Online Six Sigma Training

Six Sigma is a quality management methodology that follows a data driven approach for reducing waste and improving overall quality of goods manufactured or services rendered. It makes use of statistical tools and techniques that help in identifying exactly what the customer needs and designing sustainable methods to meet those requirements. By implementing Six Sigma, any organization can hope to increase efficiency, increase productivity, and reduce manufacturing costs. By employing statistical methods, companies can look forward to create a near perfect situation wherein the number of defects is reduced to less than 3.4 per million opportunities that exists for such defects to occur. Companies the world over have implemented Six Sigma in their business processes, which has helped them in attaining optimum competence and saving millions of dollars through phenomenal reduction in the amount of waste.

Why Online Training

The success of Six Sigma initiatives depends on a number of factors, one of which is the training imparted to owners and employees. Training is necessary as it allows organizational members to understand the various concepts and implement them in a proper manner. Due to hectic schedules, companies often decide to provide online training, making it easier for employees to select an appropriate time for training based on their work schedule.

Benefits Of Online Training

Employees often find it difficult to manage work schedules and training at the same time. Online training allows them to give priority to their current work obligations and receive training in their free time. Online training helps in better absorption as employees can decide on the number of topics to be covered in a day. Employees can receive online training in the comfort of their homes, which eliminates traveling expenses and time lost while traveling. Online training allows employees to view the entire course list on the screen from where they can select any topic they want to learn. Based on their knowledge, they can skip through topics that they are already aware of and continue with the rest of the topics. This helps them to devote more time to topics that are difficult to understand.

Online training courses offer practical tips related to work issues, which employees can use for learning the practical use of Six Sigma concepts and techniques. Employees can give online tests after completing a topic for assessing their learning quotient. Test results are displayed at the click of a button, allowing employees the freedom to move on to the next topic or study the same topic again if results are unsatisfactory. Employees can take part in online discussions, which allows them to gain different perspectives towards a common problem. Online training is imparted through interactive sessions, which may include audio/video clips, multi-media slide shows, online simulations, quizzes, and tests.

Classification Of Online Training Courses

Online Six Sigma training courses can be broadly classified into four different categories; namely, courses for functional managers, for quality control managers, for senior management, and for business associates. Each training course is designed to meet the specific learning requirements of individuals who work in different positions within an organization. Online courses can also be classified based on the level of training, which may be for Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, or Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Companies can choose any of these levels for its employees depending on organizational requirements.

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.

1 Sigma Decisions in a Six Sigma World

Six Sigma has become the standard for product quality in our highly competitive world, but we are still wrestling with decision-making that is running at a less than one sigma success rate. Paul C. Nutt in his book, ?Why Decisions Fail? reports, ?For more than twenty years I have been studying how decisions are made, writing about what works, what doesn?t and why. The key finding is startling ? decisions fail half of the time.?

In this world of ?Continuous Improvement? it seems incomprehensible that we are still working with a decision-making process that results in a 50% success rate. Why worry about competition from off shore when decision-making with a 60%, 70% or even higher success rate would really give organizations a huge competitive advantage. The amount of time and money spent on bad decisions is incalculable and it boggles my mind to think about the cost of covering up bad decisions not to mention the blot a bad decision can be on a reputation or the personal friction it might cause.

Historically, most decision-making has been based on the ?rational model.? This involves: define the problem; state objectives; outline alternatives, estimate consequences; evaluate tradeoffs; recognize uncertainty; estimate risk tolerance; remove emotion and choose the best option. Somehow this whole process sounds negative to me. There is nothing positive about problems or estimating consequences. Evaluating tradeoffs signifies settling for something less than the optimum. Estimating risk tolerance doesn?t sound very positive either. Given that we are always faced with imperfect knowledge and the risk of unintended consequences in any decision, choosing the best option seems like a pretty risky proposition. My experience has proven to me that attitude is a huge determinant of success and if this process is negative by its very nature, it seems easy to understand why ?decisions fail half of the time.?

There is another school of thought that suggests when faced with a problem, it makes sense to create an hypothesis and then gather data to test the hypothesis. Unfortunately, this approach falls prey to some of the same problems with our traditional model. Problems equate to negatives. The symptoms of the problem may lead you to identify the wrong problem. Data gathered to support an hypothesis might provide the right decision but the wrong problem. Both the traditional and the hypothesis models are based on the ?how? of decision-making. The hypothesis approach appears to me to be an expeditious way to the same results. Since data shows that ?decisions fail half of the time,? it seems safe to say that reality is often more confused and messy than a neat model can allow for.

Peter Drucker once said, ?The best way to predict the future is to create it.? This truth also applies to decision-making. Decision-making is not a problem solving activity. It is an exercise in the construction of a preferred future. Traditional decision-making is grounded in the negative and in the past. The new way to make decisions is to establish a positive mind set, to fully appreciate the ?why? of decision-making and build from there. Since we move toward that which we define, what better way to make decisions than to utilize the Appreciative Inquiry process. Modified slightly as the Taking Aim approach, we ?marshal? our resources and think about the best of what is, our successes, the things we have done well and felt good about. This step sets up the positive attitude that is so critical to success. Next we get ?ready? by envisioning the perfect future or what might be. This desired future provides us with the answers to ?why.? ?Aim? is the next step where we actually design what should be and finally we ?Fire? or execute what will be. This is a much more positive approach and builds around the desired outcome rather than around the obstacles that may or may not exist. If in this process we can fully understand the why of what we are about to undertake, we can adapt to the vagaries along the way that can stifle a how based solution.

Appreciative inquiry is real and the supporting data is building. Paul Nutt in the book, ?Why Decisions Fail? points out that staying issue-centered is critical to good decision- making and AI is a process to stay issue-centered. Successful business users include Roadway, John Deere, Green Mountain Coffee and others.

We all agree that our customers deserve six sigma products. If our organizations are to survive; our customers to have an ongoing supply of our products; our owners are to earn a return on their investment and our associates are to have secure well paying jobs; don?t they deserve a better success rate on decisions than 50%. If that rate could be increased to 60% or 70% what kind of competitive advantage would you gain in your industry? Isn?t it time you thought about a new approach to decision-making?

Copyright Bob Cannon/The Cannon Advantage, 2003. All rights reserved.

 

Six Sigma Technology Online

Six Sigma quality improvement concepts and methodologies were originally devised for use in the manufacturing sector but with the development of newer technologies, Six Sigma is now increasingly being implemented in the services sector as well.

The basic aim of Six Sigma implementation projects is to reduce wastage of scarce resources by reducing the number of defects to less than 3.4 per million opportunities that exist for such defects to occur. Six Sigma quality improvement techniques provide accurate results because they make use of statistical analysis tools. These tools are quite effective when it comes to reducing variations in a product or service.

Why Online Training

Six Sigma projects are normally implemented under the supervision of Six Sigma professionals such as Green Belts, Black Belts, and Master Black Belts. The services of these professionals are necessary for ensuring that the implementation is completed within the planned schedule and within allocated costs. The only problem is that these professionals often charge hefty amounts as fees, which may not sometimes be too costly for a company. The best option then is to train existing employees so that they can get the requisite certification and in-depth knowledge about Six Sigma concepts and methodologies.

However, enrolling employees for a regular course is not recommended because the costs can be quite high. Another thing is that in regular courses, employees will have to attend regular courses, which will result in wastage of precious productive time. The best option is to provide online training that offers the same level of certification such as Green Belts and Black Belts. Since Six Sigma is currently the highest quality standard, it is always better to opt for reputed online training courses. It would be better if the online training course is nationally recognized and is designed to cater to different types of professionals such as engineers, technical managers, and analysts. Skills developed through the training program will then help these professionals in reducing defects in manufacturing, developing and in providing services.

What To Look For In An Online Six Sigma Course

Six Sigma online courses are selected according to the level of training a company is aiming to provide to its employees. However, it is always better to opt for an all-inclusive online course that covers most of the operations related aspects of a business such as general management, design, production, services, and even customer satisfaction.

The course should also include an introduction to Total Quality Management (TQM), leadership issues in organizations, project handling skills, quality improvement processes, use of statistical tools such as diagrams and charts, and other related topics. Such a course will empower the employees with specialized knowledge and skills that will help them during Six Sigma project implementations.

Online courses for existing employees are increasingly being preferred because companies do not have to spend top dollar for the training. Another reason is that by training their employees, companies are now able to harness their existing talent pool and reduce their dependence on the services of Six Sigma professionals. All these factors indicate that the future certainly belongs to online Six Sigma training.

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.

Six Sigma And The Small Or Home Based Business

Although Six Sigma was originally devised as a quality improvement technique for the manufacturing industry, it is now increasingly being adopted by the services industry as well. The basic Six Sigma concepts and methodologies are more or less the same in the services sector where they are applied to both operational and non-operational processes.

Defining Six Sigma

Motorola was the first company to develop and implement Six Sigma concepts in its business processes. The main aim of the company was to reduce manufacturing defects and to achieve near perfect production processes that would help in production maximization. Six Sigma implementation projects aim at bringing the number of defects to not more than 3.4 per million opportunities that exist for such defects to occur.

This standard is applicable for both manufacturing industries as well as the services sector. Six Sigma implementations start with the assessment of current quality levels, which are termed as 1 sigma, 2 sigma, and so on. The aim is continuous quality improvements until Six Sigma quality levels are achieved.

Six Sigma In Small Businesses

Six Sigma can be effectively employed in small businesses irrespective of whether the business is a manufacturing unit or is servicing a customer base. Even in small businesses, Six Sigma aims at perfecting existing business processes and assessing the real costs of the business such as COPQ (Cost of Poor Quality). At first glance, it may seem that Six Sigma is suitable only for large businesses because of multimillion-dollar savings and huge reduction in the number of defects. However, this not mean that Six Sigma will not be cost-effective in small businesses as standard concepts and methodologies can always be tweaked to suit small scale process requirements and for reducing implementation costs at the same time.

Most small businesses compete with large and well-established businesses and this is why they always need to be on their toes in order to reduce costs and offer quality products and services to customers. Six Sigma helps because it provides a level playing field to small businesses, allowing them to concentrate on increasing the customer base by offering better quality products and services. For ensuring the success of Six Sigma initiatives, small business owners can hire the services of professional Six Sigma professionals such as Black Belts and Master Black Belts. They also have the option of training their existing employees.

The conclusion is that Six Sigma concepts and methodologies can be tailored to suit any business that has a ready customer base. It is also applicable in an online business where it is all the more important to have satisfied customers because news travels faster on the internet, especially when it is something to do with bad quality products or services. By employing Six Sigma, small businesses can ensure the quality of their products or services, which in turn will allow them to garner positive publicity through customer feedbacks and reviews. Such businesses are most likely to witness rapid growth because satisfied customers are the real assets of any business, whether big or small.

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.

 

Applying For - And Getting - That Six Sigma Job

There is a growing demand for people with Six Sigma certification and expertise as companies realize the many ways in which the Six Sigma methodology can help their organizations grow and improve. Six Sigma has grown beyond its manufacturing origins with many government agencies and service providers now advertising for Six Sigma help. More importantly, even small companies are taking on Six Sigma consultants or full-time staff, which implies that the demand for Six Sigma professionals will only increase in the coming years.

Six Sigma Job Categories

There are many junior- and senior-level Six Sigma openings across a wide range of industries. The positions and job descriptions are oftentimes unique to the company and its requirements. Admittedly, many of these positions are filled internally, as companies train their own people in the Six Sigma methodology so that people already familiar with the corporate culture are provided with the needed skill sets. On the other hand, these same organizations often reach outside for help, seeking out experienced people to either lead, or implement full-scale Six Sigma projects throughout the company.

Six Sigma Job Openings

Many companies openly advertise job opportunities that are clearly Six Sigma based (e.g., Six Sigma Analyst or Six Sigma Black Belt). Others, however, advertise openings for positions that are not obviously Six Sigma openings such as Functional Project Lead, Director of Operational Excellence, Business Project Manager, or Senior Projects Manager.

Job openings such as these are usually for people with Six Sigma Black Belt capabilities ? someone trained in the Six Sigma methodology with experience in leading cross-functional process improvement teams. These people are tapped to lead individual Six Sigma teams.

Companies sometimes advertise for Six Sigma Master Black Belts to fill organization-wide Six Sigma program manager positions, in effect taking over very senior positions within the organization. The successful applicants will be tasked to lead the company?s Six Sigma implementation, oversee Black Belts and process improvement projects, and guide the Black Belts as needed. These positions will require the highest level of Six Sigma experience and qualifications.

Meeting Six Sigma Job Criteria

The primary requirement for a Six Sigma job is, of course, to be trained in the Six Sigma methodology, ideally as a Six Sigma Black Belt. This requires formal training from qualified Six Sigma consultants who have long experience in training and implementation of Six Sigma. Often, a request is made for those with a specific background such as in Six Sigma DMAIC or DFSS methodology.

Companies recognize experience as being the best teacher, however, so many establishments express strong preference (if not outright demand) for people with hands-on experience in completing at least one Six Sigma project.

Aside from Six Sigma training and project experience, companies have a preference for those with background experience (usually at least five years) in their particular industry or business. Management experience is another plus factor and this is usually a requirement by companies looking for a Six Sigma project team leader. Managing projects within structured environments, and proven management skills (as indicated by successful project implementation) will be a definite advantage in your favor, because companies in the initial stages of Six Sigma application will be looking for people who will lead and facilitate business teams as well as Black Belts and Green Belts through the process.

Other requirements

If you are applying for a Six Sigma position, you need to show that you have an excellent understanding of processes and quality methodologies as well as a willingness to grab the initiative and take the lead in making changes.

Another vital skill will be the ability to link strategy to execution. You need to show that you are able to look beyond surface issues and concerns: consider strategic business issues from a detached, clinical perspective, and use this as a springboard for developing and implementing creative and practical solutions to problems identified.

Steven French is a recruitment consultant to http://www.UteachRecruitment.com - the specialist UK teaching jobs recruitment agency. Visit Uteach Recruitment to find your perfect UK teaching job today. Note: We have lots of great Science teaching jobs available now!

Online Six Sigma Training

Six Sigma is a quality management methodology that follows a data driven approach for reducing waste and improving overall quality of goods manufactured or services rendered. It makes use of statistical tools and techniques that help in identifying exactly what the customer needs and designing sustainable methods to meet those requirements. By implementing Six Sigma, any organization can hope to increase efficiency, increase productivity, and reduce manufacturing costs. By employing statistical methods, companies can look forward to create a near perfect situation wherein the number of defects is reduced to less than 3.4 per million opportunities that exists for such defects to occur. Companies the world over have implemented Six Sigma in their business processes, which has helped them in attaining optimum competence and saving millions of dollars through phenomenal reduction in the amount of waste.

Why Online Training

The success of Six Sigma initiatives depends on a number of factors, one of which is the training imparted to owners and employees. Training is necessary as it allows organizational members to understand the various concepts and implement them in a proper manner. Due to hectic schedules, companies often decide to provide online training, making it easier for employees to select an appropriate time for training based on their work schedule.

Benefits Of Online Training

Employees often find it difficult to manage work schedules and training at the same time. Online training allows them to give priority to their current work obligations and receive training in their free time. Online training helps in better absorption as employees can decide on the number of topics to be covered in a day. Employees can receive online training in the comfort of their homes, which eliminates traveling expenses and time lost while traveling. Online training allows employees to view the entire course list on the screen from where they can select any topic they want to learn. Based on their knowledge, they can skip through topics that they are already aware of and continue with the rest of the topics. This helps them to devote more time to topics that are difficult to understand.

Online training courses offer practical tips related to work issues, which employees can use for learning the practical use of Six Sigma concepts and techniques. Employees can give online tests after completing a topic for assessing their learning quotient. Test results are displayed at the click of a button, allowing employees the freedom to move on to the next topic or study the same topic again if results are unsatisfactory. Employees can take part in online discussions, which allows them to gain different perspectives towards a common problem. Online training is imparted through interactive sessions, which may include audio/video clips, multi-media slide shows, online simulations, quizzes, and tests.

Classification Of Online Training Courses

Online Six Sigma training courses can be broadly classified into four different categories; namely, courses for functional managers, for quality control managers, for senior management, and for business associates. Each training course is designed to meet the specific learning requirements of individuals who work in different positions within an organization. Online courses can also be classified based on the level of training, which may be for Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, or Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Companies can choose any of these levels for its employees depending on organizational requirements.

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.

 

1 Sigma Decisions in a Six Sigma World

Six Sigma has become the standard for product quality in our highly competitive world, but we are still wrestling with decision-making that is running at a less than one sigma success rate. Paul C. Nutt in his book, ?Why Decisions Fail? reports, ?For more than twenty years I have been studying how decisions are made, writing about what works, what doesn?t and why. The key finding is startling ? decisions fail half of the time.?

In this world of ?Continuous Improvement? it seems incomprehensible that we are still working with a decision-making process that results in a 50% success rate. Why worry about competition from off shore when decision-making with a 60%, 70% or even higher success rate would really give organizations a huge competitive advantage. The amount of time and money spent on bad decisions is incalculable and it boggles my mind to think about the cost of covering up bad decisions not to mention the blot a bad decision can be on a reputation or the personal friction it might cause.

Historically, most decision-making has been based on the ?rational model.? This involves: define the problem; state objectives; outline alternatives, estimate consequences; evaluate tradeoffs; recognize uncertainty; estimate risk tolerance; remove emotion and choose the best option. Somehow this whole process sounds negative to me. There is nothing positive about problems or estimating consequences. Evaluating tradeoffs signifies settling for something less than the optimum. Estimating risk tolerance doesn?t sound very positive either. Given that we are always faced with imperfect knowledge and the risk of unintended consequences in any decision, choosing the best option seems like a pretty risky proposition. My experience has proven to me that attitude is a huge determinant of success and if this process is negative by its very nature, it seems easy to understand why ?decisions fail half of the time.?

There is another school of thought that suggests when faced with a problem, it makes sense to create an hypothesis and then gather data to test the hypothesis. Unfortunately, this approach falls prey to some of the same problems with our traditional model. Problems equate to negatives. The symptoms of the problem may lead you to identify the wrong problem. Data gathered to support an hypothesis might provide the right decision but the wrong problem. Both the traditional and the hypothesis models are based on the ?how? of decision-making. The hypothesis approach appears to me to be an expeditious way to the same results. Since data shows that ?decisions fail half of the time,? it seems safe to say that reality is often more confused and messy than a neat model can allow for.

Peter Drucker once said, ?The best way to predict the future is to create it.? This truth also applies to decision-making. Decision-making is not a problem solving activity. It is an exercise in the construction of a preferred future. Traditional decision-making is grounded in the negative and in the past. The new way to make decisions is to establish a positive mind set, to fully appreciate the ?why? of decision-making and build from there. Since we move toward that which we define, what better way to make decisions than to utilize the Appreciative Inquiry process. Modified slightly as the Taking Aim approach, we ?marshal? our resources and think about the best of what is, our successes, the things we have done well and felt good about. This step sets up the positive attitude that is so critical to success. Next we get ?ready? by envisioning the perfect future or what might be. This desired future provides us with the answers to ?why.? ?Aim? is the next step where we actually design what should be and finally we ?Fire? or execute what will be. This is a much more positive approach and builds around the desired outcome rather than around the obstacles that may or may not exist. If in this process we can fully understand the why of what we are about to undertake, we can adapt to the vagaries along the way that can stifle a how based solution.

Appreciative inquiry is real and the supporting data is building. Paul Nutt in the book, ?Why Decisions Fail? points out that staying issue-centered is critical to good decision- making and AI is a process to stay issue-centered. Successful business users include Roadway, John Deere, Green Mountain Coffee and others.

We all agree that our customers deserve six sigma products. If our organizations are to survive; our customers to have an ongoing supply of our products; our owners are to earn a return on their investment and our associates are to have secure well paying jobs; don?t they deserve a better success rate on decisions than 50%. If that rate could be increased to 60% or 70% what kind of competitive advantage would you gain in your industry? Isn?t it time you thought about a new approach to decision-making?

Copyright Bob Cannon/The Cannon Advantage, 2003. All rights reserved.

Bob Cannon helps visionary leaders improve performance and profitability. He is the author of the new book ?Taking Aim for Better Decision-Making?, available at http://www.cannonadvantage.com. Bob can be reached at (216) 408-9495 or mailto: bob@cannonadvantage.com

This article courtesy of http://www.cannonadvantage.com