Case Study: Nottingham City Homes

Programme Set Up and Rapid Benefits

In the first phase, we established a programme team with a top level sponsor, a programme manager and internal facilitators. We established a reference group, comprising the key managers in the process that were responsible for delivering the voids process across the organisation. The role of the reference group was to ensure the ideas created throughout the review were implementable and ensured middle management buy in to the revised process. We then created a large joint client-consultant team, which were trained in lean techniques and then systematically analysed the whole voids process end to end.

Process Improvements

The voids process is extremely complex with potential for multiple handoffs (the keys to the voids property changed hands up to 26 times throughout the process). We worked with a selected team from across the whole process to create current and future value stream maps. The end result was a multi-level set of recommendations and improvement projects in which waste in current processes was identified and teams began initiating local improvements to eliminate or reduce delays and duplications before the new process were reintroduced into the organisation.

Knowledge Transfer

As projects started to flow through, our consultants trained NCH’s facilitators in the tools, techniques and application of Lean ways of working. We created a workbook for facilitators on how to run events, templates and toolkits and an overall framework for the management team to show them how to identify and align the right lean tools to the problems.

Organisation and Leadership

The process had top level buy in and sponsorship from the Chief Executive and his executive team from day one. The finance director was appointed as the sponsor with the Business Improvement manager as the programme manager. Buy in from the Reference group was seen as key to the success of the programme. The cross cutting nature of the Voids process meant that several handovers across Directorates creates tensions between departments that needed resolving as part of the new solution. The final review was attended by the CEO and his team plus the Reference Group where the recommendations were agreed and the implementation plan signed off. A comprehensive 9 month plan was developed and fed into the Senior Management Group to ensure resources were allocated to deliver the plan and realise the expected benefits.