Lean Government

Lean Government refers to the application of lean production (also known as "Lean") principles and methods to both identify and then implement the most efficient, value added way to provide government services. Government agencies have found that when Lean is implemented, they see an improved understanding of how their own processes work, that it facilitates the quick identification and implementation of improvements and that it builds a culture of continuous improvement.

Lean for government focuses on governing and serving citizens with respect and continuously improving service delivery by cutting out "waste" and "inefficiency" in processes; this in turn will result in better services overall, engaged civil servants as well as more value for tax-supported programs and services. Generally, proponents also see that a Lean government is a means to expand the capacity of government to provide more services per unit of investment.

Many Lean manufacturing methods have been successfully adapted to identify non-value added activities (waste) in administrative, transactional, and office processes that are common in government agencies. Common Lean methods include:

As more and more government services are delivered electronically, Lean government initiatives are commonly applications of Lean IT.

Lean government approaches typically have the following characteristics:

Lean government does not necessarily promote low taxes, only efficient use of those taxes levied. Tax policy is discerned by the legislative and executive branches of government with oversight of the judicial branch of government. Lean government is implemented by the administrative function of government through executive order, legislative mandate, or departmental administrative decisions. Lean government can be applied in legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.

Several types of non-value added activity, or waste (muda in Japanese), are common in government administrative and service processes. Lean methods focus on identifying and eliminating these wastes. The list below identifies common administrative process wastes.

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