are targeting this training to those in the following industries and job roles:
- Environment, Safety and Health professionals
- Sustainability professionals
- Government agencies
- Food and beverage industry
- Healthcare and medical industry
- Education (schools and colleges)
- Nonprofit organizations (check out our free program)
If you know someone that might be interested, or have staff that could benefit from this program, please share with them!
Save $200 if you register before July 11th (regular price is $1197 starting on July 12th)
Questions? Contact us for more information
