Maximizing Six Sigma ROI

Preparing Your Organization as well as your Black Belts

Part One

From top to bottom, the first page of the file I maintain on leadership notes is filled with words of wisdom that I have heard or read throughout my career and wanted to implement. Many of these phrases have so often proven to be true (and useful) that they have become guiding principles.

As I considered possible outlines for this article, I found several of these guiding principles to be applicable when considering the ROI (return on investment) from Six Sigma initiatives. As you will see below, ten of these principles can be used to guide your Six Sigma implementation plans.  The first principle to consider:

 

I. If I impose my decision on you, you will not like it.

One of the overriding misconceptions of the Six Sigma era is that all you have to do is certify a few Black Belts. You then give them a list of problems selected by your executive team and announce to the organization that you are implementing and supporting Six Sigma. The Black Belts are then sent into in your organization to solve those problems. We will impose Six Sigma on you!

Organizations that implement Six Sigma programs in this manner may (likely will) see initial results. However, they will not be able to fully take advantage of Six Sigma without the acceptance and informed participation of the rest of the organization. Everyone needs to understand the Whys and Hows of your Six Sigma implementation.

 

When the rest of your organization (not just the Black Belts) understands the basic tools of Six Sigma, every employee will be equipped to participate (not observe), and will soon begin applying these tools to their job processes. You will then have everyone driving continuous process improvement - not just your Black Belts.

 

Note, the goal is measurable process improvement, not simply the number of Black Belts in your organization.

 

Six Sigma will then become part of the language, processes and culture of your organization. This type of cultural shift is one that will deliver the full, long-term ROI that Six Sigma offers - and you have the right to expect.

 

We are not saying that everyone in the organization needs to be a Black Belt. We are suggesting that everyone in your organization needs to be involved in data collection, use of process improvement tools and effective team participation to continuously improve your critical business processes.

 

 

II. There will never be enough time.

Never has, never will be. If you impose Six Sigma on your organization, one of the likely responses you will hear from employees is that they do not have enough time in their day to be on a project team. You will also likely hear the satirical, Flavor of the month jibe tossed about.

When employees begin to integrate Six Sigma tools into their daily work life, it no longer becomes an add-on for which there is no time but part of the routine. All employees will begin to collect data, listen to the data, trust the data and use the data to drive corrective action and measurable continuous improvement.

 

Six Sigma is not a management project for a select few Black Belts. It is a way of life for all employees in an organization. Integrate Six Sigma into daily routines and there will always be time.

 

The third principle to consider:

 

III. Harvesting is the result of planting.

Principle III suggests you will achieve a more successful harvest if you plant the seeds of knowledge in both your workforce and your Black Belts.

Said another way: The more you plant, the more you harvest.

 

Implementing Six Sigma exclusively through Black Belts is analogous to an organization that has invested in certifying only two employees as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). Certainly having resident EMT skills can make a huge difference in emergency situations. However, what if you have two EMTs on the day shift and run a three shift operation, what if others do the wrong things before the EMT arrives, what if employees handle routine injuries incorrectly?

 

The What if…? questions could go on and on. Relying solely on two EMTs for the health and safety of your organization is likely not the best approach. The more beneficial (ROI) and sustaining approach is to have a few highly skilled EMTs and also to train the rest of the organization in fundamental first-aid skills. This first-aid training would be integrated with a comprehensive health and safety education program. Doing so will allow health and safety to become part of the knowledge base of your entire organization.

To complete the analogy, the expertise of Black Belts, and EMTs, is critical to have and utilize. However, neither two EMTs alone nor a few Black Belts alone can create and maintain the health of an organization. Plant Six Sigma knowledge broadly and then harvest broadly!

 

The fourth principle to consider:

 

 

 

IV. I will only get what I want if I help others get what they want.

Having worked with many front-line employees for over twenty-years now, we know that they too want results. They too want excellence. Principle IV of our guiding principles suggests that if you want Six Sigma ROI, then help your employees achieve excellence. Provide everyone foundational skills and tools to achieve excellence - then you will get the ROI you are targeting.

Everyone wants a secure future, superior products and services, more profits to provide for earned wage increases, greater job and customer satisfaction, pride in what they do daily and the delight of accomplishment to replace the frustration of delays, rework and waste of all types – all which should be considered the production of scrap!

 

Everyone wants to be on a winning team. People - all people -- want to be part of excellence. Get what you want, by giving others what they want.

 

The fifth principle to consider:

 

V. Be the change you want others to be.

The applicability of this phrase is quite apparent if we dissect Principle V a bit and ask a question. It doesn't solely say, Be the ENTIRE change, does it? Are you asking your Black Belts to be The Change?  The second part of Principle V is, you want others to be. This raises a question. Just who are these others that need to change too?  How many employees need to be involved in continuous improvement? How many employees need to be linked to delighting your customers with continuously improving products and services?

Who, then, does not need to change? Which of your employees really isn't that important to your future? Is it the receptionist? No. Is it the person who ships your products? No. Is it the folks on third shift? No. Is it just…? No.

Be the change you want ALL others to be is the complete statement to remember and act upon. Certainly, use your Black Belts to lead the way in your Six Sigma implementation efforts by collecting data and following effective change processes. However, don't forget that the phrase doesn't say, Be the change You want to be, it is, Be the change you want others to be.

 

Yes, Black Belts are absolutely critical to your future. However, what is truly foundational for sustained continuous improvement success and ROI is the preparation and involvement of your entire organization. Who, again, in your organization is not important to your success?

 

For twenty years now I have been helping organizations build their foundations for success. I have learned that ROI is maximized when all employees are provided the tools and confidence to actively participate in continuous improvement of their work processes. Then organizations will reap the full benefit of Six Sigma - which everyone wants.

 

You too, can turn good into great by applying these principles as part of your Six Sigma strategy.

 

Here again is a list of the first-five principles.

 

I. If I impose my decision on you, you will not like it.

II. There will never be enough time.

III. Harvesting is the result of planting.

IV. I will only get what I want if I help others get what they want.

V. Be the change you want others to be.

Without further comment on my part, I am certain you can develop the logic behind the next five principles of Lean and Six Sigma success.  They are: 

 

VI. No one of us is as smart as all of us.

VII. If you want your employees to be involved and act like owners - you need to treat them like the owners they really are.

VIII. What is urgent will always take precedence over what is truly important.

IX. Success is not possible without failure.

X. People do not care about how much you know until they know how much you care.

 

While some of the advanced concepts of Lean and Six Sigma can at times seem overwhelming, the fundamental principles we have outlined in this article, we believe are a necessary foundation for all process improvement initiatives. For more information, you may want to further explore our website TIPPSWorks.com.