In June of 2008, the County of Ventura identified continuous improvement as a focus area. The CEO created the Office of Service Excellence to promote and facilitate continuous improvement through the use of a model known as “Lean Six”.Lean can be defined as a management approach that seeks to maximize value while removing wasteful activities and practices. Six Sigma can be defined as a management approach that seeks to systematically apply scientific principles to reduce variation and eliminate defects in service offerings.
The Resource Management Agency is committed to continuous improvement in its delivery of information and services to our customers. In early 2008, we identified our first area of focus: the County’s Discretionary Land Use Permitting Process. This is a significant program and process, and it will continue to be a focus area for the remainder of 2010.
In addition to our on-going work related to the discretionary land use permitting process, RMA has made a commitment to broaden its continuous improvement efforts into other areas of our business. The initial Lean Deployment and Implementation Plan outlines our implementation approach, how we internally organize and what roles staff will play to ensure our process improvement efforts are properly placed and carried out in an efficient and effective manner. The annual agency Lean Strategic Direction, identifies specific process improvement programs to be completed during the year. These process improvements have ranged from administrative policies and procedures to operational matters involving code interpretation and service delivery.
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