The relevance of intervention participants’ process appraisal for change in well-being and lean work processes of entire teams

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether intervention participants’ process appraisals relate to change in well-being and lean outcomes of entire teams. For this purpose, the study focussed on two main characteristics of a lean implementation process – workshop quality and outcome expectancy – and their interaction with the participation rate, and examined their association with leaner work processes and affective well-being in nursing teams.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from a lean implementation project within 29 nursing wards of a university hospital. Employee surveys covering lean work processes and affective well-being at work were conducted before the implementation of four-day lean workshops in each nursing ward and six months after. The participating employee representatives evaluated the workshop quality and outcome expectancy of the workshops.FindingsMultilevel analyses indicated that workshop quality did not relate to leaner work processes, but was associated with enhanced affective well-being after six months. By contrast, outcome expectancy was associated with leaner work processes, but did not relate to well-being. No moderation effects with participation rate were found.Practical implicationsThe study shows the importance of monitoring process indicators in the early stages of implementation and optimising workshop contents and formats accordingly to ensure positive outcomes for entire teams.Originality/valueThe present study considers intervention participants’ process appraisals of workshop quality and outcome expectancy as good indicators of future change in lean work processes and the well-being of entire teams.