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This podcast offers business solutions to help listeners develop and implement action plans for lean process improvement and implement continuous improvement projects, cost reductions, product quality enhancements, and process effectiveness improvement. Listeners come from many industries in both manufacturing and office applications.
Rebecca Moyers 2:43
And then thought one day I would try my hand at a different industry and government, very much like healthcare, very service-oriented. My name is Patrick Adams, and I am here Rebecca Moyers, who is the Director of Operational Excellence for the State of Missouri. And Rebecca is going to be a speaker at this year's Lean Solutions Summit, happening september 15, 16th, and 17th. And today we will be talking about her presentation at the summit. So, welcome to the show, Rebecca. Thank you, Patrick. Excited to be here. Yeah, we're excited to have you. Excited to have you coming all the way from the state of Missouri to the state of Michigan and presenting on this topic. Your presentation is called the Feedback advantage, so I'm excited to hear a little bit more about that. But before we do, can you just tell our listeners a little bit about you and your background and and how you landed at the state of Missouri as the director of operational excellence? Just give us a little little background. Yeah, so I did not take a linear career path. So I am a medical technologist by trade, and worked many years in hospital laboratories. That is very process oriented, and so my mind was totally geared with that. Lots of people in healthcare are promoted based on their technical expertise. I was one of those who moved my way up and found myself in this predicament of I don't know if I really know how to lead people to accomplish our organizational goals. Luckily, the healthcare system that I worked in had a process improvement department that came in and helped me facilitate a couple projects, and I really learned the foundations of process improvement, and really lent myself towards like more towards like steering my team that way. And so I was just a sponge, like anything I could get my hands on. Mark Graven really like focused my career, and so eventually I ended up in the process improvement department at the hospital. Was leading some organization-wide initiatives, helping with strategic planning, those type of things. Lots of rules and regulations that we have to navigate, and so that was kind of my my progression to the position that I am in now. And super excited! I've been with the state for six years in this position for three of those, and really excited about the things that we're doing here at the state.
Patrick Adams 5:19
Love it, and I actually had the opportunity to come out and visit you and your team. Was it two two years ago now that I spoke at your annual summit?
Rebecca Moyers 5:28
Yes, yes. So every year we do a Show Me Excellence Summit, and yes, Patrick, you were able to be our keynote. People still talk about it, watch the recordings because it really hit home how you helped us get to our summits and really focus our teams in in making sure we're aligned in that path.
Patrick Adams 5:51
Well, I'm glad to hear that. And now we get to have Rebecca coming to Michigan for the Lean Solutions Summit, and you'll be presenting. And I'm super excited about your presentation. There, so there are a number of attendees that come from all different industries and all around the world, and to hear from the director of operational excellence at the state of Missouri, I think is is really a treat for everyone because we a lot of times in the lean world in process improvement, we we hear from speakers that are you know in manufacturing or you know in in healthcare quite a few and obviously your background in healthcare but it'll be really interesting to hear you presenting about your experiences at the state of Missouri and I'm kind of interested to hear even right now without giving us too much about what you're going to talk about at the summit, talk to us a little bit just about your role at the state of Missouri and and what does that look like? Do you do you have a team that works under you? Do you have full support from the governor? Like, what I mean, what does all that look like? Kind of walk us through your experiences at the state of Missouri, if you don't mind,
Rebecca Moyers 7:02
yeah. So it's really been our progression for us at the state of Missouri in how we've grown our operational excellence community. How we're structured at the state is we have 17 executive agencies. Each one of those have an operational excellence leader that reports to that department, and then collectively we come together to strategize to set kind of our goals and objectives, what we need to do. I have a small team under me that helps be a resource for them. So if they don't have the capacity that they need or special skill set in their organization, they can rely on us. We're kind of coaches, consult, and then we lead the statewide training. So we've developed some training paths that are belt oriented that we we help navigate through for the state, and so we we get a lot of variety and a lot of opportunity to interact with the different agencies because they all have their own business mission, vision, values, and so it really helps us make sure we're looking collectively across all their different needs and strategizing how we can best fit or best help them continue to mature.
Patrick Adams 8:09
Love it, love it. So, do you have? Are you interacting with other state government operational excellence groups or teams, or are you guys kind of on an island on your own,
Rebecca Moyers 8:22
but we've we've done both. There's several states that we meet with periodically to see how they're doing. On our team, in the last few years, we've started a customer experience program, and that's where where my presentation is geared towards is like that feedback advantage. And with that, we've stood up a nationwide call for all of the different states that are doing customer experience programs, so that we can learn from each other. We can see what the barriers we're all facing. Is there something collectively we can share or strategize to help overcome those things? So we've been really excited with the progress that we've made in that program over the last few years, and we offer that to all of the agencies within Missouri. So we're a centralized resource in which they can help. We can tap in and help them get started in their own customer experience programs.
Patrick Adams 9:16
Love it. What? Give me before we move into your presentation about the feedback advantage. Talk to me about maybe a couple projects, or just pick choose one project or one initiative that your team has worked on that you're really proud of. You know, background. What was the problem? You know, what have you been able to solve, and how did you do it? I'm just kind of interested in you know in the in the state government space. What would a project look like?
Rebecca Moyers 9:46
Well, we have one department that our transportation department asked us to come in and facilitate a lean event, you may say, and they invite. Both their so they have a central office plus they have districts and so it was their central office their districts their federal partners and then local municipalities sorry and and wanted to strategize on how they can provide some services better, and and make sure that the funds that they were obligating, they were able to spend within the appropriate time. So, it was a tall feat because the process spanned actually a couple years, and they wanted all of these different stakeholders to be able to map it, giving their different perspectives, with the ultimate goal of how do we become more efficient and achieve the goal, the goals that we have of our organization, and so we were able to go in. I had a whole acronym sheet that I had to learn and track as I went, so that I could facilitate and know what they were talking about. But we were able to facilitate that session over a three-day period and map the entire thing. We moved several of their different process requirements to different spaces, and so that was able to start some processes that took several 100 days. Move them up 150 days, so they got started earlier and were able then to meet the goals that they had in the timeframes that they needed them to. I think what has been very inspirational from that is while we did it in one district, they were able to share it with other districts across the state. Their learnings from it, and then as they rolled different initiatives that we had identified out of that, continue to educate. And so it's really spread across the state those learnings, and then it's helped all of the other districts in some form or fashion become more efficient because they are different based on their different locations and different stakeholders in those different areas.
Patrick Adams 11:56
Very nice. So one last question before we shift into your presentation at this year's Lean Solutions Summit. So you spent quite a bit of time in the healthcare industry, and and I love that you mentioned Mark Raven, one of my good friends, and and has been to our summit and spoken at our summit as well. But what was maybe the most difficult part in transitioning from the healthcare industry into the government, you know, state local space.
Rebecca Moyers 12:27
I think one of the biggest learnings from me is oftentimes people who come to state government say, "Well, why don't they just run it like a business? And there are so many nuances with the layers and the different checks and balances between the different branches; that it is different. And so, while our focus is to make government more efficient, and our governor is very supportive of that, we had an executive order that was launched this year that really highlighted his his wanting us to move at the speed of business, but also that recognition that it is slightly different, and there is nuances, and so understanding those for me has been some of the the biggest challenges that I've had, and then finding ways to get people to think about doing things differently when it when it may have been that way for a very long time. So those are always things that you know I continue to learn from and learn how to navigate and the teams that we we help also also in that same space.
Patrick Adams 13:32
Love it. If you're just tuning in, I am speaking with Rebecca Moyers, who is the director of operational excellence at the state of Missouri, and Rebecca will be speaking at our Lean Solutions Summit coming up september 15, 16th, and 17th here in West Michigan at Meijer Gardens, which is a beautiful venue. It's right on the cusp of the the the West Michigan or the the the art prize in that happens in Grand Rapids every year, and so there's going to be a ton of amazing art at the the gardens. And for people that want to stick around after the summit, it actually kicks off the Friday after, and there's a ton of just amazing, beautiful art all throughout the city. And so it's just a great time to be here in Michigan, and we hope that you'll come visit us and see Rebecca and myself at the summit this year. And so, if you if you are interested to come, you can check out lean thelean solutionsummit.com, or you can check the the show notes for this episode. This will this episode is we're live right now, but we're going to air this as a podcast as well. It'll be in the show notes with a link that you can go to to to check out the the summit and get more information about the summit. So Rebecca, you're going to be speaking. the The title of your presentation is the feedback advantage. I'm interested to hear a. A little bit more about that, without giving away too many secrets, because we want people to be able to come and listen to you speak about this. But tell us a little bit more about what the feedback advantage
Rebecca Moyers 15:12
is. Yeah. So one of the things that I got the experience when I was working within the healthcare system was looking at patient satisfaction scores and employee like safety cultural types things, and the work I I did with that was kind of on the periphery and and not really ingrained. But when I came to the state of Missouri, we were going through what we call a talent transformation. So really rethinking how we manage our people, and are they getting the skills, resources, and everything that they need to be successful in their roles? And we did for the first time ever launched a statewide employee experience survey, and we were doing it on a quarterly basis because we were going through so many transformation things, transformational opportunities, that we started really listening to what our employees were telling us about the landscape, and then COVID really kind of accelerated that because we continued to do those pulse surveys, but then started asking some specific questions about how they were managing all of the changes that we were going through with COVID. From there, we really had some key learnings that helped propel those initiatives that we were working in our talent transformation. Jump a couple years, we decided to do the same thing with customer experience. So, what I have found in a lot of the work that I do is, in government, we are limited in our resources. We all know things we want to try to improve for that customer experience, but sometimes weeding out what is the most important and what will really help that end user is hard. And so, why don't we just listen to them and and let them tell us where they want us to focus those efforts? And so through our program, we have really been able to do some omni-channel listening, and I'm going to share a lot about how we approached that, what we did, what those learnings were that that made us more successful than we even anticipated, but what I found is it really helped us know where we needed to focus our process improvement efforts, so that our end users are gaining the value that we really want them to. And so, really taking that approach of how do you listen to your people to improve your culture and get them what they need, but then also listening to your customers so that your process improvements are focused and strategic.
Patrick Adams 17:47
Love it! I cannot wait to hear a little bit more about this and some of the learning, the key learnings that you guys walked away from that with. Do do you mind sharing just one of those key learnings, just to kind of, you know, little teaser for those that are listening in, and yeah, what what was just one of those key learnings?
Rebecca Moyers 18:10
Well, I think one of the the biggest things that we've learned is like the way sometimes that we work is not conducive to really thinking through that whole customer journey. So if you take like our websites, for example, they may have all the information, but we're not collaborating with our programmatic pieces, our tech pieces, and the web pieces to make sure that the throughline in that journey is consistent and appropriate. So I think that has been one of the biggest things that that we're really looking at is if that's the first place that you go in your journey is to explore, understand what maybe you need to get services. Is is all the pieces connecting for you, and and are we looking through it from that lens instead of the business side of just I do this in my silo and you do that and we hope they come together for that cohesive experience.
Patrick Adams 19:09
Gotcha. And what would you? So if if someone was coming to your session and they were they sat in your session, what would you want them to walk away with? What what what would be something that you would say, like after you attend this session, when you when you walk out of here, this is something that you'll be able to bring back to your organization or apply directly, you know, right away as you come out. What would be one of those things that you want the learners, they're the participants, to walk away with?
Rebecca Moyers 19:40
I think the the biggest things I want to for our learners to understand is why feedback matters. Because if you can understand why why this matters so much, like oftentimes when we go into an agency, they say, "I'm not delivering the best news. I know they're not going to be happy, and we're like, "No, there's a." Difference between understanding that the news that you deliver is maybe not what they wanted to hear, but are you delivering it in a manner that they understand what the response is? Why that's the decision or the outcome that they're getting, and was the experience to get that decision pretty frictionless, or in this the the time frame in which they expected it, so that they can make a different plan. And so, being intentional on how you ask for feedback and why it's important is some of the key things that I I want the listeners or the participants to understand. I think the other piece is we've been very fortunate that we're doing this at a statewide level, but this can be implemented anywhere that you have a span of control arm. So you do not have to think that I need to have all of these systems at this big high level. You on your own teams can be be able to implement the the model that we're using at any space, and hopefully it scales due to your success. And so that's what we want, or I want the participants to understand.
Patrick Adams 21:04
Amazing! If you're just logging on, I'm talking with Rebecca Moyers, who is the director of operational excellence at the state of Missouri, and she will be one of our speakers at this year's Lean Solutions Summit, happening september 15, 16th, and 17th. We'd love for you to attend. You can go to leansolutionsummit.com and get more information or to register. Also, Rebecca has a special code. It's Rebecca 100, and you'll get a special discount when you use that code when you are registering. So I have one more question for you, Rebecca, before we kind of wrap up. For anyone that's listening in, that maybe is not in the the in government, they're not state, local, federal government. Maybe they work in construction. Maybe they work in manufacturing. Maybe they work in an office at a law firm. Would would they walk away with something tangible, something valuable, if they were to attend your your breakout session, is there something that everybody from any industry can walk away with and and really feel like they got some value, or do they have to be in state local government to to to listen to your presentation?
Rebecca Moyers 22:17
Great question. It can be anywhere. When you think of the state as a whole, we have 17 agencies. Those are from field agents in conservation to facility workers in our Department of Mental Health. All of those, and so our program spans all of those different industry types and the different work types. And so yes, we have experience in all of those. I think the other piece is just thinking about our approach to both your employee experience and your customer experience. It doesn't matter who those customers are because even like my customers are typically my peer state workers. Those are the people that I serve, and so getting feedback from anyone, whoever your end user is or your team member is, is applicable in all scenarios.
Patrick Adams 23:08
Absolutely, I love that answer, and and I was hoping you'd say that. Yeah, I was thinking as you were talking just about the the customer experience and how important That is the the one of the best ways that I've seen places gather voice of the customer is you know with like hands-on practical type of things. And I was visiting a university one time, talked about this before, but I walked into the library, and in the library right when you walked to the library, they had like three or four chairs lined up, and there was a big sign that said, "We're we're replacing all of the chairs in the library. Try these out and tell us which one you like the best. And I thought, what an amazing way to collect the voice of the customer because it the board is paying for the chairs, and the board could have said, you know, this is the chair that I like. Let's let's get that. Let's use that one, but they didn't. They took the time to collect the voice of the customer, the students, the people that are actually using the chairs in the library, and that's how they decided which chairs that they would actually be purchasing. And I thought, like, what a great way to not only collect the voice of the customer, but also the the respect and just the the way that they were they wanted the customer experience in the library to be one that was positive. And how how else then to ask the people that are actually there, right? How do you guys at different levels of of the state? How do you collect voice of the customer, and how do you know that customer that your customers are having a good or a bad experience? Is it through surveys, or are there other ways that you collect that?
Rebecca Moyers 24:52
So there's multiple ways we we approach it from an omni-channel listening standpoint, and we try to pair it with the operation. Data that we'll need to get kind of a more comprehensive look at that experience. So, like I talked about websites before, there's places in which we have what we call active intercepts. So they engage with you if you're on the site and you're clicking around and you don't seem to be what where you need to be because you're there for a long period of time or there's a lot of clicks. We pop up. Hey, what are you looking for? Were you able to complete your task? Like, what would make this better? Other places we do that more passive intercept where it's just on the page. If you want to give us feedback, you can't. Can but along with that, we track like some of the analytics. What are the ways in which you're coming to our site? So that way we know what is feeding to our site? Is that working well for us, or are you coming from another page somewhere else that isn't doing that? And then we we do surveys. Like if you visit our department of motor vehicles, you'll get a quick little survey prompt. Or if you call into our call centers, and along with that, we pair that, like I said, with that operational data. That's going to help us give us some more insights about, like, time of days. Who was your agent that helped you serve? I think one of our biggest learnings. Everybody is fearful sometimes about like what is this feedback going to share, but some of our agencies have got such good recognition of when people provide great customer service that they've actually made it into recognition programs in some areas. So if you get a shoutout or kudos within your feedback, like they're recognized within their team members. So it's it's all those different interaction points when you think about the entire customer journey. And we're not for more surveys, but how do your surveys get and are intentional in those moments that matter, so that you can action that feedback? Because we don't want to ask for the feedback unless we're going to action it. Like in your example, you wouldn't want the board to ask for which chair do you want, and then they go buy a random one that wasn't even one of the three because that just dissatisfied.
Patrick Adams 27:05
Yeah, absolutely. No, that's amazing. And so, those of you that are listening in, you do know that those those that those answers do go somewhere, and someone is listening. I love that you guys are using data to make decisions, and and that's that that that that's really cool to hear at the state level that you're that you're collecting that information that you really are using it and and that you are intentional with that data to make the right decisions. So Rebecca, I am looking forward to seeing you at the summit here in Grand Rapids on September 15, 16th, and 17th. We'll be at Meijer Gardens. It's a it's a beautiful venue. You're going to love it. There's some just gorgeous gardens that we can walk. There's a there's a greenhouse. It's it's just it's it's amazing. I cannot say anything. It's it's just going to be a great time. We have some team building activities. Actually, one of the evenings we we are bringing in a country. I got to stop saying country because he sings all different types of stuff. But we have a singer, and we're gonna we're gonna put a concert on for the entire summit audience. So it's gonna be pretty amazing. Looking forward to all aspects of the summit, and looking forward to you being there, seeing you again in person. You're going to be speaking on the feedback advantage, specifically talking about the customer experience and or customer or employee experience. Right, anyone who is your customer will be. You'll be talking about that. And if you want a special deal on your registration, the the registration cost is not is as cheap as it's going to be right now, and if you use the code Rebecca 100, you get another discount off of the price right now. So go to LeanSolutions summit.com and register, and then we will see you in Grand Rapids September 15, 16th, and 17th. And I hope that you will attend Rebecca's presentation titled "The Feedback Advantage, which ties in directly with our theme "Better Together, People Plus Innovation. Rebecca, it's been great to have you on, and looking forward to seeing you in September. Thanks again for for being part of this summit series episode.
Rebecca Moyers 29:20
Thank you, Patrick.
Patrick Adams 29:21
All right. See you in September.