Exploring the emotional experience of lean

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology
• Process Improvement

Background:

• Lean implementation in healthcare is often studied from a technical perspective.
• The emotional and subjective experiences of individuals during Lean initiatives remain under-explored.
• Understanding these experiences is vital for effective change management in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the emotional experiences of healthcare professionals during Rapid Process Improvement Workshops (RPIWs).
• To explore how subjective emotional experiences influence the engagement, initiation, and sustainability of Lean implementation.
• To move beyond cognitive understanding of Lean towards its felt, emotional impact.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative case study approach using phenomenological and symbolic interactionist perspectives.
• Data collection through non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews.
• Thematic network analysis was employed for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Participation in RPIWs involves significant mental, physical, and emotional effort, impacting self-perception and interpersonal relationships.
• These emotional factors are critical determinants of engagement with, initiation of, and sustained success of RPIWs.
• The RPIW process is more than a technical exercise; it profoundly affects individuals' feelings and interactions.

Conclusions:

• A novel conceptual framework for planning and implementing RPIWs has been developed, emphasizing emotional dimensions.
• This research is the first to empirically explore the role of emotions in Lean initiatives within healthcare.
• The findings offer practical implications for managing RPIWs and suggest future research to test the proposed framework for generalizability.