Passed with an 8.5!

Wow, time flies… On February 25, we announced the winner of our giveaway. And this was not just any giveaway: the winner received a Lean Green Belt training worth €3,500!

As you would expect with a giveaway, there were a few “conditions” attached. How could you win the training? By following the Masters In Lean company page on LinkedIn, liking the post, and sharing it. And that is exactly what happened! 😊

At the end of February, the moment had arrived: the winner was announced, and it was Winny Nagtegaal! By now, Winny has completed the training and taken the exam. We are delighted to congratulate her on achieving her Green Belt certification, with an impressive score of 8.5. Wow! A fantastic result!

After successfully completing the exam, we were naturally curious about what Winny gained from the training and how she experienced the online courses. Let’s start at the beginning.

Winny came across the Masters In Lean giveaway on LinkedIn through her network. At the time, Winny was working as a Treasury & Insurance Specialist Operations at Akzo Nobel. During that period, courses focused on continuous improvement were offered at Akzo Nobel. Unfortunately, these courses were eventually cancelled, and that was the exact moment our giveaway appeared. Perfect timing!

Due to COVID-19, the training courses were unfortunately delivered online. Like many others, Winny would have preferred to attend the training sessions in person. However, trainer Franc Damhuis made the online sessions engaging and interactive, ensuring they never became boring. The combination of listening to explanations, completing assignments in groups, and discussing the results afterwards worked very well.

Winny started the training with an open mind and without any expectations. “The plan is to meet up with the entire group again at some point and meet each other in person.” Despite the fact that the training was online, it was a great group of people. Because everyone works at different types of companies and/or has different roles, there was a lot to learn from each other. Franc also responded well to this by thinking along with each participant about how processes within their organization could be improved.

Processes within an office environment are, of course, very different from those on the shop floor of a manufacturing company. This does not mean that one environment offers more or fewer opportunities for improvement than the other.

Winny made sure she was well prepared for the (online) lessons. Completing the homework, preparing for the sessions, and reviewing the topics covered in previous lessons took approximately one to one and a half days per training session. For the exam, she benefited greatly from the practice exams. By studying these carefully and reviewing and working through the questions she did not immediately know the answers to, she successfully achieved a great result.

Winny noticed that her way of thinking started to change as she progressed through the training, and she immediately began putting her new knowledge into practice. For example, she applied 5S and started restructuring the folder structure. What is the most logical order? Can a new colleague find a document right away? Are all documents still up to date, or are some duplicated?

It requires some work at the beginning, but the benefits become clear very quickly. Winny is already experiencing this. Unfortunately, her department will be relocating to the office in Amsterdam, which is not convenient for her in terms of travel time. At the moment, she is training her “new colleagues,” and the new structure is proving to be very useful. On top of that, they do not know any other way of working yet, meaning they will immediately continue using the improved structure in the right way.

The Lean Green Belt training has therefore not only helped Winny gain valuable knowledge that she can apply at Akzo Nobel, but it is also a great addition to her CV when looking for a new job. We wish Winny every success in finding a new position where she can continue to work in a Lean way 😉.