Clear, concise, and actionable, Steady Work is a must-read for managers and executives in retail, restaurant, and service industries as well as continuous improvement professionals in any business.

Playbook taught us how to create work with a steady cadence built on standardized routines that could absorb the busiest hours at Starbucks.

BOSTON (PRWEB)
February 19, 2020

Faced with declining profits and sales during the global financial crisis, #Starbucks responded with a variety of improvement efforts that included having thousands of U.S. retail stores share discrete best practices. The “blizzard” of good ideas – too many to fully understand or support – created pockets of unconnected work routines that managers and employees couldn’t sustain.

In 2010, the company began linking the pockets by introducing “Playbook,” a complete operating system based on the #lean management principles of delivering more value to customers, consuming fewer resources, and training frontline people to solve problems.

“Playbook taught us how to create work with a steady cadence built on standardized routines that could absorb the busiest hours at Starbucks,” said Steady Work author Karen Gaudet, Starbucks’ former regional director in New England, where she was responsible for 110 stores. Published by the Lean Enterprise Institute, a management publishing and training nonprofit based in Boston, the book explains the benefits of the system, how it flexed to meet demand at busy times in individual stores, and how it was spread throughout the chain.

During a national tragedy, the Playbook system enabled Gaudet’s team to successfully scale up from 500 espresso beverages daily to 1,500 following a December 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, CT, when people used a local Starbucks as a place to meet and mourn. “In that awful week, standardized work was not a yoke. It was a comfort,” Gaudet wrote. “It gave us breathing room. It guided us to synchronize our efforts and work as one.”

Steady System Handles #Restaurant Demand Fluctuations

Clear, concise, and actionable, Steady Work is a must-read for managers and executives in retail, restaurant, and service industries as well as continuous improvement professionals in any business. It explains in detail how a lean operating system solved a critical problem that every business faces, especially quick-service restaurants (#QSR): How to steadily meet huge fluctuations in customer demand with the right levels of staff and product mix.

Leaders who read #SteadyWork will learn:

• How Starbucks leaders implemented the flexible operating system by becoming immersed in the daily work of frontline partners — baristas, cashiers, and support persons — as they made espresso drinks, brewed coffee, steamed milk, heated sandwiches, restocked food, cleaned, replenished cups and other items, and interacted with customers.
• How managers observed, timed, and mapped the steps required to do the frontline work and broke every task into timed components;
• How point-of-sales data was combined with work components to create standardized routines or “plays” for every job so managers and partners could respond quickly and efficiently to surges in customer demand;
• How task standardization and steady work cadences improved employee productivity and turnover, and customer satisfaction;
• How the operating system supported Starbucks ’ initiative during the financial crisis to get back to its founding principles of people, community, and good coffee.
• How the shift from ad hoc work methods to robust standard work routines allowed managers at some of the busiest stores in New England to take scheduled days off — in a row!

About Steady Work

Editors/Producers/Bloggers: For review copies of Steady Work or to interview the author, contact LEI Communications Director Chet Marchwinski cmarchwinski@lean.org or 617-871-2930.

About Karen Gaudet

Karen Gaudet is a team leader at the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), where she oversees operations and personnel. As a regional director at Starbucks, she added 20 new stores annually for five years, hitting profit goals while increasing the continuous improvement capabilities of staff. Previously, she held management and executive posts in operations, marketing, and training at large restaurant chains, a retail consulting company, and a technology startup preparing for an initial public offering.

About the Lean Enterprise Institute

Lean Enterprise Institute Inc. (LEI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA, with a mission to make things better through lean thinking and practice by helping companies create more value and prosperity while consuming the fewest possible resources. Founded in 1997 by management expert James Womack, PhD, LEI conducts research through co-learning partnerships with companies, teaches on-site and public workshops, publishes books and ebooks, organizes conferences, and shares practical information about lean thinking and practice at http://www.lean.org.

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Discovery-as-a-Service

“I take great pride in enabling thoughtful discourse in the ever-changing legal field, and our sponsorship of the Dallas Masters Conference ensures we can continue moving the conversation forward.” – Marc Zamsky

NEW YORK (PRWEB)
February 18, 2020

Compliance Discovery Solutions, an integrated eDiscovery services and managed review provider, as well as the innovator of the Discovery-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform, today announced a sponsorship of The Masters Conference, a seminar that brings together leading experts and professionals from law firms, corporations, and the bench.

Marc Zamsky, Compliance’s COO, will moderate a panel at the Dallas Conference on February 26th. The panel will discuss drafting and negotiating effective ESI agreements, and the speakers will include corporate lawyers from Toyota and Trinity Industries, an attorney from AM Law 100 firm Blank Rome, and a founding partner of Actuate Law.

“We are very excited about Compliance’s participation in our conference,” said Robert E Childress III, Founder of The Masters Conference, “and the expertise they will bring to our events around the country.”

“I’m thrilled at the opportunity to moderate a panel of such distinguished legal minds,” said Marc Zamsky, COO of Compliance. “I take great pride in enabling thoughtful discourse in the ever-changing legal field, and our sponsorship of the Dallas Masters Conference ensures we can continue moving the conversation forward.”

To attend The Masters Conference in Dallas, TX on February 26th, sign up here.

# # #

About Compliance

Compliance Discovery Solutions is an ISO 27001 certified eDiscovery services and managed review provider, as well as the innovator of Discovery-as-a-Service (DaaS). Through a combination of cutting edge technology, secure SSAE 16 SOC certified data centers and a national footprint of document review space, Compliance helps corporate legal departments and their outside counsel manage critical and complex legal matters. Compliance is a System One division.

About The Masters Conference

As an industry leader, The Masters Conference is building its image of mastery in their field through different promotional events, conferences, membership, and publications which offer innovative ideas, cutting-edge topics, and important solutions. Their advantage is that they have a different focus that caters to a niche target audience of high-level decision makers who steer the course of the industry.

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“The Foundation is on the front lines in fighting to find loving, adoptive homes for children in foster care who are often overlooked,” said Bieszczat.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (PRWEB)
February 18, 2020

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a national non-profit public charity, today welcomed Julie Bieszczat as a member of its board of trustees, serving a three-year term. Bieszczat is President of Barney Enterprises Management Services, which operates 11 Wendy’s® restaurants across Indiana.

“The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is on the front lines in fighting to find loving, adoptive homes for children in foster care who are often overlooked,” said Bieszczat. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve such an important cause.”

Bieszczat joined Barney Enterprises in 2007, after an 11-year career with Delta Faucet Company in Carmel, Indiana. She was promoted to President of Barney in 2012.

“Julie is a skilled, hard-working and thoughtful business leader, with a passion for giving back to her community,” said Mary Schell, Chief Public Affairs Officer for The Wendy’s Company and chair of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s board of trustees. “She brings a valuable perspective to the board.”

Through its signature program, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids®, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption provides funding to adoption agencies to hire recruiters who implement an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model. A rigorous, five-year evaluation revealed that the model is up to three times more effective at serving children who have been in foster care the longest, including teenagers, children with special needs and siblings.

To date, more than 475 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters have found adoptive homes for more than 9,500 children in foster care across North America.

“I’m excited to have Julie’s leadership and experience on the board,” said Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “She will be an important voice in guiding our work on behalf of the tens of thousands of children in foster care who are waiting for a forever family.”

Bieszczat earned a Bachelor of Arts from DePauw University and a Master of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University. She lives in Crown Point, Indiana.

About the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national nonprofit public charity dedicated exclusively to finding permanent homes for the more than 155,000 children waiting in North America’s foster care systems. Created by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and innovative grantmaking. To learn more, visit https://www.davethomasfoundation.org.

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Rey Saldaña, Communities In Schools President and CEO

“As a struggling student, I walked into the Communities In Schools office looking for help,” said Saldaña. “Today, I walk into the role of President and CEO with an opportunity to pay it forward.”

ARLINGTON, Va. (PRWEB)
February 18, 2020

Communities In Schools® (CIS), the national organization that empowers all students to stay in school and on a path to graduation, announced today that former San Antonio City Councilman and CIS Alumnus Rey Saldaña has been named President and CEO.

“Rey’s track record as a successful policymaker, an education advocate and a tireless champion for young people make him uniquely qualified to carry out our strategic plan to ensure that every student in America has a community of support inside and outside the classroom,” said Communities In Schools National Board Chair Elaine Wynn. “Moreover, his remarkable journey from former CIS student to national leader of our organization, sends an inspiring message to all young people about the power they have to write their own success story, no matter where they start out in life.”

Saldaña assumes the role of President and CEO of Communities In Schools in mid-March, and will lead a national office that partners with 128 independent CIS affiliates and licensed organizations to ensure all students have the academic and non-academic supports they need to realize their full potential in school and life.

Most recently, Saldaña served as the Regional Advocacy Director for the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation, and the Chair of the San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Agency – VIA. Prior to that, he served four terms on the San Antonio City Council where he was first elected at age 24, becoming the youngest councilperson in that city’s history. During his tenure, Saldaña successfully campaigned for funding of the city’s early childhood initiative (Pre-K 4SA) and streamlined the city and county’s child truancy court.

“Growing up living below the poverty line, there were enough challenges to confront before I had the chance to dream,” said Saldaña. “As a struggling student, I walked into the Communities In Schools office looking for help. Today, I walk into the role of President and CEO with an opportunity to pay it forward. Looking back, I never could have imagined this for myself. It is an extraordinary statement that I am asked to lead an organization whose mission centers on allowing more students to command their future and license their dreams. Throughout my life, and my public service, I have witnessed the fact that my situation is not unique. There are many young people out there who face barriers in life, and while there are constant challenges, what remains consistent is CIS’s investment in a national network of people who continue to support those children in our schools and our communities.”

The son of immigrants, Saldaña was born and raised in San Antonio and attended South San Antonio High School where he first received supports from Communities In Schools. He holds a master’s degree from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education where he studied policy, organization and leadership studies, and two bachelor’s degrees in political science and communications from Stanford. Saldaña has a longstanding commitment to improving the academic and life outcomes for all students. He previously worked with The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Office of Community Engagement and served as the Chief Engagement Officer with KIPP San Antonio Public Schools. He also taught as an adjunct professor at Trinity University and Palo Alto Community College.

Communities In Schools National Board Members expressed their enthusiasm for naming a President and CEO who represents the next generation of education leadership in our country.

“Now more than ever, we need a dynamic education leader who understands both the challenges and the opportunities that young people face in our country,” said former U.S. Education Secretary and CIS National Board Member Arne Duncan. “I am thrilled that he’s joining Communities In Schools so we can support every student, improve our schools and strengthen our communities.”

“Rey is the embodiment of the idea that with the right supports, any child can realize their full potential and achieve their dreams,” said CIS National Board Secretary and search committee member Darilyn Olidge. “He’s committed to making sure that every student can succeed in and beyond the classroom.”

Saldaña assumes leadership of Communities In Schools at a time when the organization has undergone unprecedented growth and demonstrated a significant impact on the lives of students across the country. In the past three years, Communities In Schools has:

• 
  Embarked on a new strategic plan to sustain, deepen and grow the CIS model of integrated student supports across America.
• Secured three record-breaking institutional grants and launched a Challenge School grant allowing CIS to serve more than 100,000 new students in 152 schools.
• In partnership with the CIS network, secured new public funding, allowing CIS affiliates and state offices to serve more students.
• Launched a business development unit that provides new opportunities for school districts and community organizations to partner with CIS for licensing or professional development.
• Experienced one of the largest statewide rollouts of the CIS model of integrated student supports in its history following a licensed partnership agreement with the state of West Virginia.
• Developed an innovative plan to implement Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles into the policies, procedures and practices throughout the CIS enterprise.

The National Communities In Schools Board expressed their gratitude to outgoing President and CEO Dale Erquiaga who launched the new strategic plan and spearheaded new initiatives to help improve the lives of 1.62 million children in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Erquiaga has agreed to maintain an ongoing affiliation with CIS as a Visiting Fellow. In that role he will consult with Saldaña to support expansion and sector entrepreneurship strategies in support of the organization’s business plan.

About Communities In Schools

Communities In Schools ®(CIS) is a national organization that ensures all students have what they need to stay in school and on a path to a brighter future. Working directly inside more than 2,500 schools and community sites across the country, we connect 1.62 million students to caring adults and community resources designed to help them succeed in school and life. With a proven mix of evidence-based practice and human capital, we do whatever it takes to empower kids to realize their full potential.

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2Blades delivers crop disease solutions to improve global food security and raise incomes, while using less land, water, and chemicals.

EVANSTON, Ill. (PRWEB)
February 19, 2020

The 2Blades Foundation today announced three new additions to its governance, advisory, and management teams:

Rob Horsch, is our newest 2Blades governing Board Member and non-Executive Director, after 12 years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he led the science and technology initiative for their agriculture development program;

Alesha Miller, joins 2Blades’ Sustainability Council, and also serves as a Non-resident Fellow for the Global Food and Agriculture Program at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; and,

Mike Kelleher has been hired as 2Blades Director of External Affairs, after a decade at the World Bank where he worked as an advisor in its governance, international relations, and communications teams.

The 2Blades Foundation, based in Evanston, Illinois, and with offices and laboratories in the United Kingdom, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to the discovery, advancement, and delivery of durable disease resistance in crops in order to promote food security, environmental protection, and climate adaptation.

“These new partners bring an extraordinary level of experience and perspective to our efforts to address a critical need for agriculture,” said Diana Horvath, President of 2Blades.” ”Their expertise in policy, research, and delivery at a global scale will help 2Blades deliver crop disease solutions into the hands of growers, improving global food security, incomes, and nutrition,” she said.

2Blades’ Chairman Roger Freedman said, “Rob Horsch combines a deep history in the development of molecular genetic agriculture with a clear appreciation of the opportunities and challenges in the development of science to bring real and lasting benefits to farmers and consumers. Altogether we are delighted to have these three experienced professionals join our team. Their skills and commitment will help us achieve our mission to develop disease-resistant crops.”

Dr. Rob Horsch worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, joining in November 2006 to develop and lead the science and technology initiative of the agricultural development program. He managed a team of program officers and other staff that created and managed a large and diverse portfolio of research and development grants aimed at increasing the productivity of small holder farmers—improving the crops that poor farmers raise, and that poor consumers eat. Rob also serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, and as an Advisor to the Global Commission on Climate Adaptation and to the Global Farmer Network.

Alesha Miller is a Non-resident Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, advises a social impact technology startup, and is an independent consultant and public speaker on food and agriculture. Most recently she was managing director of the Chicago Council’s Global Food and Agriculture Program, overseeing strategy, research, policy development, team management, and leading research on key challenges and opportunities affecting the food system, including urbanization, the rise of global youth populations, water scarcity, and digital technology. Previously she held several roles at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, managing strategic partnerships with governments and United Nations agencies, and overseeing investments focused on improving agricultural markets in sub-Saharan Africa to support smallholder farmers, linking programmatic investments in nutrition and agriculture, and coordinating the inaugural gender and impact measurement strategies for the Agricultural Development program.

Mike Kelleher recently left the World Bank Group’s office of UN Relations, and previously he was Senior Speechwriter for World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, and an Advisor to the U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank. Mike served in the Obama White House as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Correspondence. Prior to that he served as Director of Economic Development and Outreach for then-U.S. Senator Obama. He was Country Director for the National Democratic Institute’s office in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, and began his development work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, working for three years as a community health and development worker in a small rural village.

2Blades establishes and manages development programs addressing significant unsolved crop disease problems in collaboration with leading research institutions around the world and at the 2Blades Group in The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK. 2Blades manages a portfolio of specific traits and enabling technologies that it implements in its own programs and out-licenses for broad use.

Visit the 2Blades website at http://www.2blades.org and follow us on twitter at @2blades.

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