Communications And Six Sigma

Implementing new work techniques, strategies, or management systems in business organizations is often a daunting task for managers, as employees usually resist change. This is a fact acknowledged by several modern management theories. As such, any business organization that is planning to deploy Six Sigma needs to concentrate on building an effective communication system so that employee morale and productivity are not affected.

Employee Awareness Is Critical

Six Sigma projects are not limited to a particular set of employees or functional department and are effective only when the organization as a whole understands the need and scope of such projects. The philosophies and techniques used in Six Sigma need to be communicated to everyone in the organization through clear and open communication channels, transcending departmental barriers that would otherwise cause confusion. Making the employees aware about the positive aspects of Six Sigma and how it can help in improving their efficiency will allow managers to effectively overcome any resistance, either intentional or just because of inertia.

Methods And Processes

Teams comprising competent employees selected for implementing Six Sigma concepts in their work processes need to be provided with all of the requisite tools and information by the management. Various aspects involved in Six Sigma projects such as rationale, expectations, goals, and sequence of steps in the process need to be clarified beforehand to reduce confusion during the implementation stage. Case studies related to Six Sigma projects verify the fact that teams with clear goals and objectives achieve a lot more in a shorter period under all circumstances. As such, documentation of Six Sigma processes becomes all the more important for resolving any complications during the deployment stage. It is necessary to create a schedule, outlining the strategies that will help in effective implementation and take the process from its present state to one that is within statistical control and in line with the organization's Six Sigma goals. The schedule also needs to clearly define the role of every employee in relation to his/her contribution during the implementation stage.

Some Issues Of Concern

Lack of clear and effective communication channels is one of the main reasons responsible for frustration and underachievement when it comes to implementing Six Sigma concepts and philosophies. The problem is complicated, as it is very difficult to determine whether the communication provided by the management is enough or falling short of the organization's needs. Very often managers may believe that they are effectively communicating with the employees, but in reality, they may easily underestimate the number of issues on which employees need information.

Improving Communication

The best way of improving communications is to assess the situation from an employee's point of view. This way the management can easily decide the type of information needed by the employees, identify their confusions and worries, and select the most effective channel of communication. As communication is a two-way street, it is better to ask the employees themselves about their needs and expectations either through written or verbal contacts. The management can organize open-house sessions or get feedback through e-mails or questionnaires.

Be Realistic

The managers need to be aware that it takes time to develop effective communication systems and as such, they need to remain honest, clear, and compassionate for building trust among the employees. It is important not to promise anything that cannot be fulfilled, as nothing turns off employees more than the feeling of being betrayed. Genuine, considerate, and unvarying communication is thus essential for building employee engagement throughout the Six Sigma deployment process.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Business Process Management And Six Sigma

Six Sigma was devised to incorporate continuous improvement in the industry procedures through its methodological systems of identifying faults and correcting them. In short, it minimizes the number of errors that may occur while a task is being performed. This is achieved by way of daily scrutiny of the process and sharpening the techniques used therein. Initially, Six Sigma was implemented only in the manufacturing stream but eventually moved on to other fields where it has proved its mettle.

However, with advancing technology and increasing complexity of situations faced each day mere Six Sigma implementation is not enough. This is where the Business Process Management gets integrated with Six Sigma to create a better performance-enhancing tool.

BPM

Business Process Management are those set of activities, which are undertaken by a corporation to either better the current processes or alter them to suit new age requirements. This phenomenon supports and modifies the company's processes and gives them useful management strategies, models the data flow, manages people, resources and systems at any given time.

Reason For The Merger

The coming together of BPM and 6-Sigma was initiated since what one lacked the other could provide, thereby leading to a better approach towards analysis, understanding and improvising business techniques. For instance, 6-Sigma lacks the ability to collect large amounts of data, which is instantly provided for by BPM. Likewise, BPM is deficient in analytical tools to solve a difficult and complex business crisis and needs Six Sigma methodology to intervene.

Usefulness Of The Union

Integrating Six Sigma and BPM has led to expansion of a corporation's scope of functionality and its service quality. The following points explain the changes occurring due to the collaboration.

It helps in processing long-term performance results of the organization since there is a considerable amount of reduction in the number of errors and useless inventory, which in turn eliminates customer dissatisfaction. The entire value chains of the institution are illustrated in a better and detailed manner, understood in depth and managed properly. Both the processes together give near perfect estimations, which aid in altering business policies if required and also bring about necessary changes in management procedures that enhance performance levels. As Six Sigma fails to effectively control business processes and most of the time relies on the manual methods and control mechanism, which hampers performance initiatives greatly. BPM involvement aids the controlling process and terminates the drawback instantly. Since 6-Sigma cannot gather the extensive data required for any research and policy implementation, BPM fills in for this lapse by enhancing the projects by accelerating the collection and distribution of critical data. The product design is improved due to combine application of BPM and Six Sigma. Such companies are at a better advantage of creating a superior product right at the inception time. Initializing physical, feature wise market growth is possible by focusing on customer expectations and undertaking surveys since BPM is apt at supplying buying patterns and customer attitude records. Punching Six Sigma data into the BPM system is much faster and more precise.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Six Sigma Champions & Master Black Belts

The responsibility of developing a Six Sigma company successfully rests as much on Champions & Master Black Belts as it does on Black Belts and Green Belts. But the importance of their roles in the implementation can't be understated, as the necessary contribution from them is substantial. A Champion is a leader bestowed with authority and the huge responsibility of overseeing the smooth and complete implementation of Six Sigma.

If someone were to explain the role of champions in one breath, it would be that of removing roadblocks. Roadblocks can be sticky issues that Black Belts alone can't handle. Champions are looked up to for diffusing cross-territorial issues between black belts and upper management in the company through pacifying and mediation. They relieve black belts to focus on the problems on hand.

A Champion's Role Can Be Summarized Into Four Areas:

These four points underline the position and character of champions in a Six Sigma organization.

1. Their familiarity with the entire business and operational areas but without the interfering in the day-to-day operations with the black belts. This provides them with an opportunity to focus on potential improvements.

2. Project selection, which usually comes under a microscope following reports to top management - this sometimes causes career-limiting fears in champions. Driving out this fear takes effort at both the ends with top managers being 'educated' by Six Sigma providers/consultants. The project selection element is crucial and alignment of interests with the needs of management has to be explained in the proper perspective beforehand.

3. Deployment of the program. The importance of this point arises because of the need for financial decision making. The Six Sigma provider, whether he is interested in the success of implementation or primarily concerned in improving financials, is pivotal to the success of the program. Even before the results begin to align with expectations of upper management, it can come under fire.

4. The accountability question; failures are most often attributed to champions. It is often said that "there are no such things as unsuccessful Black Belts, just unsuccessful champions". This should highlight the importance of their unenviable position.

Master Black Belts

There are no universal definitions or training manual for Master Black Belts until they differentiate themselves from Black Belts by exhibiting extraordinary abilities and a high degree of propensity for problem solving. They are often devoted to working hard and are self-starters & self-reliant. They could, with some additional Six Sigma training intended to broaden the Black Belts' skills, be prepared for assuming a position where they are able to achieve higher goals and face bigger challenges. The strategy of the mass Six Sigma training of Black Belts will not succeed even if a small percentage of them were to pass Six Sigma training unless they demonstrate that they are able to solve complex problems well. The ease with which they handle crises must indicate their affinity to take on more responsibilities as a fundamental qualification.

Implementation of Six Sigma is more than just having the skills and knowledge of implementation tools. It is the exuberance and the fire to excel that counts in addition to the all-important drive for quality.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts

Six Sigma and Upper Management

The one ultimate reward that counts for any business organization is improvement of bottom line profitability and the return of satisfied customers. This end result must justify all the initiatives taken by upper management. Upper management utilizes a tool called "cost of poor quality (or "COPQ") as a barometer for evaluating six sigma projects. Apparently, it is the only way to get upper management to accept six sigma. The upper echelons of corporations have come to realize the importance of six sigma for its tangible economic benefits.

understand the value of upper management support for quality/process improvement top down fully, when you learn that management does not realize the importance of investing that extra time and money in quality improvement or lacks the commitment. Let's be straight forward, this scenario is not uncommon. Six sigma has such lasting power and broad scope that transcend departments and exposes the need (though not always) for change in organizational structure. Both of these would be hard battles to fight unless strong management support was present. Resistance of this type could be due to organizational inertia, or it could also be intentional.

Six sigma calls for long haul, complete and in depth implementation, which is definitely not for the faint of heart. It is possible only if your organization has 100% commitment from top management. This is why experts place blame on upper management for the failure of six sigma. Only continuous, rock solid support, monitoring and encouragement from the top brass only can prevent the failure of six sigma. Straightforward intentions for implementation should come from a customer centric viewpoint and a desire to produce quality services/products.

The continuity of the program requires undivided and dedicated monitory support until the end of the project. Upper management identifies the need, sets the ball in motion and provides continuous support (managerial and financial), which is the lifeline for the success of six sigma implementation. If these elements are not present, achieving the stated goals over a long period of time become difficult, if not impossible. One initial green light from management will not suffice; it takes continued commitment and engagement to inspire and motivate the people involved until the end.

Six sigma is a complete quality management and turn around system. As such, it identifies organizational shortcomings, wherever there are. With upper management on board, implementation stages can be monitored; midway course corrections can be suggested and any possible roadblocks at various steps of implementation can be overcome. As you can see, six sigma can be successfully implemented with the commitment of complete organizational support.

What upper management needs to understand is that six sigma is a widespread and far- reaching quality improvement program where it has to play a critical role in order to see ultimate business goals succeed. Although the various 'belts' implement six sigma, they are selected, trained and motivated by top management for the implementation of six sigma methodology. The upper management until the very end must support them. Only in this way can six sigma bring about significant and long lasting results to the organization.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts

Six Sigma Training - An Overview

The unbelievable results achieved by the pioneers of the Six Sigma management methodology and implementation were not realized overnight. Concerted efforts of by the entire organization and unwavering support by top management over a long period of time are what it takes to see results. The employees of an organization, through specialized Six Sigma training, play key roles through 6 sigma implementation. The key players in 6 sigma implementation not only need specialized Six Sigma training, they also need a different mindset and dedication to the process.

Six Sigma Training - What Is It?

Six Sigma training is available from various institutes certified to provide the training using either offline or online delivery methods. Six Sigma training is aimed at providing comprehensive and rational methodology and techniques. Six Sigma training courses normally cover process improvement techniques as stepping stones for students and lead to either green belt or black belt certifications.

Six Sigma training course fees normally vary from $450 for a one-day course, up to $6000 for a two-week lean 6 Sigma program. The Champion's Leadership Program is conducted onsite only. Still, there are some other institutes that combine the black belt and green belt Six Sigma Training into what is known as the 2+2 format. Attending this dual Six Sigma training helps improve internal company synergy in addition to giving the organization greater flexibility.

What Do Six Sigma Training Courses Cover?

Six Sigma training courses leading to certifications in green belt and black belt are usually designed to cover one module at a time. One such module is the control module, for example. The Six Sigma training course places emphasis on the statistical aspects of process capabilities and process control.

Objectives Of Six Sigma Training

In brief, Six Sigma training introduces students to both the DMAIC and DMADV methodologies. The core concepts of these techniques, quality standards, charts, plans and analytical techniques are also covered in the course.

Who Is Eligible To Take The Six Sigma Training Course?

Any member of an organization who is a manager, technician, operator, teacher or engineer, regardless of where he or she is working, can take a Six Sigma training course. Employees may work in industries such as education, IT, and government, provided they have demonstrated an aptitude for learning complex DMAIC techniques.

Up The Rung Six Sigma Training

Master Black Belt and Champion Six Sigma training is utilized for producing coordinators and decision-makers who will play key roles in the implementation and success of Six Sigma across the organization. The focus of the Six Sigma training will be to prepare Champions to identify the elements of critical business processes. Students will, upon certification, be able to bring about the changes necessary to their organizations both during and after the implementation of 6 sigma. Unlike the Green Belt and Black Belt trainees, who are required to devote 75% of their time for Six Sigma implementation, Master Black Belts and Champions dedicate 100% of their time to successful implementation of the program.

What these Six Sigma Training courses don't teach you are not taught anywhere else, either. Future vision, ability to lead, and the skills to motivate the organization also must be mastered in addition to the formal Six Sigma training process.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts

Six Sigma Training Basics

The need for Six Sigma training has arisen following two reasons. One, the demands of industry could not be met with the existing limited quality assurance methods and two, the tremendous financial opportunities for corporations that the 6 sigma methodology is creating of late.

Many well-known organizations have developed their own Six Sigma training institutes, for in house training of their employees. Realizing the demand that could not be met by companies by themselves, many training institutes and universities have come forward and developed basic Six Sigma training courses.

Differences In Six Sigma Training Basics

A quick look at the Six Sigma training course contents of various institutes immediately shows that they vary widely in their central focus, while still keeping the fundamentals of Six Sigma training content intact. However, this is hardly surprising when one realizes that corporations devise courses for training their own employees for more flexibility. However, the Six Sigma training curricula prepared by independent training institutes and universities closely resemble each other, brining credence and uniformity to all Six Sigma training.

The Basics Of Six Sigma Training

Differences notwithstanding, the central theme of Six Sigma training required for certification must remain same. These are the six core basic elements of Six Sigma training:

1. A thorough and complete training on the DMAIC process and 6 sigma methodology: This involves familiarizing trainees on statistics and its applications, the five key elements of the DMAIC process, and the implementation of this methodology.

2. The roles of each key person: Each person in the organization plays a critical role in the implementation of 6 sigma. Thus, Six Sigma training needs to focus on understanding the key elements of every person's role and the skill to communicate with key players across the organization.

3. Developing abilities to define and work on projects: In Six Sigma training, the emphasis is placed on the streamlining of processes, focusing on the core competencies of each of these. Six Sigma training also focuses on identifying and developing breakthrough processes, products and/or services. As a result, root cause analysis and crisis management abilities become the key to developing versatile management abilities.

4. Cross training necessity: The deployment of Six Sigma methodologies puts the emphasis on a team-based approach. Naturally, qualities such as interpersonal skills, ability to communicate effectively, and ability to transfer knowledge and clarify issues are also important. Sharing of knowledge across the organization is crucial for to the success of 6 sigma implementation.

5. Problem Solving Tools: In Six Sigma methodologies, problem-solving tools are statistical. Six Sigma training essentially teaches all those involved in the implementation how to use statistical tools in order to analyze a problem and solve it. Six Sigma training techniques assume that all candidates do not necessarily have formal training in statistics.

6. Presentation and closing techniques: In Six Sigma training, everyone is taught how to make presentations to management and other decision-makers. Six Sigma training also focuses on how to make the transition to closing projects after their conclusion or abandonment.

All Six Sigma training objectives are tied to a quality-first policy. In a nutshell, Six Sigma training instructs students on how to dissect information, analyze it, validate the results, and implement.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Six Sigma Training 101 Better Management Basics

What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a quality management program that is designed to achieve a six sigma level of quality for products. In the mid 1980s, Motorola pioneered Six Sigma and it has since been adopted by many other companies and manufacturers. Service companies also implement Six Sigma strategies to improve customer service and relations. The idea behind Six Sigma is that failures in quality and customer satisfaction occur after the sixth sigma of likelihood in a normal distribution curve. Hence, the idea is that there are less defects per product or customer service. Motorola defines the success of six-sigma quality in terms of the number of Defects Per Million Opportunities.

Why Use Six Sigma?

Many companies and critics of Six Sigma believed that achieving six levels of quality was impossible, but many companies have proved the critics wrong. Some companies even go beyond six-sigma. An example of this is GE Aircraft Engines, which operate at Nine Sigma levels of quality. Six sigma is practical because it reduces the amount of errors in customer service and products. This leads to increased customer satisfaction, increased revenue, more returning customers, and the acquisition of new customers. Companies that can implement six-sigma successfully have higher standards of quality and usually produce better products and services.

Why is it only Six Sigma?

Many people do not know how six-sigma relates to 3.4 defects per million. Essentially, people do not know how having six levels of sigma improves quality significantly. Many companies used to have less sigma, usually about three or four. However, Motorola was the first to use six levels. Six is the perfect number because whereas four sigma makes sure that there are only about 2.6 problems in a thousand. However, the problem arises with deviation. Imagine a manufacturing process in which a drill makes a hole that is supposed to be 100 micrometers. With four levels of Sigma, only about 1 in 400 will be defective. This unfortunately does not take into account the average value of measurement, which will shift over time. So, if the measurement gradually drifts as each new hole is drilled, about 6.6% of the output will be off by 1.5 sigma in each direction at anytime. If the process has drifted by 150 micrometers, then the hole will be off by 300 micrometers, which is an extremely large defective rate. Using 6 sigma, with a 1.5 sigma shift to make up for average deviation, the ratios are much lower and therefore the defective rates are much more sensible. The same drift in a six-sigma process will still only produce a defect for products or services that are more than 4.5 sigma away from the average in the same direction. Using the mathematics of a normal curve, this works out to 3.4 defects per million which is much more acceptable.

Conclusion

Customers value quality above all other things in a business. If a business produces a high quality product or service, more customers will return, and that business will gain new customers. Six-sigma helps to ensure the quality of goods and services is only the best. Six-sigma, when implemented correctly, is very effective and that is why many companies today use Six-sigma. This process was pioneered more than 20 years ago by Motorola, and has proven its lasting qualities through its continued use in the business world. Any company that wants to gain and retain customers while producing a high-quality product should consider the use of Six-sigma.
Dana Schorden enjoys writing about Six Sigma. Learn more at Six Sigma Weblog ( http://www.sixsigmablog.org/training/), a weblog with daily six sigma training tips and news.

A Holistic View of Six Sigma

"Only the overall review of the entire business as an economic system can give real knowledge" - Peter F. Drucker

No one needs to emphasize the holistic approach the Six Sigma deployment takes on overall business processes. All processes in an organization present at least one opportunity for improvement. Having a limited picture about the limitations of Six Sigma and its applications projects an all together different picture.

At the enterprise level, each company must consider the entire application of the project and this is certainly beyond the line employee level.

A Little Background

We have all known Six Sigma as a deployment strategy related to company activities and we have examples for justification. We have many glaring examples of successful and not so successful companies in recent history. Motorola, DuPont and General electric are some cases in point. Also known to us are the failures of deployment mostly in non- manufacturing businesses.

While thinking along the same lines, if in your understanding, Six Sigma is not applicable to your organization or industry, perhaps what first step you may take is answer whether it can improve the financial situation of your company within an acceptable timeframe. This fundamental answer must be obtained even before the project selection process. Answers to whether Six Sigma can work in all processes and parts of the organization must be put into place.

Thinking Beyond The Shop Floor

Notions and misconceptions such as those confining Six Sigma to the shop floor and relegating it as something of a quality implementation tool dedicated for manufacturing industry must be shown its due place for it to show results of any significance. The ‘beyond the factory’ approach encompasses almost all non-manufacturing aspects of the economy, not excluding those in the new economy group. For example, law offices, non-profit organizations, online business and the transport sector.

Three Critical Steps To Take Six Sigma Benefits Beyond The Shop Floor

Holistic thinking does not exclude non-production activities within organizations. Activities that don’t produce physical products but are still parts of production activities that go into manufacturing, as well as service industry sectors, such as transport industry or consultancy firms, contribute to the economy in a larger meaning by value creation. The following critical steps help reap major benefits in implementation:

• The Strategic Deployment: Think through the overall deployment of Six Sigma initiatives across the entire organization.
• The Tactical Deployment: Tactically selecting, conducting and closing the projects in all those environments.
• Methodical Deployment Of Operational Tools: Applying the analytic techniques of Six Sigma properly when facing common challenges beyond the shop floor, such as skewed (non-normal) distributions of cycle times, or the predominance of discrete data.

Holistic thinking In Six Sigma calls for adopting a statistical approach in its entirety to all aspects of conducting business and looking beyond statistics is an embedded part of deployment. Judgmental timing and accuracies assume the same degree of significance of decision making. There is not one single sure-fire formula to ensure the success of it.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.