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Curious about the impact we've had on our clients' businesses?
Check out their testimonials and see how our services have made a real difference.
"Mary's engaging presentation was thorough and well-planned. She considered seriously the goals and objectives of her audience, in this case professionals who work with volunteers in the healthcare setting. We came away with templates to be used later for planning purposes, as well as action steps to determine our goals and the steps to achieve them. Mary delivered a very accessible and usable presentation to help our members move forward."
Wendy F Program Director, Education & Volunteer Resources NYP & President of Greater New York ADVS &
Jackie C Director, Volunteer Serevices NYP & Vice President of Greater New York ADVS
"The Lean training and coaching that I received from Mary Akella was instrumental to initiating and implementing quality improvement projects throughout the hospital. Mary and the Lean lab assisted me in redesigning morning interdisciplinary rounds to improve communication and throughput. In particular, Lean was able to help get the project off the ground quickly and efficiently with support from all necessary stakeholders and front-line providers. I found the systematic approach to process improvement vital to ensuring that interventions were grounded in the true present workflows and front line provider needs as opposed to just imposed top-down. I really appreciated the ideas of “standard work,” and "going to the gemba."”
Faye R, MD, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Associate Division Chief | Unit Medical Director, Associate Professor of Hospital Medicine
"An apt descriptor of my work day as a Nurse Manager of a 31 bed cardiac unit would be juggler or firefighter. The myriad of tasks and initiatives under my purview often left me feeling like a hamster on a wheel. How is it possible for safe and timely patient discharge, achieving nurse sensitive indicators, and delivering excellent patient satisfaction to all be the priority? And shouldering that expectation was on top of demonstrating empathetic leadership while managing over 75 employees – each with very different needs and desires.
A turning point for me came with my introduction to Lean thinking and the assignment of Mary Akella as my coach. Mary taught me how to align daily work to achieving strategic goals. She taught me how to tackle problems from a Lean lens- how to understand the root cause and solve a problem for good instead of for today. She also gently but firmly challenged how I thought and my perceptions and assumptions about processes in place for years. Through Mary's coaching I came to the realization that I was owning every problem, that staff escalated their concerns to me and I worked through each of them myself. Mary both taught and practiced the use of humble inquiry with me- the art of asking questions to develop others. I began to probe my staff and develop their thinking so that they could learn to solve their own problems in real time and watched as an army of problem solvers was born.
Mary's dedicated and thorough coaching led me to fall in love with this new way of thinking and I now practice it in all aspects of my life – work, school, home, and parenting! I highly recommend Mary for her extensive Lean knowledge and proven coaching style. She has made an indelible impression on me as a leader and change agent."
Stephanie G, MSN, MBA, RN, CPXP, Senior Nurse Process Improvement Manager, Mount Sinai Health System
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