Effective Collaboration Across Organizations and Industries [Webinar]

How Networking, Benchmarking, and Collaboration Accelerate Continuous Improvement

Organizations don’t improve in isolation.

In this on-demand webinar, leaders and continuous improvement practitioners explore how collaboration across organizations and industries helps teams learn faster, avoid costly reinvention, and build stronger improvement cultures.

Hosted by Mark Graban of KaiNexus, this session features insights from Teresa McMahon of the Iowa Lean Consortium and Stephanie Hill of Craig Tool.

Together, they examine how organizations can move beyond surface-level networking to build trust-based collaboration that drives meaningful, sustained improvement.

Why Collaboration Matters for Continuous Improvement

Many organizations invest heavily in Lean tools and training, yet struggle to maintain momentum or generate new insights. One common reason: improvement efforts remain inward-facing.

This webinar shows how collaboration—when done intentionally—creates access to new perspectives, shared learning, and practical ideas that no single organization could develop alone.

You’ll learn why collaboration is not an “extra” activity, but a powerful and often underutilized improvement strategy.

What You’ll Learn

• The practical differences between networking, benchmarking, and true collaboration

• Why collaboration requires trust, openness, and a willingness to share challenges—not just successes

• How cross-industry learning sparks innovation and fresh thinking

• Ways organizations collaborate through consortiums, site visits, Lean Coffees, and peer networks

• How leaders and CI professionals can intentionally build collaboration into improvement work

Key Insights

Effective collaboration goes far beyond exchanging business cards or copying best practices. As the presenters explain, real learning happens when organizations are willing to be vulnerable—sharing what didn’t work as openly as what did.

The discussion highlights how collaboration reduces duplication of effort, shortens learning cycles, and strengthens improvement cultures by reminding teams they are not alone in their challenges.

Perhaps most importantly, the webinar reframes collaboration as a long-term capability, not a one-time event. When organizations invest in relationships and trust, collaboration becomes a continuous source of insight, support, and improvement.

Who This Webinar Is For

This webinar is especially valuable for:

• Continuous improvement, Lean, and operational excellence leaders

• Executives and managers responsible for culture and performance

• CI practitioners seeking ideas beyond their own industry

• Organizations interested in peer learning, benchmarking, and shared improvement

About the Presenters

Mark Graban
Vice President of Improvement & Innovation Services at KaiNexus, Mark is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and consultant with decades of experience in Lean, continuous improvement, and leadership across healthcare, manufacturing, and service industries.

Teresa McMahon
Executive Director of the Iowa Lean Consortium, Teresa has led statewide efforts to advance Lean and operational excellence across manufacturing, healthcare, government, education, and service organizations. She brings deep experience in performance management and cross-sector collaboration.

Stephanie Hill
Corporate Continuous Improvement Manager at Craig Tool, Stephanie has extensive experience applying CI across manufacturing, insurance, retail, and healthcare. She focuses on engagement, culture, and practical improvement strategies that deliver results.

Watch the Webinar On-Demand

Fill out the form to access the full recording and learn how collaboration across organizations and industries can accelerate your continuous improvement efforts.

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