“You mean, I can get all of the work I need to do in the morning, and have the afternoon to sign patients up for the insurance they are eligible for?” Before we started working on her improvement event, she said she needed 2 more employees to achieve the work she was responsible for.

I call this the Snoopy Dance after the young woman who had this insight answered a question, “What did you think about mapping your current state?” Instead of saying a word, she got up from her chair, walked to the front of our gathered teams, put her forefinger on the top of her head and twirled a couple of times, just like Snoopy does.

Having engaged employees is critical for improving your business. When we offered our employees a change to map their process current state and improve it, Snoopy Dancer and her colleague argued over who would map their process. Neither wanted to. After the Snoopy Dance, and the conversation during that session, the Colleague raised her hand and feigned a pout before saying, “I want to map my process.” We quickly assembled a team to help her.

The improvements found that week would not happen without employees who felt valued, listened to and allowed to help find the solutions that worked.