Using Lean principles, Six Sigma can also help eliminate waste (Muda) in all its forms. When we talk about Six Sigma and waste, it is usually intangible waste, such as over-processing or time-related waste. But environmental waste also tolls heavily on efficiency and profits. Waste results from a high carbon footprint, producing a negative effect on the environment. By reducing yours, you can ensure your business stays efficient, profitable, and green. Today, learn how you can safeguard the environment by calculating your carbon footprint.

The Dangers of High Carbon Emissions

It’s essential that your business is aware of its carbon footprint. Your environmental impact can not only be detrimental to the planet, but to your company’s success. Energy experts concur that excessive carbon emissions indicate inefficiencies in a business’s operations. Therefore, by reducing your carbon emissions, you can increase savings. Studies show that carbon- and water-saving projects are directly related to a strong bottom line. The average household can save more than $2000 per year through reducing emissions by only 20%. Think how much a large business, with many more incomings and outgoings, could save by taking control of their carbon footprint. By reducing waste, you can increase savings and drive profits. Using eco-friendly vehicles, light bulbs, and resources all help. You could also invest in solar power and wind turbines, as well as encourage sustainable / green practices in your employees.

Six Sigma is incredibly useful here as it enables you to make lasting changes to your operations through intensive project work. Create a project team, including Yellow, Green, and Black Belts, targeted at reducing waste and inefficiencies. Techniques like DMAIC and root cause analysis will shed light on issues of waste and why they arise. For example, none-value-adding processes may be contributing to a buildup of waste, sapping cash, and reducing efficiency. If you don’t know what to look for, you may not even notice these issues, which will then go unchecked.

How to Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

Calculating your carbon footprint will give you a better idea of how your business operations affect the planet. It will also show you which of these actions are most damaging, many of which have a negative effect on your success. Our method for calculating carbon emissions focuses on the consumption of several key resources. These include electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and water, as well as the level of waste produced. For electricity, the calculation is as follows:

(kWh/yr) x EF (kg CO₂e/kWh) = your emissions for the entire year (kg CO₂e/yr).

If you wish to calculate your footprint for other resources, such as natural gas or water, simply alter the above figures appropriately. Kilowatts per hour would become therms per year for natural gas, and liters per day for water. Similarly, you would need to multiply your water figure by 365 before multiplying again by your EF.

The post Six Sigma and KPIs: Carbon Footprint appeared first on 6sigma.

One tip we recommend you try why finding the right Six Sigma practitioner is to request testimonials. These can be from past or current students, or even companies who employ personnel from this particular course. Regardless, testimonials will offer needed insight into your practitioner. Though, practicing this tip can face numerous obstacles. In today’s article, we will outline our three-step approach to asking for testimonials from your online practitioner.

The Approach

Never begin asking for testimonials without a clear mission in mind. First, what type of practitioner are you considering? Do they offer certification, training, or only certificate examinations? Next, decide what information you want to receive. Do you want to read only testimonials from current students or should you request ones from certified Six Sigma employees as well? Once you have compiled your fundamental goal for using your practitioner, contact them

This step will provide you with the first indication of how official your practitioner in question is. If basic contact information, such as email addresses, phone numbers, or a physical address are hard to find, chances are you should find a new provider. If you do have contact information, first begin by sending an email. Briefly, explain that you’re interested in their program (specify which one if there are multiple). Then, ask for a list of testimonials from past or current students. Additionally, you can also request contact information for people who have taken the course, like references on a resume. 

The Response

How and when your Six Sigma provider responds will be your next indication of their program. If you have to wait more than two working days to receive a response via email, look for a new provider. Not only is this unprofessional, but it also indicates the level of attention you can expect to receive from staff if you enroll in the course.

If you get a response back but without any testimonials, this is another warning sign that you should consider a new recruiter. While the practitioner may be caught off guard by your response, providing feedback, positive or negative, on the course is not out of the question. Furthermore, if you received a reply but an answer as to why testimonials would not be provided, try giving them a call. This is also an opportunity to ask questions about the program directly to the provider and to feel out how they will interact with you.

The Conclusion

The end goal of this process is to receive testimonials from your potential Six Sigma practitioner. Now at the final step, your job is to form a conclusion. To help, here are some basic guidelines you can follow to decide if your practitioner is worth your time.

If you receive testimonials without hassle, move forward with said provider. Likewise, if they also provide positive and negative reviews about the course, it’s a safe bet you can trust the information given. However, if you do not receive testimonials, have difficulty communicating with the provider, or face a prolonged delay in contact, walk away. Of course, it can be irritating to have wasted time on an ill-repute practitioner. However, it’s better to waste an email, phone call, and a few days than weeks of partaking in a program, only to not receive what you expected.

Following this simple, three-step guide to asking for testimonials will put you on track to finding the right Six Sigma provider!

The post How to Ask for Testimonials from an Online Six Sigma Provider appeared first on 6sigma.

Lean Six Sigma Team Leaders

The role of a Lean 6 Sigma team leader is central to proper implementation of a Lean 6 Sigma project. He or she guides the project team from start to finish, serving as coach, mentor, leader, facilitator, mediator, and more.

A good team leader can literally make or break a project. A project team without an exceptional leader is much like a ship without a captain or a busy intersection without a traffic light. In other words, the team may appear to be doing a lot but they have no direction, work in chaos, and are very likely to crash at some point.

Choosing a team leader for a Lean Six Sigma project requires attention to a number of qualities in each candidate. A few of these important qualities include:

• Level of Lean 6 Sigma training
• Leadership experience and skills
• Personal characteristics and integrity
• Business frame of mind
• Passion for their job

The team leader generally works with the process owner and the rest of the Lean 6 Sigma group to select the rest of the project team. His or her input and active participation in the selection process are vital, as they allow the team leader to help shape a group that will be more likely to work smoothly together in the months to come.

Lean 6 Sigma Leadership Qualities

The leadership qualities needed in a Lean Six Sigma team leader both universal and specific to the Lean Six Sigma process. Each quality is generally seen in good leaders across many different industries and applications, but also tends to be present at exceptional levels in a good Lean 6 Sigma team leader.

What are the key leadership qualities required? Lean 6 Sigma experts may vary somewhat in the specific words and labels they give to each quality, but they most often fit into one of the following categories:

• Project Management
• Problem Solving
• Team Dynamics
• Customer Focus
• Business Expertise
• Technical Expertise
• Integrity

The following table shows why each category is important.
Leadership Quality Why It’s Important

Training for Lean Six Sigma Team Leaders

In most cases, the Lean 6 Sigma team leader will be a Black Belt, but sometimes a Green Belt will fill the position if the project is smaller or less complex. Hands on training and experience are also important, so the team leader will have been involved in other Lean Six Sigma projects in a variety of capacities.

The amount of training necessary for a Lean Six Sigma team leader is a subject of some discussion in the Six Sigma community. While Black Belt qualification is still the “gold standard” for team leaders, some people advocate for team leaders that are leaders first and Lean Six Sigma Black Belts second.

In other words, as the thinking goes, it is much easier for someone with strong leadership skills to acquire Six Sigma training than it is for someone with strong Lean Six Sigma training to acquire leadership skills. The reality is that both sets of skills – leadership and Six Sigma – must be present for a team leader to perform well and it does not really matter in which order the skills are acquired.

Success Strategies for Lean 6 Sigma Team Leaders

All Lean 6 Sigma teams go through various stages and processes to get to the final project results. Each step along the way presents unique challenges and opportunities to the team leader, requiring different leadership and management strategies to ensure success.

Here are some of the most common situations a team leader faces, along with suggested strategies for working through them.
SituationStrategies

Summary

A Lean Six Sigma team leader fills many varying roles over the course of a Lean Six Sigma project. From manager to facilitator, mediator to mentor, each of these roles is important to the success of the team as well as the growth and development of individual team members.

The best team leaders have the right balance of leadership skills and Lean 6 Sigma knowledge to help guide a team through all of the project stages and ultimately to a successful result. Any organization that is fully committed to Lean Six Sigma will make a concerted effort to attract, develop, and support the right people to ensure a steady flow of leaders well into the future.

Learn more information about 6Sigma.com’s Lean Six Sigma training coursework, available as classroom, onsite, or online options.

The post Lean Six Sigma Teams: Leadership Skills And Strategies appeared first on 6sigma.

The Highest Degree

Six Sigma certification has a ranking system that it borrows from the “belt” system in martial arts. A Six Sigma Master Black Belt or MBB holder is an individual who has completed the highest degree of training within this methodology and has completed six sigma black belt, green belt, yellow belt and white belt programs.

Six Sigma black belt is a process improvement method in which individuals receive instruction and are certified to help companies in analyzing and improving their operations. The end result is the elimination of variance and increased revenue.

What do Six Sigma Master Black Belts Do?

With the popularity of the Six Sigma black belt process, certified Master Black Belts are required in all types of organizations, whether it is a product or service based company. They possess the skills to improve the workflow of any business allowing the company to save millions of dollars every year. This is done by creating a framework within the organization that allows for continuous efficiency.

Six Sigma Master Black Belts can also help businesses improve relations with clients. This is because improvements in the workflow will result in improved product/service quality, reduced cycle times, and low costs/unit (resulting in low prices).

Multinationals also require individuals with Six Sigma Master Black Belt skill levels. This is because in global operations, the core problems of the company are hard to spot. But with the analytic approach taught to Six Sigma black belt trainees, these can be easily spotted and resolved.

More importantly, Master Black Belts can literally rescue companies on the verge of closure or bankruptcy.

What a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt Brings to the Organization

It is important to note that hiring a Six Sigma Master Black Belt does not necessarily mean that the company already uses the methodology. The Master Black Belt will be called in to train competent employees and managers, and communicate with them in lucid terms the necessary changes to be implemented in the company.

If an organization has already incorporated Six Sigma in its operations, the Master Black Belt will start by selecting the best Yellow, Green, and six sigma Black Belt professionals to create the most efficient project team.

Next, Master Black Belts will work with six sigma Black Belts in leading Six Sigma projects. One of the most important aspects of the methodology is the gathering of data or statistics that the Six Sigma Master Black Belt will observe and analyze to reach proper conclusions about the business processes.

To sum it up, a Six Sigma Master Black Belt is responsible for:

• Training Green and Black Belts
• Providing innovation tools to Black Belts
• Conducting Workshops
• Designing and implementing Six Sigma projects

Who Can Go for Six Sigma Master Black Belt Training?

Usually companies choose individuals from upper level management to go for Six Sigma Master Black Belt training. These are usually leaders and managers who have already received six sigma Black Belt certificates. In most cases, Master Black Belt trainees will have some level of experience working as a Black Belt or other project management position that has required the completion of 10 projects or more.

Master Black Belts are expected to use Six Sigma tools and management skills with ease and develop customized designs for individual companies or specific projects within a single company.

Who Provides Six Sigma Master Black Belt Level Training?

Various institutes provide Master Black Belt Training. Moreover, this training is also provided by the organization to their upper level employees. There are a limited number of organizations that provide a recognized Master Black Belt training program. A traditional classroom approach is preferred for this level of training and certification compared to other six sigma courses.

Duration of Courses

Finally, a Six Sigma Master Black Belt training course should require at least two weeks of training spread out over one to two months. However, employees receiving onsite six sigma black belt training may complete this program in a shorter time.

Learn more information about 6Sigma.com’s Lean Six Sigma training coursework, available as classroom, onsite, or online options.

The post What is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt Training? appeared first on 6sigma.