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Improving the leasing process resulted in improved communication and better tools

During this spring, ACRE used lean methods to improve the leasing process in Aalto. The leasing process includes the different tasks related to spaces and renting them. Since the process is Aalto-wide, it requires participation from a lot of people from different teams. This way the process was not improved by only ACRE who owns the process, but it was leaned together with different users of the process.

Jenna Isokuortti was the project manager of the project and she tells her experience with using lean methods to develop a process.

The process started by agreeing the dates for the workshops with all the participating teams. In the first workshops the teams mapped out the current state and phases of the process. The challenging part was to quantify the process – since each process varies so much, it is hard to find one average measurement for all the processes.

After that, the teams agreed together on a mutual goal situation, which would be the desired outcome for the process to work as smoothly as possible. To achieve this, the team pointed out the different tasks in the process and who is responsible of them. In the last workshop the teams agreed on the next steps, and how to proceed with all the information they had received. The newest improvements include communication improvements between different teams, and improving tools such as “Extranet” to serve its users even better. 

Jenna describes that it is really crucial to have all the involved teams in all the workshops so that everyone is on the same page. Another crucial part is to have an open atmosphere for discussion – the lean workshops is not the place to find culprits, but instead to point out the problems so they could be improved together. This way the teams can find the true reasons for the problems. She also thinks that it was helpful to have a lean consultant to have an unbiased perspective to help with the process.

Jenna shares her tip for teams who are starting a lean project or thinking about starting one:

“The most important thing is to find a suitable time period in which as many people as possible could attend. It is crucial to also prepare well for the workshops in order to get the most out of them. The workshops are facilitated well – the success will be determined how open minded and motivated the participants are. It’s important not to hold back in sessions and say the possible issues out loud to raise open and constructive discussion.

After leaning it is really important to keep doing the work and not leave it at those few sessions. Since the teams have now learned how to examine and lean the process, it would be good to examine the process again once in a while and see if the improvements have been working or not. Our tools and ways are constantly developing, so it would be important to keep iterating the process for it to keep serving users as best as possible.”

Want to know more?

If you are interested in starting a lean project, there is a lot of support available. Read more about lean development work and lean consultants here:

Aalto has signed frame agreements for Lean consultants with two companies. The Lean consultants will support and facilitate, and if agreed plan, execute and lead the development work of e.g. operating models or other working habits that needs to be updated or developed with Lean practices, methods and tools. For more information on lean development, contact Lisbeth Tonteri lisbeth.tonteri@aalto.fi