Lean Office & Service Innovation - 6th Edition
Lifelong learning course
Duration: 88 hours
Course period: 24/10/2025 – 26/3/2026 (approximately one day every two weeks)
Venue: Complesso Universitario di Viale Margherita, 87 – Vicenza
Lesson dates: 24/10/2025 (9-18), 07/11/2025 (9-18), 21/11/2025 (9-18), 05/12/2025 (9-18), 16/01/2026 (9-18), 17/01/2026 (9-13), 30/01/2026 (9-18), 12/02/2026 (9-18), 13/02/2026 (9-13), 27/02/2026 (9-18), 13/03/2026 (9-18), 26/03/2026 (9-18).
Course fee: 2.900,00 euro (VAT exempt)
Scientific Director: Stefano Biazzo
Teaching Coordination: Federica Lago
Aims:
The distinctive feature of the course is that it integrates three perspectives:
- Lean optimisation through the elimination of waste
- the creativity of Service Design for the radical innovation of processes and services
- digitalisation with Business Process Automation tools
The course is centred on an idea of training oriented towards action and the promotion of change; consequently, conceptual and methodological insights are constantly integrated with the analysis and simulation of practical application cases in business settings.
Lean Management methodologies in the Office environment, combined with Design Thinking tools (the ability to uncover clients’ hidden desires, creative techniques, the ability to experiment) and Business Process Management & Automation digital technologies, enable participants to address not only continuous (incremental) improvement, but also the (radical) innovation of processes and services.
Target participants:
The course is aimed at functional specialists, consultants and managers who wish to become “change agents” (Lean Agent), acquiring the skills needed to manage continuous improvement initiatives and innovation in processes and services across various business areas: administration, human resources, quality, purchasing, marketing & sales, technical office, assistance & customer service, information systems.
Programme:
MODULE 1: Lean Management: “high-velocity improvement” organisations (4 hours)
The first part of the module is devoted to presenting the model of the 4 fundamental organisational capabilities that characterise lean organisations and outline a clearly defined “organisational culture”. The second part focuses on the “as is” analysis of the organisational culture of a company/office, and the difficulties and strategies useful for managing cultural change, a critical issue in many Lean Transformation projects.
MODULE 2: Visual tools and methods for improving office processes (20 hours)
The module is devoted to presenting the tools and methods for mapping, analysing and improving office processes: Value Stream Mapping, Swim Lane/Makigami, Skill Matrix, Job Mapping, Work Sampling, Visual Management, Change Management techniques
MODULE 3: Problem-solving techniques and improvement management using the A3 method (16 hours)
The logic and the A3 method for managing problems and the improvement and learning process are examined in depth:
- Four types of problems
- The A3 methodology
- Cause analysis tools
- Selection of countermeasures
MODULE 4: Lean Office Simulation (12 hours)
Lean Office Simulation is experiential training that offers participants the opportunity to try out the use of some important business improvement tools and to verify, through direct practice, the power of applying Lean Thinking principles in the redesign of an office (transactional) process.
MODULE 5: Business Process Management & Automation: Lean thinking in the era of Digital Transformation (12 hours)
Digital technologies are rapidly becoming increasingly effective and simple in modelling, analysing, measuring and improving/automating business processes. In this module, business Process management software tools will be examined in order to understand their potential and the correct implementation methods; tools for Process Mining, Process Modeling & Simulation, Process Automation (digital workflow automation) will be tested.
MODULE 6: Service Design Thinking & Innovation (16 hours)
In this module, the Design Thinking methodology and the principles underlying it for innovating in the world of services are explored and tested, and the typical Service Design tools will be examined in depth, such as: Personas, Journey Map, Service Blueprint, System Map, Service Ecosystem
MODULE 7: Creative Thinking: beyond continuous improvement (8 hours)
The dynamics of creative thinking and the fundamental rules for managing creative problem-solving sessions will be explored in depth.
The value of some highly effective creative techniques will also be tested live:
- paradigm breaking
- the search for paradoxes
- the 10 verbs
- product sectors
- multilevel production
Lecturers:
- Stefano Biazzo, Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Management, University of Padua
- Roberto Panizzolo, Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Management, University of Padua
- Ilaria Bruni, Senior Partner, Considi Spa
- Roberto Ronzani, Chief Executive Officer and President, Istituto Lean Management
- Federica Lago, Senior Consultant, FLConsulenza
- Alessandro Garofalo, Senior Consultant, Garofalo & Idee Associate
- Serena Leonardi, Senior Service Designer & Founder, Amploom
- Luciano Balzarini, Managing Director, Horsa Flow
- Gianpaolo Lazzer, Senior Consultant, Strategy Innovation
Enrolment and payment methods:
Write to stefano.biazzo@unipd.it, attaching your Curriculum Vitae and the enrolment form
Instructions for payment of the enrolment fee will be provided when confirmation of the course activation is given.
Application deadline: 13 October 2025
For information:
stefano.biazzo@unipd.it
Lifelong learning courses