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. 
Wendy Madore has more than 30 years of combined federal service with the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs and the United States Postal Service, which she joined in 1994. She began her Lean Six Sigma journey in early 2017 when selected for Green Belt Candidacy. Upon her project completion and certification, she was nominated and received the national Lean Innovator of the Year award. Madore has held numerous cross-functional positions in the continuous improvement field as a Lean Six Sigma coordinator for the Northern New England District and a continuous improvement specialist in the training department for CRDO, where she was instrumental in transitioning the in-person classroom training to an online format.
As a CI specialist, Madore held positions in the logistics department, Atlantic retail and delivery, and plant/maintenance processing for the Eastern Region. She has led and coached a myriad of Lean Six Sigma projects throughout the United States Postal Service.
Madore has exemplary coaching and leadership skills and a passion for continuous improvement and operational excellence methodologies. Madore is a Lean Leader graduate, a Managerial Leadership Program graduate, Green Belt and Black Belt certified, and is currently enrolled in the Master Black Belt program with MoreSteam and Ohio State University.
