Support Is Essential in Six Sigma

The Three Musketeers must have all been certified Six Sigma Black Belt Masters; as their saying goes, “All for one and one for all!” Lack of support is the number one reason objectives aren’t met when using Six Sigma. Usually, that also means lack of knowledge. Team members, administration —  in fact, everyone that is part of the business or company must be educated in Six Sigma methodologies in order for their objectives to be met.

The following criteria are very important when supporting Six Sigma methodologies within an organization:

• Complete support of the management: Remember, the team members must conduct data analysis, be prepared to take baseline measurements, and basically get prepped for what’s to follow when starting a project. Each department takes an important role in the process improvement, so either extra hours must be offered or perhaps a schedule change so that these important steps can take place. Management must be on board and believe in the amazing results Six Sigma will achieve.
• Complete support of those involved in the process in question: Since each process has a leader, that leader should be on board and supportive. This will make it easy to obtain the desired information about the day-to-day process. Remember, even though the process has a leader, the culture needs to be one of teamwork.
• The full commitment of each and every team member: like the Three Musketeers, it is all for one and one for all. You can’t have team members working together with different objectives; they might have different tasks, but the goal must be the same. It is the secret superpower of Six Sigma methodologies.
• Continued education or culture of lifelong learning: Since nothing stays the same (the reason Kaizen is genius), continued education or continued reinforcement is extremely crucial because each time you will learn something new that can be applied to our ever-changing world of technology.

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses and services, please visit 6sigma.com.