One of the best ways to open yourself up to more career opportunities is to get a White Belt. This is not in karate but in Six Sigma, which is a great start if you don’t know anything about the methodology but are still looking to make a change. Below, we will list some reasons why this is a good career move, but before we get into that, let’s briefly define what a Six Sigma White Belt is.

What is a Six Sigma White Belt?

To be regarded as a White Belt in Six Sigma, you don’t really need to get any certification – although taking a course that offers one is a plus. All you need to do is get an overview of the methodology’s concepts, tools and techniques to be able to add valuable input to your organization’s continuous improvement initiatives. This means you will be able to make meaningful contributions by helping the Six Sigma team with process improvement through problem-solving.

Top 3 Benefits of Being a Six Sigma White Belt

If you are wondering what the benefits of being a Six Sigma White Belt are, here are three of the top ones:

1. Entry Point Into the World of Six Sigma

If you want a strong foundation in Six Sigma before attempting the higher Belts (Yellow, Green and Black), the White Belt is a good entry point. When training to become a White Belt, you cover important topics, from process variability to continuous improvement. These will help you gain a firm grasp of the more advanced topics as you gain more Belts.

2. Gives You a Competitive Advantage

The reason you are looking to make a change in your career is so you can gain a competitive edge over others. Compared to your peers, you will gain valuable knowledge and skills that will make your resume stand out compared to theirs, especially if you are competing for the same promotion.

3. You Can Take Part in Six Sigma Projects

Becoming a White Belt only requires you to complete a 6 to 8-hour training session. Afterward, you are able to work with others on Six Sigma projects as the need arises. This will also make you an indispensable member of the organization you work for. And in the current employment environment, employers are always on the lookout for outstanding individuals with some Six Sigma knowledge and experience.

Conclusion

Professionals are always looking for ways to make themselves stand out and be more valuable in the job market. Getting a White Belt is one of the easiest ways to do this. Plus, you will learn things that will be of use to your current organization, on top of proactively meeting the expectations of future employers.

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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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Drive Energy Efficiency with Six Sigma Projects

When it comes to running a business, electricity is an essential resource. It powers the lights, computers, machinery, and allows production lines to keep running. Some companies produce energy, but all of them use it. As such, it’s important for us to conserve electricity wherever we can. Through error or inefficiency, we often end up wasting vast amounts of power performing everyday actions. Furthermore, big businesses and small have a responsibility to monitor and control their energy usage. Six Sigma projects are a valuable tool if you wish to increase your energy efficiency.

Streamlining Your Processes to Reduce Energy Usage

Without a streamlined organizational system, you are likely to waste energy where it need not be wasted. Poor energy efficiency tends to take on a snowball effect. Once it starts rolling, it will increase with time. Without safeguards in place to monitor your systems and cash flow, you will suffer significant losses through insufficient maintenance. Six Sigma projects can target problems and eliminate them. Using Six Sigma, you can replace inefficiencies with more practical solutions or excise the issue altogether. None-value-adding processes contribute to over-processing waste, which drains power and bloats your energy usage. It also saps your funds, minimizing cash flow.

Creating a Six Sigma Project to Target Energy Efficiency

When creating a Six Sigma project, ensure you have multiple Yellow, Green, and Black Belts on your team. Additional team members such as White or Orange Belts will complement the project, but this powerful trio provides all you need to make effective process changes. When drafting your project charter, ensure your team is fully aware of all the implications. Use techniques like DMAIC to define, measure, analyze, improve and control your energy efficiency problems. It’s always helpful to identify the origins of certain issues. Root Cause Analysis is a critical tool in Six Sigma work as it allows you to locate the underlying source of your process issues.

Where Does Poor Energy Efficiency Come From?

Poor energy efficiency may be the result of many problems, such as faulty machinery, over-processing, or human error. Applying Six Sigma tools to this problem allows you access to a different perspective, which makes correcting your inefficiencies much simpler. Similarly, affinity diagrams will help you identify connections between issues, allowing you to trace one problem back to another. Moreover, Design of Experiments enables you to create effective testing parameters so you can design more energy efficient operations. Energy efficiency is critical to modern business operations. Don’t hold back progress, and don’t hinder your own. Use Six Sigma to make lasting and needed changes for your business and the planet.

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Consequences of Bad Project Management

• Further failure down the line. After a while, previous failures can continue to stick in your team members’ minds. If your project manager has departed, or you don’t provide adequate coaching, then your team will start to become discouraged. Project failure can be difficult to deal with in the first instance, but it can also prevent your team from building on prior successes.
• Morale starts to deteriorate. Once morale starts to break down, it’s difficult to restore it to what it was. Poor project management can be just as bad as having no project leader at all. When your team loses interest, they start to overlook opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, the bare minimum becomes acceptable, and your project only manages to coast by. This can lead to failures not just in basic Six Sigma principles but also in health and safety. As morale and motivation enter decline, so do your chances of success.
• Implementation becomes unstable. Bad project management affects the entire project, not just your team members. Teamwork is imperative in Six Sigma. Everything is connected. As such, restoring deployment once deformed can be a difficult task. Getting the project back on the right track is even trickier once you’ve been knocked off it.

Mistakes to Avoid

Project managers rely on critical skills to drive Six Sigma projects forward. But, even the smallest slip-up or shortcoming can have repercussions down the line. Below is a list of amateur mistakes to avoid when it comes to project management, all of which come with their own consequences.

• Inability to clearly state the problem. Project managers who are unable to recognize and accurately state problems are often unable to cope with the pressures of Six Sigma project work. Strong analytical skills are critical skills for project leaders, but without the ability to recognize problems, your project is liable to stall.
• Unable to discern adequate data. Valid data is essential to Six Sigma work as it informs effective decision-making. Gleaning accurate data allows you to evaluate your process performance and customer satisfaction.  Your project will be paralyzed without means to acquire adequate data. You have no information on which to act.
• Hesitant leadership. Strong leadership is a foundational principle of successful Six Sigma. Bad leadership prevents decisions from getting made, which causes processes to stagnate. If your project leader isn’t up to scratch, you’re going to fail.
• Project unaligned with critical-few business goals. Six Sigma’s aim is to drive improvements in accordance with project and company goals. If your efforts aren’t aligned properly, you’re going to find yourself without direction.
• In a state of flux. Companies undergoing drastic changes while trying to deploy Six Sigma are likely to be left disappointed. Being in a state of flux is not conducive to good Six Sigma, and this instability will render DMAIC projects useless.

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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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