Topic(s)
- People-centric leadership
Overview
Operational excellence is a strategic approach that focuses on achieving sustainable operational performance improvements, efficiency and effectiveness within an organization. It involves streamlining processes, eliminating waste, maximizing productivity, and delivering high-quality products or services while minimizing costs and resources. This, in alignment with the Delivering for America Plan, aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of mail delivery services across the United States while focusing on timely and reliable delivery of mail and packages to all communities.
Key learning objectives
1. Continuous improvement: Emphasizing a culture of continuous improvement to identify and implement incremental changes that enhance processes and performance over time.
2. Standardization: Establishing standardized processes, procedures and best practices to promote consistency, quality, predictability and efficiency across operations.
3. Lean principles: Applying Lean principles, such as reducing waste, optimizing flow, and empowering employees to drive efficiency and value.
4. Data-driven decision-making: Utilizing data, metrics and performance indicators to analyze processes, identify opportunities for improvement and make informed decisions.
5. Employee engagement: Involving and empowering employees at all levels to contribute ideas, participate in improvement initiatives and take ownership of operational excellence goals.
6. Customer focus: Prioritizing customer needs, feedback and satisfaction to drive continuous improvement efforts, delivering value-added products or services.
7. Leadership commitment: Demonstrating strong leadership support and commitment to operational excellence initiatives to inspire, guide and sustain improvement efforts.
Company
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an institution like no other. It has served our nation from its earliest days and remains an indispensable part of everyday life, delivering mail and packages to 167 million addresses six days a week.
The Postal Service is an independent federal establishment mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail, prescription drugs, checks and more. Its workforce of more than 640,000 individuals continues to work diligently to bind the nation together.
Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America, to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories, and maintain the organization as one of America’s most valued and trusted brands.
The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. https://www.usps.com/
Presenters
Diana Allen is a Master Black Belt at the United States Postal Service, where she has been building her career since 2007. Her Lean journey began in 2015 when she joined Lean Six Sigma projects targeting service performance improvement at the Minneapolis Processing and Distribution Center. Since then, Diana has achieved Green Belt, Black Belt and Lean Leader certifications through leading impactful initiatives across Central and Northwest USPS. Her areas of focus included customer service enhancements, retail and delivery optimization, and streamlined processing operations.
Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, is certified as a Master Black Belt by both MoreSteam and Ohio State University, and is pursuing her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through PMI. Allen thrives on sharing knowledge and fostering collaboration. She champions Lean and operational excellence methodologies, coaching others on effective project management and lean tools. Her dedication to driving efficiency and success extends beyond her own achievements; she values the prosperity of others as much as her own.
Allen’s unique blend of business acumen and leadership skills sets her apart. Her passion for continuous improvement makes her a role model and a positive force for those around her. Whether mentoring colleagues or leading teams, her nurturing and supportive nature shines through. 
Mark Montgomery is a wealth of information and has touched many aspects of the United States Postal Service. Beginning his career in 1994 as a clerk/city carrier, he has the benefit of sharing his knowledge from experience. Montgomery has assumed much learning and mastered the ability to connect with various levels of leadership within the organization by sharing Lean tools, supporting multiple projects, creating Lean Six Sigma training curriculum, and passionately serving with Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement projects throughout the organization, namely the Parcel Triage Program, which was viewed as overwhelmingly successful.
Montgomery has served in several Master Black Belt Roles. He enthusiastically welcomes the opportunity to train and mentor Lean Leader, Black Belt, and Green Belt candidates by sharing the knowledge he gained accomplishing those same certifications. His current role is the program manager for Enterprise Architecture, supporting the technology initiatives intertwined with the Postmaster General’s Delivering for America—10-Year Plan.
Montgomery has exemplary leadership skills and has been able to quantify leaders within the organization quite easily. Following the 10 Principles of Operational Excellence encompasses the driving force behind his leadership, delivering value for both internal and external customers. Mentorship is a natural cascade when embracing the value of the Lean tools, namely Leader Standard Work and the Daily Management System. He carries a mindset of collaboration to create change. This has been statistically and visually validated with KPI movement exceeding goals in areas where he worked. 
