​Modus Institute's Monthly Open Lean Coffee.

​Monthly Lean Coffee: Making Work More Humane

​Second Monday of Every Month | 1 Hour | FREE / Only 20 seats

​Join the conversation about making work better

​Tired of toxic workplaces, endless meetings, and systems that drain your energy? You're not alone. Join our monthly discussion where professionals from around the world share insights, challenges, and solutions for creating more humane, effective work environments.

​What happens? We use the Lean Coffee format—a democratized meeting structure where YOU decide what matters most. Bring your pressing questions about work life, team dynamics, leadership challenges, or anything that's making your professional life harder than it should be.

​Who joins? Project managers escaping meeting hell. Developers fighting toxic code review culture. Team leads trying to support burned-out teams. Anyone who believes work shouldn't crush your soul.

​Topics we explore:

• ​Breaking free from overload and "busy work"

• ​Building teams that actually support each other

• ​Making work visible without surveillance

• ​Leadership that enables rather than controls

• ​Creating psychological safety that actually works

• ​Personal productivity that doesn't require superhuman effort

​Format: Pure Lean Coffee—collaborative, respectful, and refreshingly honest. No PowerPoints, no sales pitches, just real conversations with people who get it.

​Time: 1 hour, second Monday of every month
Where: Modus Institute Discord
Cost: Completely free

​About Modus Institute

​Modus Institute is where visual management meets humane work practices. Founded by Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria, we're dedicated to helping individuals and teams create work environments that respect both productivity and humanity.

​Jim and Tonianne are pioneering thought leaders in human-centered workplace transformation. As co-creators of Personal Kanban, and co-authors of the global bestseller Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life for which they received the Shingo Award, they integrate operational and psychological flow to help organizations replace chaos with sustainable work systems.

​Jim's expertise in urban planning and software development drives his understanding of operational flow - how work moves through systems and organizations. Tonianne, with her background as a historian and neuroscience practitioner, focuses on psychological flow - how people think, learn, and adapt within those systems. Their complementary approaches create a unique synthesis: while Jim optimizes the mechanics of work movement, Tonianne ensures these systems align with human cognitive patterns and needs. Together, they help organizations from Fortune 500 companies to startups design environments where operational efficiency and human psychology reinforce each other, making work both more effective and humane.

​Visual Management Training: Learn to make work visible in ways that empower rather than surveil. Our courses cover methodologies, frameworks, and tools such as Personal Kanban, Obeya (collaborative "big-room" workspaces), and Lean Agile Visual Management (LAVM).

​Toxic Workplace Recovery: Our "Cleaning Toxic Waste" program helps individuals and teams identify and eliminate workplace toxicity at its source, creating healthier environments for everyone.

​Leadership Development: At Modus we teach "verb-leadership"—leadership as action and service rather than position and control. Learn to architect environments where teams elevate "verb-leadership" and thrive as a result.

​Personal Productivity: Beyond basic time management, we address the root causes of overload and teach sustainable approaches to focus and finishing work.

​Team Collaboration: From Lean Coffee facilitation to collaborative planning workshops, we provide practical tools for better teamwork without the corporate BS.

​Our approach combines proven lean and agile principles with deep respect for individual humanity. We believe that the best work happens when people have the information they need, the agency to act, and the support to do their best work.

​Why This Matters

​Work doesn't have to be toxic. Teams don't have to burn out. Leaders don't have to choose between results and humanity. Join our monthly conversation and discover practical ways to make work better—one conversation at a time.

​Connect with professionals worldwide who share your commitment to humane work practices. No badges, no certifications, no upsells—just honest dialogue about making work life better.

​Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/PRGHgRVE

​Questions? Email us at [email protected]