The Denver Health Lean Academy provides numerous Lean tools and systems courses to support you. More courses are scheduled to be added over time, so please come back often to stay up to date.
We've redesigned our classes to align with our new certification program!
For organizations sending multiple learners, group discounts may be available. Reach out to the Lean Academy at leanacademy@dhha.org or 855-888-5326 for details.
Upcoming Courses
Session Dates: Nov. 17-21 (w/Lean Leadership)
Fee: 5 days, $3800
During this five-day interactive series, you will journey through the first two levels of the Denver Health Lean management system (LMS), from the front-line tools and practices to the leadership commitments and behaviors and problem solving that support a highly functioning LMS. The immersion will provide you with a strong foundation in Lean principles and prepare you to advance a Lean culture through leadership practices rooted in respect for people and a commitment to continuous improvement. The Thursday and Friday course will alternate between LMS Deep Dive: Lean Leadership (formerly Coaching for Continuous Improvement) and LMS Strategic Planning and Deployment (the third level of the Denver Health Lean management system). The Lean Leadership course will be offered virtually for some sessions.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $2350-$2450 (varies depending on Deep Dives chosen)
Complete your Bronze certification in just 3-4 days! This intensive session covers all required coursework — LMS Lean Foundations plus two deep dives — so you finish ready to take your exam for Lean Bronze certification. Register individually for LMS Lean Foundations and the associated Deep Dives that fit your schedule.
Session Dates:
- Jan. 12-15
- Feb. 9-13
- Apr. 6-9
- May 11-13
- June 8-12
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $3075
Already Bronze certified? Advance to Silver in just four days. Complete LMS Continuous Improvement, LMS Deep Dive: Lean Leadership, and two additional deep dives in one focused session. Register for each associated class individually.
Session Dates:
- Apr. 20-23
- Aug 31-Sept. 3
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $5325-$5625
Get two certifications with minimal time away from work! Complete most Bronze and Silver certification requirements in a single week, then finish with a Lean Leadership session weeks later (virtual option available)! Register for each class individually. Prices vary depending on which Deep Dives are chosen. (LMS Deep Dive: Lean Leadership is an additional fee).
Session Dates:
- Feb. 9-13 (Lean Leadership Mar. 19-20)
- June 8-12 (Lean Leadership (June 23-24 virtual)
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $2050
Crown your certification journey with Gold! Master LMS Strategic Planning and associated Deep Dive courses in just three days. You'll gain advanced strategic thinking skills and leadership techniques that set Gold-certified practitioners apart from the rest. Register for each individually.
Session Dates:
- Mar. 2-5
- July 21-24
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $1650
Join LMS Lean Foundations to dive deeply into the foundational elements of Lean practice that will allow practitioners to establish the needed bedrock on which to build their Lean management system. This two-day course is designed for individuals who are looking to stop "firefighting" and start building "fire-resistant" systems inside of their day-to-day operations so they can reliably deliver to their customers and enhance their work environment while problems are small.
Key Concepts: 6S and Visual Management, Standardized Work, Performance Metrics, Daily Management, Help Chain, Gemba Walk and Leader Standard Work
Session Dates:
- Nov. 17-18
- Jan. 12-13
- Feb. 9-10
- Mar. 16-17
- Apr. 6-7
- May 11-12
- June 8-9
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $825
Have you successfully established the foundations of your Lean management system? Attend LMS Continuous Improvement for an immersive experience that orients practitioners to core continuous improvement practices that improve performance using Lean methodology. This one-day course helps individuals take the next step in their Lean management system journey to improve daily practices, tackle medium to large problems, and develop a culture of continuous improvement that empowers everyone in the organization to be a problem solver.
Key Concepts: A3 Problem Solving, Kaizen, Process Mapping, Value Stream Mapping
Session Dates:
- Nov. 19
- Feb. 11
- Apr. 20
- June 10
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $1650
This two-day course focuses primarily on the underpinnings of creating an aligned strategy system to equip and guide your lean transformation so you can resource the most pressing items that your business needs to evolve, adapt and thrive. This course is offered as a skill-based development opportunity for lean learners, particularly those that find themselves in leadership roles or positions.
Key Concepts: Hoshin Kanri, Cascading A3, Lean Leadership, Obeya, Lean Maturity Assessment
Session Dates:
- Mar. 2-3
- July 21-22
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
This 4-hour, in-person course builds on concepts introduced in the LMS Lean Foundations course, offering a deeper dive into the Daily Management System and Help Chain. Daily management provides a structured way to translate organizational goals into consistent, measurable daily actions, while the help chain ensures timely support when barriers arise. Through real-world simulations and practical activities, participants will explore how to monitor performance, escalate issues effectively, and foster a culture of accountability and support. By the end of the session, learners will develop a personalized action plan for integrating daily management and help chain practices into their teams or departments.
Key Concepts: Daily management as a system and philosophy, daily management board elements (business expectation, performance tracking, problem-solving); help chain system and philosophy; help chain elements (problem definition, signaling, assessment and diagnosis, problem-solving)
Session Dates (MST):
- Dec. 16, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Jan. 14, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Apr. 9, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $300
Gemba is a Japanese term that means real place, where the work gets done. Gemba Walks create opportunities for leaders to go where the work is done to observe actual processes, engage with workers, ask questions, and discuss continuous improvement. During this 3 hour, in-person class, you will learn the key elements of a gemba walk, engage in best practices for planning, and utilize the Coaching Kata questions that support the activity of going to the gemba. Participants will practice leading and participating in a gemba walk.
Key Concept: Gemba Walks, Lean leader behaviors, aligning and advancing improvement work, supporting the success of organizational strategic initiatives, go see, ask why, and show respect.
Session Dates (MST):
- Feb. 13, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- June 12, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $300
The heartbeat of any management system, come join us for an interactive session on Leader Standard Work (LSW). This 3-hour, in person class will deepen learning about what LSW is, allow for practicing of the skills and the creation of a personal LSW for each participant when they leave class to practice with. What gets reviewed gets done!
Key Concept: Leader Standard Work, visual controls, management of daily work, improvement work, gemba walks, behaviors of leaders
Session Dates (MST):
- Mar. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
- June 12, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
This 4-hour, in-person course focuses on the concepts and practices of using performance data to understand and manage processes. Participants will take a closer look at the five steps involved in the effective use of performance metrics (understand the process, collect and select metrics, establish a baseline and set a target, make the metrics visible and transparent, establish a routine of reviewing the metrics and taking action) and practice skills beneficial in each step.
Key Concepts: Value diamond and scorecards, leading and lagging indicators, targets and baselines, types of data, data quality, PDSA, introduction to data visualization, transparency, culture of improvement.
Session Dates (MST):
- Jan. 15, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Apr. 8, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
Standardized work is our playbook – the safest, easiest, and most effective way of doing the job that we currently know. Operations where a high level of standardized work is performed and maintained typically have strong results around efficiency, quality, cost, and safety. It is the basis for all continuous improvement activities. This 4-hour, in-person course expands on the standardized work topic covered in the LMS Lean Foundations course.
Key Concepts: Standards vs. standardized work, key elements of standardized work, importance of standardized work, primary documents used to develop standardized work
Session Dates (MST):
- Dec 17th 8:30a-12:30p
- Feb 12th 1:00p-5:00p
- May 13th 12:30p-4:30p
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $300
Visual Management refers to an approach to make the current condition of processes and organizational performance readily visible and understandable to all. Visual management creates line-of-sight to the work, creates accountability, prioritizes work efforts, and helps quickly correct course when performance isn’t up to standard. 6S is a form of visual management used to organize workspaces, improve management of inventory, improve flow, and reduce waste. During this 3-hour in-person class, you will gain the knowledge and skills to apply visual management and 6S to your work and area, including hands-on activities.
Key Concept: Visual workplace, performance, prioritizing work, safety, accountability, organization, cleanliness, reduce waste
Session Dates (MST):
- Jan. 14, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- May 13, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $1650
This 2-day course emphasizes building the capabilities of oneself and others to drive continuous improvement and waste reduction through coaching skills and processes. During this in person or virtual class, you get to understand your personal behavioral preferences and maximize your strengths to be more effective in coaching a diverse team. The skills acquired in this class will provide you with an array of coaching skills across a 5-step coaching model and set you up for success to drive and sustain continuous improvement, create a spirit of challenge, promote teamwork and respect, as well as embrace going to “see” and the development of a “kaizen mind” as a leader. This course is required for the Silver (+) Denver Health Lean Certification level.
Key Concept: 5-Step Coaching Process, Lean Leadership Development Model, Social Style Versatility, Questioning, Active Listening, Controlling Mental Response, Giving Feedback, Dealing with Difficult Behaviors, Coaching Lean Improvement
Session Dates:
- Nov. 20-21
- March 19-20
- April 22-23
- June 23-24 (virtual)
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
The Problem Solving A3 is an essential Lean tool providing an effective approach to structured problem solving. This 4-hour, interactive, and hands-on deep dive will guide participants through the structure and methodology of the problem solving A3 and will allow participants an opportunity to practice the A3 with the support of a Lean Facilitator and their peers. This course aims to support participants in recognizing the advantage of thinking critically about a problem to ensure sustainable solutions that address root cause.
Key Concepts: Lean Principles, Problem Solving A3 tool, Problem Solving A3 Application, Problem Statements, Current State, Root Cause Analysis, Target State, Countermeasures, Experimentation, Plan Do Study Act (PDSA)
Session Dates (MST):
- Feb. 12, 8 a.m. to noon
- June 11, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
Unlock the power of continuous improvement through the Kaizen mindset. In this interactive 4-hour in-person session, participants will go beyond the basics to explore Kaizen as a structured, scientific approach to solving problems and driving meaningful change. This course deepens understanding of core concepts introduced in the LMS Continuous Improvement course, with a focus on practical tools and real-world application. Through hands-on activities, participants will learn how to identify root causes, design effective countermeasures, and implement sustainable improvements using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle and Kaizen Event. Whether addressing small daily fixes or tackling complex challenges, this course equips learners with the mindset and method to foster a culture of continuous learning and operational excellence.
Key Concepts: Types of Kaizens, five phases of the Kaizen, members of the Kaizen team, roles & responsibilities
Session Dates (MST):
- Nov. 6, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Feb. 13, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- April 21, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $200
Process mapping, also known as flowcharting, is a technique for visually depicting the steps of a process to build shared understanding of the overall process flow. It helps clarify sequence of work, roles and responsibilities, and handoffs within a process. This 2-hour virtual workshop will enable you to walk away with the ability to develop process maps to support process improvement work.
Key Concept: Process map basics including level of detail or altitude, audience, scope, interdepartmental collaboration and alignment, as well as using process maps to support improvement work
Session Dates (MST):
- Nov. 3, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Feb. 18, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- April 21, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- June 11, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $800
Struggling with complex systems that are difficult to fix? Use observation and value stream mapping! Value stream mapping can help teams better understand the big picture of how that system is functioning today for customers and how to target improvements without breaking other pieces of the system. This 8-hour, in-person course expands on the Value Stream Mapping topic covered in the LMS Continuous Improvement course.
Key Concept: Value Stream Mapping, Value & Value Diamond, Observation
Session Dates (MST):
- Nov. 5, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Feb. 17, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
This 4-hour, in-person course expands on the proposal A3 and cascading A3 topics covered in the Strategic Planning and Deployment course. Participants will take a closer look at thinking deeply about planning continuous improvement work, breaking large problems into smaller problems, using A3 thinking to develop people, and telling the story. Participants will practice developing cascading A3s through simulation.
Key Concept: A3 thinking, proposal A3s, cascading A3s, business cases, action plans, outcome measures, current condition, target condition
Session Dates (MST):
- Dec 18, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- March 4, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- July 24, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
Join us for this 4-hour in-person course to learn about the fundamentals of Hoshin Kanri, a key component of the Lean Management System at the enterprise activity level. In Japanese, Hoshin translated to “direction” or “compass” and Kanri to “Administration” or “Management”. Coming away from this course, participants will gain an understanding of the systematic methods that organizations use to set long-term strategic direction and align its functions, activities and people to achieve goals consistently and intentionally.
Key Concept: Hoshin Kanri, Mission, Vision, Values, Cascading Goals, Catchball, X-Matrix
Session Dates (MST):
- Dec. 2, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- March 5, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $400
Obeya is a Lean tool to deploy a strategic plan in a way that is visible, accountable, and adaptive. This 4-hour, in-person Working Session is an opportunity for those looking to use an Obeya to draft, develop or refine their proposed Obeya with the input of other learners and a Lean Facilitator. The Obeya as a concept is covered in the Strategic Planning and Deployment course, so it is recommended that participants attend that course for orientation to Obeya before joining this working session. Participants should have an active strategic plan that they need to deploy to bring to the working session (if not a first draft), and it is ideal for a few partners to attend to build their Obeya together.
Key Concept: Obeya
Session Dates (MST):
- Dec. 3, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- April 8, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- July 23, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $200
Introduction to Lean is targeted for those new to Lean or those who have recently joined a Lean organization or team. The course allows learners to gain a basic understanding of what Lean is, how it is applied, and the value it brings to organizations. Through active learning and simulation, students learn to view their work as a process, understand who their customers are and what they value, know how to define problems, identify and quantify waste, identify high value improvements, and gain a basic understanding of the behaviors that support a Lean culture. Having a solid Lean foundation empowers students to continue their education in and application of Lean.
Key Concepts: why Lean matters, what Lean is, what are systems and processes, who are your customers and what do they value, what is waste and what are its impacts, what are problems and how to prioritize them, how to deliver continuous improvements, what Lean behaviors looks like, what practices allow Lean behaviors to thrive.
Session Dates (MST):
- Oct. 28, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Jan. 20, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- April 13, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- June 3, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $950
This two-session workshop is facilitated by Denver Health executives and leaders. You will be inspired and challenged as you learn about lean leadership and the importance of your role in your own self-development. The course includes conversations, insights and coaching with other leaders about the challenges and triumphs of being a leader while equipping learners with skill development opportunities and peer to peer connection. This course has a pre-workshop assignment provided to you upon registration that will enhance your learning. This course is two sessions, 3 hours on the first day and 2 hours on the second day, that must be attended together.
Key Concepts: Lean Transformation Framework, Lean Leader Behaviors, Leader Standard Work, Coaching and Mentoring, Integration of Improvement into Daily Operations, Alignment of Business to Strategy and Mission.
Session Dates (MST):
- Nov. 11, 9 a.m. to noon & Nov. 13, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- March 10, 9 a.m. to noon & March 12 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Aug. 4, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. & Aug. 6, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Sign Up: Register for this class
Fee: $950
Designed for executives and senior leaders to experience the lean journey and culture at Denver Health, your site visit can be customized to include field trips to operational areas where you can observe lean in action. Come with questions and gain valuable insights through interactive sessions with lean practitioners at the executive, management and front-line level.
Sample Agenda: Gemba Walks to Operational Area, Lean Leader Panels, Q & A with Executives, Overview of the Lean Journey at Denver Health
Session Dates: Contact us at leanacademy@dhha.org for scheduling options
Fee: $1800
Executives and leaders that join us for a customized Site Visit combined with the Senior Lean Leader Workshop will get the ultimate Lean learning experience. Spend a day and a half with our leaders and executives and accelerate your organization’s Lean journey through an interactive experience where you get insight into Denver Health's lean culture at all levels of the organization.
Key Concepts: Lean Transformation Framework, Lean Leader Behaviors, Leader Standard Work, Coaching and Mentoring, Integration of Improvement into Daily Operations, Alignment of Business to Strategy and Mission.
Session Dates: Contact us at leanacademy@dhha.org for scheduling options
