Get Ready for Congress Learning Day (and a Half!)
Our popular Learning Days program at the 27th LCI conference for Lean design and construction is bigger and better this year in Texas! Find out what to expect from our expanded Learning Days deep dives, which take place on Monday afternoon and Tuesday (October 20 and 21) before the Congress Core Program kicks off.
Enjoy this Learning Days sneak peek based on our conversation with Cindy Menches, Ph.D., P.E., Director of Professional Development & Training at the Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust (I.M.P.A.C.T), and Tammy McConaughy, Director, Education & Certification, LCI. Cindy is a long-standing member of the Congress Learning Days team, and Tammy is responsible for managing the LCI Learning Days courses for Congress.
Don’t miss all the advancement and excitement at the 2025 LCI Congress, October 20-24, in Arlington, Texas! Register today before prices go up on September 12.
The LCI Congress Learning Days were expanded to provide a broader spectrum of classes and to meet demand.
Cindy and Tammy noted there was high enough demand to justify adding another half-day, and that it will provide a greater opportunity for attendees to get all their deep dive Lean learning in one place.
Tammy added, “It gives us more space for non-LCI workshops, and that will add benefit by giving more of an array of Lean classes, and less of a feeling of, I had to miss out on a class or what do I choose. We can get more of the learning in. For example, with the TVD workshops, you can now get three out of the four done at Congress. And if you attend our TVD Virtual training, then you can get all four modules covered. TVD Virtual Training registration closes Monday, August 18.”
Offerings always include popular, highly rated courses from past years and new classes.
Cindy offered, “At the end of every Learning Days course, we have a course evaluation. When we’re planning for the next year, we go back and look at the ratings that the classes and the instructors get. We bring back popular courses with high ratings to give attendees the opportunity to take these courses this year if they missed any last year.
We also add new courses every year, so there are fresh offerings. And we discuss other Lean topics and work to fill gaps with new classes.”
Learning Days offer opportunities for attendees who don’t have training available through their companies—and provide diversity of thought.
Cindy and Tammy shared their thoughts on the value of Learning Days for attendees. Cindy offered, “We’ve found that some LCI member organizations don’t have a training department in their company. Taking our Learning Days courses gives them a Lean training opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have.
And some organizations are big enough to have their own training department, but don’t offer similar classes. We offer a large variety of topics, spanning communication, leadership, and more—and these may be different topics from what they have in their company.”
Learning Days courses also provide diversity of thought. Tammy noted, “We have people who’ve attended the same courses two or three times. Each time they attend, there are new instructors and new perspectives. It’s getting that diversity of thought and experience as well.”
In addition, Learning Days courses qualify for LCI-Certified Practitioner certification renewal credits. A half-day workshop earns 4 CEUs and a full-day workshop earns 8 CEUs.
There are courses for every level of Lean.
All Congress attendees, spanning every level of Lean and industry sector, will find value at the Learning Days. Tammy noted, “A lot of courses aren’t pushing information at you; it’s hands-on learning. Most attendees learn based on where they are in their journey, along with what opportunities they have to take action on what they learned when back to their daily work.”
Cindy added, “If a company hires a new employee and their old company wasn’t using Lean techniques, they may need that basic Lean 1.0 class, such as LCI Introduction to Lean Project Delivery and LCI Introduction to Last Planner System®, to get the terminology.”
When choosing your Learning Days course(s), focus on what you can take action on right away.
Tammy and Cindy shared tips on how to pick the best Learning Days course(s) for you. Tammy offered, “Focus on the workshops that you will give you the ability to apply your learnings in your work. Don’t just limit it to your own workflow. Think about your project, and your team as well. Set a goal going into the workshop: I will learn this to apply to this. After the workshop, identify one-to-two actions you can implement. This helps focus your learning.”
Cindy added, “People often think about their gaps in knowledge and can search our list—which has gotten longer—for ways to fill that gap. For example, if it’s bugging you that you’ve never had formal leadership training, you could take a Learning Days leadership course, such as Embracing the Leader’s Role in Creating Ideal Conditions and Coaching Problem Solvers.”
For more, check out our blog on how to make the most of your Congress experience.
Learn more about the new courses for 2025.
Tammy and Cindy shared details on the content and value of the new 2025 courses:
LCI Building Foundational Behaviors for Project Lean Leadership
Tammy noted that most Lean leadership courses cover how to facilitate a meeting. This course is unique because it focuses on behaviors, such as PDCA thinking, how to coach somebody, and how you help with conflict. What are those important pieces of being a Lean leader? Anyone can be a Lean leader, regardless of title.
“This course is a facilitated conversation that explores how do we show up. There is some role play. Attendees will leave with a workbook that includes reflection questions, so your learning doesn’t stop that day. It’s for Lean leaders at any level,” Tammy offered.
SQI (Sweat Equity Improvement)
Cindy shared that “this is meant to take Lean problem-solving to the micro-level where the work is happening. Many improvement efforts focus on optimizing outcomes, but don’t actually assist the people doing the work. This class is intended to get down to the worker-level and help find ways to remove barriers to working more effectively.”
Applying the Six-Step Process to Solve Your Biggest Challenges
This class is not only intended for the Lean world. It’s for anyone. Cindy noted, “The company that created it has awesome courses and amazing instructors. This class focuses on making sure participants leave with a process for problem-solving.
The first step focuses on what the bigger vision is that you are trying to accomplish. Next there’s a root-cause analysis, then a productive discussion with your team about the problem. The next step is discussing the different options with the team and coming up with the best option to solve the problem. Then, much like PDCA, you want to test the selected solution. Then you come up with an action plan for who does what.
It’s a father and son team who came up with the company and they are from the military. They say one of the final steps is a Red Team effort, a military term. There’s a team of people who take the solution apart to try to come up with one even better—that’s red teaming a solution.”
It’s simple and logical and this course should be very well received.”
Builder 2.0
Tammy noted that one of our industry misses can be the field leadership. She offered, “How do you show up and engage in these conversations around planning? How do you lead your team and communicate effectively? These are classes people often don’t get in trade schools, or internal training programs. It’s very complementary to our other new course, LCI Building Foundational Behaviors for Lean Leadership. It’s focused on builders, including field personnel, and how to be a better leader in your project.
I’m very excited about this one. I am hoping we have a large field leadership presence, including trade partners. We have lots of Lean learning opportunities, not just the project managers, schedulers, or engineers, but for the frontline crews as well.”
Cindy and Tammy are excited for the expanded learning opportunities, the excitement of the conference, and more.
We asked Cindy and Tammy what they were most looking forward to at Congress this year. Cindy shared that she’s excited about expanding Learning Days to a day and a half. She offered, “Now that we can offer more classes, we’ll be able to meet more of our attendees’ needs and fill more of those Lean learning gaps. And some people want to go all week, so they can do the half-day Monday and stay until the end to make the most of Congress.”
Tammy offered, “I’ve been going to Congress for several years and it’s like the Super Bowl without the competition for me. It’s exciting. I go early for all the festivities. Even though my role has changed significantly, I still see the excitement and engagement. And I get to meet people and see what they are doing with Lean and where the industry is at.
Even in these Learning Days courses, to hear the discussions that come up gives you a great understanding of where people are at. And it helps us feed the machine even more—uncovering how to bring more value, what is the next step, and what can we be providing. Conversations at Congress greatly influence my strategy for the next year.”
Cindy shared her perspective from her union-based, member-based organization. “I started attending when I was the chair of Learning Day in Chicago. I brought some of my colleagues to help me and they loved it. They thought this was the greatest thing and kept telling our CEO about it and got him to attend, and his reaction was the same. Now we are LCI members, and our CEO comes every year, and we bring three-to-four volunteers to help with Learning Days. Congress is everybody’s second favorite here, after our own conference. We go and feel helpful and network with a whole lot of people.”
Join us at the 2025 LCI Congress.
Join us at the 2025 LCI Congress, October 20-24, in Arlington, Texas, for Learning Days and much more! Register today.
Need to make the case for Congress to your leadership or team?
Check out our easy-to-use, customizable Make the Case for Congress resource!
Stay in the know.
Check out the rest of our Congress blog posts and keep up with the latest on LinkedIn with #LCICongress25.
Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at this year’s Congress?
Contact Ilene Goldberg, igoldberg@leanconstruction.org or (703) 785-9087, for more information on opportunities—including becoming the Learning Days sponsor!
Questions on the Congress program?
Contact Joan Piccariello for more information.