A3 Workshop

A3 Thinking Tutorial for Managers: Problem Solving and Critical Thinking

Overview

How can you be sure you’re making the best possible management decisions? Even when there is time, information is coming from so many sources it can be difficult to know what is “noise” and what requires your attention. In such data-rich circumstances, you need a better way of thinking — a structured problem solving mindset for you and your staff.

First developed at Toyota, A3 Thinking is a structured thinking process that can be used by anyone and applied to just about any management problem. It is especially effective at helping understand and solve complex, cross-functional, and chronic problems. The A3 Thinking process can help you:

• Make rapid, iterative steps toward improvement and problem solving
• Surface issues and problems in a way that avoids blaming individuals
• Cut through the noise and/or misleading information to get the facts
• Be clear with your team about priorities and responsibilities
• Quickly develop a problem solving mindset in your staff to take responsibility for improvement

Objective

In this Workshop, we will teach you and your team how to use A3 thinking to make sure you get, interpret, and act on the right information so you can innovate and solve problems.

Attendees will learn the theory behind the A3 Thinking process and practice techniques and methods so you can use them immediately when returning to work.

Target Audience

Any manager who wishes to understand A3 Thinking, or develop their ability to think critically, communicate well, and enable collaborative approaches to problem solving and improvement.

Prerequisite

Attendees should each bring with them a live “problem topic” from their workplace that they would like to address. These topics will be used during the course of the two days for the attendees to work on and apply A3 Thinking to the topic.

Content

In this two-day session, you will learn:

• The principles behind A3 Thinking and how they differ from traditional approaches
• How to go beyond the superficial uses of the A3 Report so the Thinking instills a structured problem solving mindset that will make a difference to the organization
• How to develop countermeasures and solutions that can be tested before committing to large-scale use
• How to use critical thinking and scientific enquiry skills
• How to foster a blame-free climate of trust to surface problems for teams to address

Attendees will also learn the principles of A3 Coaching and the roles of the A3 Student and A3 Coach.

Misc.

• Handout (English) will be provided for the participants.
• Welcome coffee, lunch, and other coffee breaks are included in the price. Price includes infrastructure and catering services that are stated on the related invoice as individual items.
• PMP certified participants are eligible to 1 PDU point per training hours as defined in the PMP Handbook on page 42, Category B.