Most professionals keep going to classes to keep up with the latest changes in their industries. Every year, CPAs have to learn the new laws and regulations that apply to this year’s tax return. They do this so they are current with the latest tax codes and can service their clients properly. True proponents of Six Sigma aren’t any different. Those in set industries that deal in customer service, quality control, manufacturing, and just about anything that has to do with business and making a profit and fulfilling customer requirements need to stay educated. 

So new and interesting ways to apply DMAIC to an industry that wasn’t around back when Six Sigma are constantly being created. The good part of this equation is with all the new advancements in technology, the gathering of data that Six Sigma requires is an easy step. 

One can compare the importance of constant affiliation with a well-established and reputable Six Sigma organization to a top medical school for research purposes. The process of learning is an important one, and requires constant attention and commitment. When you have an entire community of like-minded professionals, that is genius waiting to happen.

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma services and courses, please check here. 

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Due to its focus on ensuring any kind of business operation is effective and efficient, the tools and techniques used in Six Sigma can give individuals who aspire to be leaders a highly effective method that they can use to make better decisions. Six Sigma methodologies themselves have received widespread acclaim for their effective application in process improvement across a range of corporate sectors, but when they are paired with skilled leaders, some truly amazing results can be seen.

Among the key leadership traits that are required of Six Sigma professionals, there are five qualities which stand out above the others. Leaders who are looking to move into the management of Six Sigma projects need to sharpen and develop the traits below to gain a competitive edge.

1. Customer Advocacy

A Six Sigma leader should be able to easily communicate to the rest of the team and help them understand that the customers (both external and internal) are the recipients of the process results, and that they are always the ultimate judge of the quality of a product or service. Understanding the needs of the customer is the first step in process improvement. For this reason, a Six Sigma leader will always be able to show how the elimination of variation in processes is key to overall business improvement.

2. Passion and Leadership

A Six Sigma leader needs to have initiative, a positive personality and be self-motivated. This is because there will be times when they have to be the cheerleader who picks up the team, helping them to move forward in a productive manner. Passion also gives the leader the strength they need to persevere when a project is not going their way.

They also need to have demonstrable experience as an agent of change and challenger of the status quo in some capacity in the past, regardless of their position. Changing an organization’s established processes and revamping how it is run is something that could upset employees. However, leaders who are change agents find ways of accomplishing changes while, at the same time, they amass support for change.

3. Effective Communication

Six Sigma leaders are effective communicators, an essential trait considering the various roles they are expected to take on: coaches, trainers and mentors. They need to talk to (and be clearly understood) by various audiences ranging from top management to employees on the shop floor. Understanding the audience’s needs and then being able to tailor a message to speak to the audience members’ concerns is the true hallmark of an effective communicator. Once the Six Sigma leader attains these qualities, they can easily create presentations that express the process improvement project in a way that will make the audience supportive of the effort.

4. Business Savvy

Unlike the quality managers who directed corporate processes in the past, Six Sigma professionals are expected to be business leaders. Because of this, it is necessary for them to have knowledge of business as well as the ability to illustrate the link between a Six Sigma implementation and the business’s overriding goals. They should understand and be able to explain how a project makes the company stronger, both financially and competitively.

5. Technical Aptitude and Project Management Ability

Implementation of Six Sigma is done a project at a time. Therefore, it is vital that a leader does not forget that they are responsible for the entire project, from scoping, establishing requirements and resources to organizing the timeline and analyzing variance perspectives. It is not necessary for a Six Sigma leader to be a graduate of engineering or statistics, but there are cases where the qualifications prove to be useful.

Conclusion

Although technical knowledge is clearly essential if one is to be an effective Six Sigma leader, there are certain soft skills and leadership traits that are required as well in order to complement business theory. Six Sigma professionals who aspire to be leaders would do well to develop these traits by seeking mentors and coaches as well as through continuous professional development.

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Experience Is (and Isn’t) Everything

Using your Six Sigma project experience, you can demonstrate your capabilities. Simple Six Sigma testing, a staple of preparatory and deployment work, limits your ability to show off your skills. The truth is, every Six Sigma practitioner should be able to perform adequate testing. It isn’t very exceptional. However, practical work allows you to put your knowledge and experience to good use.

Employers, whether clients or your own company, can see the differences you are making. Six Sigma projects also allow you to use your creative abilities in a practical sense. Six Sigma is driven by its capacity to theorize and realize creative solutions to production problems. You can draw on your experience working on previous projects and for different companies. You can show employers what needs to change and how you intend to do it.

It’s also a fact that your level of experience isn’t always relevant. We’ve found that, in a scramble to gain market advantage, many companies are offering Six Sigma training and certification to staff members. If your employer chooses to invest in you like this, they expect you to make good on that investment. Many Six Sigma professionals use their certification in their portfolios and CVs to make a strong impression on employers. But, demonstrating your skills and experience can go a long way to achieving the same effect.

What Employers Want You to Show Them

Businesses seek out qualified candidates to fill Six Sigma positions, but, as they say, qualifications aren’t everything. In this case, your experience is what counts. By showing employers how and why you’re a valuable candidate, you are highly likely to succeed in the Six Sigma profession. There are many ways in which your experience can benefit you:

• Strengthening project teams. The best project leaders leverage their team members’ individual skills for the good of the project. Your experience can make you stand out to employers.

• Your ability to improve customer satisfaction. By getting to the root cause of problems, and driving creative solutions, you also contribute to improving customer satisfaction. Customer experience is critical for businesses. As such, Six Sigma professionals should understand how to leverage their skills to make improvements here.

• You can increase stakeholder confidence. The better equipped you are as a Six Sigma professional also increases confidence in company stakeholders. The more qualified and experienced staff your business takes on shows stakeholders the company is moving in the right direction.

• Improving team performance. Six Sigma exists to create improvements for business processes, and employees are essential elements of how Six Sigma works. Experience directing and managing Six Sigma workers will benefit you on any new projects. It will also show employers that you can be trusted to take the reins.

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