Four Critical Attributes of a Successful Six Sigma Implementation

The Six Sigma system is soaked in info collection andreal Lean approach would force that such 'detractors'
statistical analysis. As such, many practitioners fall intovaluable are eliminated prior to the fulfillment of a Six
the mistake of thinking the success of a given projectSigma project.
is a foregone conclusion. That is, so long as they stick3 - Robust Focus On Root Causes
closely to a quantitative approach, identifying andToo often, practitioners become entrenched within the
getting shot of process-related inefficiencies issteps of a Six Sigma program and fail to focus on the
inevitable. Unfortunately, it is not always very simple.relationship between process-related events. The
There are many factors that must meet up in orderresult is that they design and apply a solution for an
for the implementation to yield the presumed results.identified symptom, but fail to address the root cause
Not all of them are immediately related to statisticalof the efficiency. It's critical that Champions, Black Belts,
data. In this piece, I'll offer a short list of four vitaland Green Belts obtain a broad viewpoint of a given
ingredients that must exist in order for a Six Sigmasystem. They need to understand how each part is
project to become successful.connected, and how those relationships impact the
1 - Proper Identification Of Constraintssystem in total. Only then can they identify and resolve
Each process has bottlenecks. Every bottleneckroot causes for process inefficiencies.
represents a duress on the methodology's ability to4 - Address Opposition to Modification
solve inefficiencies. This extends to each input thatInside every organization, there will be employees who
makes a contribution to an implementation. Forare proof against any form of change. This is
instance, consider an employee who is tasked withcomprehensible. People become used to a
info collection. If that employee lacks the time towell-recognized system of doing things; they fear that
properly address their responsibility, that absence ofchange will interrupt that system. Given that six Sigma
time represents a system constraint. Such inhibitionsis often a radical exit from an organization's accepted
must be identified and resolved in order to maximise aoperational method, change is unavoidable. So too, is
project's potential.opposition to switch.
2 - Determination of Contributors And Critics of ValueIt's important that team members take every chance
Every aspect of a given process either adds price toto address the concerns of those who will be
that process or reduces it. In the field of efficiency, anyimpacted by the project's implementation. That will
factor that does not contribute value, including thoseinclude hosting workshops and classes that help
that are merely static in their contribution, can arguablyworkers manage the coming changes. It can include
be traced to waste. Six Sigma project members mustgathering data that conclusively shows the positive
be in a position to determine which activities add wortheffects of the Six Sigma methodology. It should
and which activities do not.definitely include open communication; staff should be
Potential areas of waste might include blunders andencouraged to voice concerns and raise questions. In
defects, excess documentation, system outages, anddoing so, the project team will gradually win their trust.
even a misappropriation of a given worker's talents. A