Member Stories Paris Dental Centre
 Paris Dental Centre has been a member of the Continuous Improvement Alliance consortium since 2016. They are a progressive dental clinic in Paris, Ontario and a pioneer in deploying Organizational Systems Thinking and developing a continuous improvement culture in the dental industry. Paris Dental Centre was the winner of the Share Showcase people's choice award for 2018.
 |
Paris Dental Control Board
|
We asked Karla Stonham to answer a few questions on what Paris Dental Centre has learned and applied from the consortium. Here are her answers.
What did you learn from the consortium that you applied?
We have learned the Organizational Systems Thinking approach. Our key learning was the need for a structure that allows employees to contribute. We use stand-up meetings that focus on idea generation and problem solving. We also have a management system structure in place with measures and communication that flow from the bottom up, top down and accross departments.
What was the inspiration or ‘aha’ moment for the application?
How simple things need to be! Make work visible and in simple terms; if the project tasks are late, they are below the red line (thanks to Bell Mobility). Making work visible really is helping everyone understand!
How did you approach the application of the thinking?
We have a book club with all our leaders. Our first book was "Creating a Lean Culture" by David Mann. We read one chapter at a time and discuss the material together to ensure we all understand how it can be applied at Paris Dental.
We started by creating our True North (aspirational vision) and then added measures for each stand up team to ensure they are aligned. Stand up meetings began a couple of years ago and we have adjusted them through this process.
We also created team leaders and provided skills development for them through yellow belt and emerging leaders training.
We are sending as many different people as we can to consortium events. Benchmarking with consortium members like Bell Mobility, Aeryon Labs and St. Mary's, along with our regular CIA consortium events have all have been very helpful!
What are some of the results?
Gemba walks (go, see and engage) have started. This provides a time of learning for everyone to see what is being accomplished and what needs to be changed.
How we communicate is changing. Traditionally, employees were going to one or two people for all their questions and answers. Now, each employee has a Team Lead to support them. This evens out the workload for leaders and ensures direct support is in place.
We are now measuring wait times and satisfaction. It has become obvious how they affect each other. We now have a target and a measurable current state as a focus for our improvements.
What did you learn?
What you allow becomes your standard.
We all interpret things differently so you must be clear and specific.
It is okay to fail and make mistakes as long as we learn from it.
Discussing problems as a group really helps us all to solve the problem.
Protect the core! This is helps us prioritize our needs more clearly.
Stay positive!
|
