Managing Transformation, Improvement, and Learning in a Virtual Environment

How UMass Memorial Health Executes Strategy and Sustains Improvement—Even When Teams Are Distributed

Webinar Description

As organizations shift toward more virtual and hybrid work, many continuous improvement leaders face the same challenge:
How do you manage transformation, execute strategy, and sustain learning when teams aren’t in the same room?

In this on-demand KaiNexus webinar, Cliona Archambeault and Penny Iannelli of UMass Memorial Health share how their organization structures, prioritizes, and executes improvement work across a large, complex healthcare system—using virtual tools, disciplined governance, and a strong operating model.

Drawing on real examples from UMass Memorial’s Center for Innovation and Transformational Change (CITC), this session explores how Lean, Six Sigma, analytics, and project management come together to support enterprise strategy—without relying on in-person-only processes.

Rather than focusing on theory, this webinar dives into how the work actually gets done: how projects are selected, how leaders stay engaged, how frontline ideas are captured, and how improvement efforts remain visible and aligned in a virtual environment.

View all previous KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinars

What You’ll Learn

• How UMass Memorial structures enterprise transformation and improvement work

• How Lean, Six Sigma, analytics, and project management work together in practice

• When to use A3s, Kaizen events, or data-driven improvement projects

• How virtual idea systems support frontline engagement and accountability

• How leaders prioritize improvement work without overwhelming teams

• What it takes to sustain momentum when teams are remote or hybrid

Who This Webinar Is For

This webinar is especially valuable for:

• Continuous improvement, Lean, and operational excellence leaders

• Healthcare leaders managing system-wide transformation

• Project, program, and portfolio managers

• Executives responsible for strategy execution

• CI teams navigating virtual or hybrid work environments

Key Insight: Transformation Requires Structure—Not Just Tools

Virtual work doesn’t eliminate the need for discipline—it increases it.

As Cliona and Penny explain, successful transformation depends on:

• Clear ownership and accountability

• Visible priorities tied to strategy

• Systems that make improvement work easier—not harder

• Leadership behaviors that reinforce learning and execution

When these elements are in place, improvement can thrive—regardless of where people work.

About the Presenter:

Cliona Archambeault

Senior Director, Process Improvement, UMass Memorial Health Care

Cliona leads the process engineering team of Lean Six Sigma Black Belts and Master Black Belts in the Center for Innovation & Transformational Change (CITC) at UMass Memorial Health (UMMH). She has more than a decade of experience leading process improvement in healthcare. Prior to joining UMMH, she led a process improvement and health systems engineering team at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in Boston.

Earlier in her career, she worked as a process and industrial engineer at Intel Corporation, where she first learned about Lean and the Toyota Production System. She holds an MBA from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a BS in Biomedical & Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Penny Iannelli

Chief Transformation Officer, UMass Memorial Health Care

Penny Iannelli is the Chief Transformation Officer for UMass Memorial Health, Inc. (UMMH), and runs their Center for Innovation & Transformational Change (CITC).  Prior to joining UMMH she worked for Semiconductor Manufacturer, Intel Corporation, for 15 years in the areas of Process Engineering, Portfolio-Program-Project Management, Lean Six Sigma Program Management, Manufacturing Operations, and Quality Management.

She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a PMP and has Lean Certifications from various Institutions.