Some of you may have noticed that, while the website has not had any updates in a while, the RJ’s World Lens podcast has been going strong, going beyond 20 episodes! With the last blog post being at the end of July, there have been a lot of things that happened at the beginning of August…but I am going to share just a LITTLE BIT of what’s been happening! It’s good stuff!
More Project Management And Leadership!
Towards the end of July, I sought to have more of my project management and PROCESS management and the like “on paper”, so I asked if I could be part of the Lean Leader Six Sigma Yellow Belt program. Because of my cross-departmental collaborations and constant improvement with my own processes and within my own department, I was quickly nominated…perhaps a little TOO quickly, because I ended up diving right into a completely new project, one of which I have done all the work on-site. I have two cool team members on the project, who have given feedback and suggestions, but they are not local, though they did give me context in a broader sense, because while I am familiar with the workload of my local team, I got some insights on work that the team has been doing in Richmond and gained information about things that have not yet been broadly discussed, that will be relevant to my work as we continue to expand.
Going into expanding my knowledge and skills with Lean Six Sigma (The “Lean Leader” portion is an addition where I work) meant that I was going to be adding to my already existing knowledge on working on and being a part of projects, but going into it with the “Lean” mindset. Lean Six Sigma compliments project work (whether you are owning the entire project and considering things like budget, team member assignment, etc., or whether you are a part of an existing team and existing project) because while it isn’t project management in and of itself, much of what Lean teaches goes hand-in-hand with approaching and managing a project to get the most out of it as possible. Lean Six Sigma is a hybrid methodology that combines Lean principles (such as reducing waste) with Six Sigma statistics (reducing defects) to optimize business processes, and because projects often consist of many different processes (typically, in one project), doing things like defining what you set out to do, accounting for scope and scope creep, etc., are CRUCIAL to effective project management and/or process improvement. Think of LSS as a process and quality management tool that helps mold and augment process approaches and project management approaches.
Anyhoo, my project focuses on using SAP to gather material usage data, analyze material request history and request frequency, and setting re-order points for the medical teams as well as inventory teams so we can better reduce waste, unnecessary abundance, optimize usage of the room space available, and optimize time usage and workflow, both for the inventorying team, and the medical team that goes to hospitals and the like.
In my podcast, I mention that I am a big fan of the “5 Whys”, both in work context and outside of work context, so I will mention that it is a great tool for getting things broken down and getting us towards the root of the issues. When you have a clear view of the issues, it is easier to assess what needs to be done, within whatever scopes or timelines that you have set, and it is easier to get things started, planned, resources and estimations, so on and so forth. As the images I’ve uploaded show, there are lots of things that should be considered, not just in projects, but in work/life in general, and the information and ideas present on this blog post (and in the blog, in general), can and should be used in whatever life contexts you need to use them, as often as you can. I love when data aligns with what we are aiming to accomplish. As an SME (subject matter expert), among other things, I set up visuals and the like and the team has been so pleased, that they would like for me to also set up other work sites to optimize their space, inventory, and provide data and statistics for their resource usage and resource allocation. Naturally, doing my normal life thingies, while also leading a new project that has far-reaching implications, has absolutely devoured my time!
I Did Cheerleading And Event Cleanup For A Day…It Was A Blast!
Last year, I did a company race that helped raise money and awareness for a great cause! I just showed up, and just did the 5K, and I knew that was not a great idea, going in, but heck, it’s for a good cause! Lifting is something I do a lot…cardio? Not so much, and I ran the entire time, but I paid for it later! I was walking slow for the next three days…the aging body doesn’t recover quite like it did, maybe 20 years ago, ha ha! It’s all good though, because I still like the idea of raising money that can ultimately help others through research and the like, so this year, I decided to be a cheerleader at the finish line and helped take down signs and tents and other things when the race concluded! It was nice to cheer and scream at the top of my lungs! I also did a lot of dancing in place, which I FOUND OUT ADDS STEPS TO CHARITY MILES, so I was SUPER STOKED about that! I started the day at about 1 and 1/2 miles, and was at around FOUR MILES after the dancing, and around 7 miles after doing the cleanup! In a way, I was still racing with the others in spirit, as I got quite a sweat going, just not doing the race, which was really nice to see!
While the website updates have been sparse, I have definitely still been using my time to work towards unity in community, still doing work with Adopt-A-Park and still making cards for hospitalized kids! I truly wish, sometimes, that there were more than 24 hours in a day, but I have been doing projects, website work, social media management, podcasting, event organizing and event leadership with 757 Uplifters (we’ve got Halloween covered!), and more, largely solo! This isn’t to make excuses, per se — even if I was having a rough time and needed to recharge, that would also be valid. It’s not about the work or the lack of work, but in this case, I just want to emphasize that all the things that have been happening to me and around me, have actually made me even MORE passionate, in general, and I have been telling myself nearly every day that I have so much new stuff to share! Until next time, friends!