The future of Six sigma

Six sigma was created by Motorola to improve the quality of different processes within an organization and remove any defects along the way. It is commonly used by manufacturing companies although it has been used in practically every type of organization. Six sigma creates a new way of doing business by using a set of quality management tools. These tools use statistical methods and train a specialized group of your employees to properly administer the program. Every project carried out within a six sigma method has certain steps it must follow and certain financial targets it must reach in order to be successful.

Thousands of companies have implemented six sigma and they have seen impressive results.

There are some critics of six sigma and they claim that the investment is not worth the return.

Companies that have enjoyed success with six sigma will continue to advocate for it and keep it around for years to come. Companies that struggle with it will continue to claim that it does not work.

Six sigma will stay around as long as projects continue to yield measurable returns. If the bottom-line results start to diminish, then six sigma may be replaced with other programs in the future.

What makes six sigma successful?

Black Belts are the most important part of the Six sigma methodology because Black Belts hold most of the responsibility. Since they take on so much responsibility, they are at a higher risk to cause problems within the company. Currently there is not a method to identify a good Black Belt from a bad one. It all depends on each individual and their training. Individuals with more training tend to have higher success rates and they are able to properly implement six sigma.

Six sigma will also be successful if your senior managers are on board with it. These mangers need to understand that six sigma is a process and not a "quick fix" to some of the problems within the company. Six sigma provides managers with the ability to use statistical thinking, but there will still be some variations in the process.

How to make your company successful.

Some of the following tips will help you decide what tools you need to use to measure the results of your six sigma program:

• Leadership involvement and support


• Techniques to promote a cultural change


• Finding the best employees to become Black Belts


• Implementing proper training for all the different belts


• Setting measurable goals and objectives


• Establishing clear roles and responsibilities


• Paying attention to each phase in the six sigma process


• Include project tracking and reporting procedures


• Stressing the importance of accountability

Your company will be successful if you remember some of the most important aspects of running a business. The number one rule to become successful for any business is to have proper communication between all the different groups. Employees also need to have strong, successful leaders to look up to. The leaders must spend time training each of the employees to reduce the risk of errors. Quite often improper training is causing many of the problems to occur within a six sigma program. Poorly defined projects and failure to recognize human changes will cause a six sigma program to be unsuccessful also.

Six sigma is a process, it takes at least a year to properly train everyone and then implement it. Six sigma requires strategic vision, diligence, patience, hard work, and effective leadership.

Changing the mindset of your employees will be the turning point that makes your program a success or a failure. Make sure you pick the right employees to be your Black Belts and that they have the right personalities to implement the program.

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Tags: six sigma Black Belts human error defects statistical methods managers implement six sigma returns leadership