Six Sigma Roles

What’s your plan?
If you are currently using Six Sigma are you meeting your goals? Are you getting the return on investment you had hoped? Is everyone on board and aligned with the goals, or only part of your employees?

How much time are you investing in Six Sigma deployment and improvements a day? 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 1 hour, once a day, one a month, once a quarter, once a year? Six Sigma is like any company initiative of for that matter similar to a living object. You have to feed it to grow.

How are you hardwiring your deployment and usage?

How much time did you put towards improvement today?

Engage in consistent action
 
Creating a Six Sigma Infrastructure
 
Creating or developing a Six Sigma Infrastructure will vary depending on the size, geographic locations, and culture of your company. The culture of your company is an important factor in your companies Six Sigma deployment. If your existing corporate culture is positive Six Sigma integration will be a factor that increases your success many times over. If the culture struggles specifically in civility or communications your implementation will be more challenging.

You have several choices for infusing Six Sigma into your company. You can develop a Six Sigma program or develop a complete infrastructure. The strength of Six Sigma is that it is entirely scalable for implementation. You see the benefits within a short time frame and you can invest a few hundred dollars to get the ball rolling or you can invest thousands depending on your needs.

A Six Sigma Program is used to teach employees Six Sigma Methodology to use and apply on a job when needed. It provides a process-oriented approach that teaches employees to select the right tool, at the right time, every time.

Deploying Six Sigma as a business strategy through Six Sigma tools usage and projects is an effective way to realize the benefits of Six Sigma deployment. Six Sigma projects offer better bottom-line results. They allow for better feedback and increased communication for process strategies and critical business processes.  To properly create the infrastructure all projects should be used to meet the company’s business strategy and use Six Sigma as a plan and map to effectively meet those goals.

When creating a Six Sigma infrastructure you choose the roles and responsibilities for your company. The team formation is very simple. Six Sigma teams typically consist of stakeholders, executives, champions and team members (yellow belts) who are led by a green belt or black belt.

Develop the structure - Project level membership may include, master black belts, black belts, green belts, or yellow belts who help in management of the improvement initiative. Project team members are obtained throughout the company for expertise and technical guidance.

• Executives provide the strategic alignment within the organization for initiatives and Six Sigma projects. They ensure Six Sigma goals are linked to company goals and make sure that Six Sigma aligns process excellence efforts across the company. They also determine what projects are needed based on the impact each has on the company. They also provide reviews of improvement teams but are most responsible for developing the cultural transformation and removing barriers.
• Champions guide the team through organizational support, resources, and removing roadblocks. They identify teams or individuals required to facilitate Six Sigma deployment. Six Sigma Project Team provides input into policies and procedures and Six Sigma activities such as training and special recognition events.
• Master Black Belts train black and greenbelts and manage the strategic direction of the Six Sigma program. They identify high-leverage opportunities for applying the Six Sigma approach across the company. Master Black Belts are highly proficient in using Six Sigma methodologies to include advanced statistical analysis, project management, project coaching and communications.
• Black Belts are seasoned at problem solving, Six Sigma team leadership, and application of Six Sigma tools. They are Six Sigma technical experts who change agents who lead business process improvement projects.
• Green Belts lead Six Sigma teams and assist the project teams with data collection and analysis.
• Yellow Belts review overall activities, gather data and information, and participate as a project team members.

   
Depending on your goals or your company’s goals you may also benefit from an overarching steering committee for process improvement oversight and monitoring to provide recommendations to leadership based on the volume of process improvement Six Sigma teams you have going at the same time. 

How much time did you put towards improvement today?