About Us

Purpose

Improvement Associates helps organizations build capability for ongoing improvement.  We work with leaders and teams to apply management philosophies, methods and tools based on the science and art of improvement. This includes working to better understand variation, appreciation of a system, how knowledge is created and working with people.

 

Values

We believe that:

·         Ongoing learning and continuous improvement of quality are vital to accomplishing the objectives of all organizations including industry, government, healthcare and education.

·         Humility and openness are prerequisites for learning and growth.

·         People want to make a meaningful contribution. We focus on understanding the contributions of both the system and the individual.

·         Improvement is everyone’s job. Put everybody in the organization to work to accomplish the transformation. 

We build and maintain strong relationships with our clients and partners by:

·         Establishing and valuing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships built on trust.

·         Fostering long-term improvement in our clients’ organizations, even to the extent of sacrificing our short-term business needs.

·         Ensuring the confidentiality of proprietary information gained by us in the course of our work.

·         Making judicious use of both our clients' and our own resources.

We contribute to other organizations by:

·         Helping organizations combine their subject matter knowledge with Dr. Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge. This system includes the theories of systems, variation, knowledge, and psychology.

·         Helping organizations cooperate with suppliers, partners, and customers to improve their products and services.

·         Initiating and leading collaborative efforts within industries.

·         Sharing our knowledge and leadership with the larger community.

We integrate these principles into our own organization:

·         The value we provide is directly related to our shared knowledge. We participate in ongoing development aimed at maximizing our contribution to clients and fostering our pride and satisfaction in work. 

·         We are directly involved in leadership and running the business, utilizing the principles and methods we teach others.

·         Return on investment is a means to fund future activities.

 

Services

·         Guidance for senior leaders on building a System of Improvement.

·         Consulting in applying innovative methods to increase the rate and impact of improvement.  Approaches include Collaboratives, the Improvement Model, Planned Experimentation, and Quality Function Deployment

·         Education for teams in developing skills necessary to support improvement projects, including measurement, statistical methods and team skills.

  

Associates

Bruce Harries

Bruce has been involved in the improvement of business performance for most of his career. Initially he worked as a consultant focusing on business start-ups in telecommunications, transportation and agriculture. He spent a number of years with TELUS Corporation in a variety of management roles including acting Corporate Secretary, Director of Communications and Director of Quality.  He co-founded Improvement Associates in 2000 and has worked primarily on the improvement of healthcare.  He is Collaborative Director for the Canadian Collaborative to Improve Patient Care and Safety in the ICU, the Evidence to Excellence Emergency Department Collaborative and advises on a number of healthcare improvement initiatives such as the National ICU Scorecard and the Safer Healthcare Now! Campaign.   He is a graduate of Trent University, the Banff School of Advanced Management and holds an MBA from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

Leanne Couves

Leanne worked a number of years with a telecommunications firm, leading and providing education to improvement teams across the company.  She co-led the Customer Satisfaction Measurement team, designed two system-wide Collaborative projects, coordinated education opportunities and co-authored the company's Measurement and Cycle Time Improvement Guides. She co-founded Improvement Associates in 2000 and has worked primarily on the improvement of healthcare. As an Improvement Advisor, Leanne has designed and supported many Breakthrough Series Collaboratives across Canada and has taught at over 35 Learning Sessions.  She has led the writing of several improvement guides based on these approaches. She is an active member of the national Safer Healthcare Now! Education and Resources Working Group.  Leanne holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Alberta.

  

Logo

Two interlinking and interdependent boxes symbolize the integration of two bodies of knowledge: our client’s subject matter knowledge with our knowledge of improvement. One is not complete without the other.  The result is significant and lasting improvement in organizational performance.