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Implementing Six Sigma policies
Six Sigma involves time, manpower, and money to implement. Unlike other projects, it is not something you can implement and then expect it to succeed without involvement from your employees. Successful implementation is done on a project-by-project basis and will result in continuous improvement of processes. Successful implementation also depends on many factors like the company's culture and the commitment and conviction of its leadership. Without these factors, the Six Sigma process can fail. To avoid failure, follow these tips on how to properly implement Six Sigma:
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Tip # 1 - The Company Culture
If this is the first process improvement program you have implemented to your company; it may be a little challenging. Organizing the process and having commitment from everyone involved is not always simple. Employees are natural resistant to change, especially if the company has tried to implement several different types of improvement programs. This is why the leaders of the process highly influence the company culture. The leaders need to buy in and commit themselves to Six Sigma and their examples will trickle down to everyone in the organization.
Tip # 2 - Dedicated Personnel
Management must delegate lead projects to managers and help others who are working to make the process improvements. The Six Sigma approach focuses on complete dedication to the process improvement. Many times employees are distracted with day-to-day problems and tend to put the Six Sigma method on the back burner. Delegating their responsibilities to others will help solve this until you have found results with Six Sigma.
Tip # 3 -Motivation
What can you do to motivate the companies employee's to accept this new initiative? Management must sit down and decide what road is best for the company. If management doesn't employ tactics, it will not be embraced by the employee's. Incentives are a great motivator and they can help your employees support Six Sigma.
Tip # 4 -The Speed of the Process
Six Sigma has always been adopted by manufacturing firms, as they have seen the most significant results come from implementing the process. Since you are in the manufacturing field, you are familiar with statistics, mathematical modeling and metrics. This is often referred to as Statistical Process Control to Total Quality Management. Six Sigma can be applied to many fields, but it was designed with manufacturing firms in mind. Therefore, successful implementation has proven to be effective in your field. Taking your time to plan out the process will result in immediate and long-term benefits for the company.
Tip # 5 -Training
Training is an essential process to Six Sigma. It must be planned out and a training session must be practiced on management before it is sent down to the rest of the company. Taking into account several types of questions will help to evaluate the training plan. Some of the questions are as follows:
- What are the training objectives?
- Who will receive training?
- How long is the training?
- What methods will be used?
- Who will be qualified to conduct the training?
- What criteria is there for instructors?
Tip # 6 -Project's
A number of projects will be created for each level in the process. It is important to access which projects should be selected first and will be directly tied to immediate results. Once employees see results, the impact of projects will be engaged by everyone and they will work harder to create a lasting program.
Tip # 7 -Clear Communication
Just like any process, clear communication is a must. If leaders are not reporting to managers, there is no way to track what is really happening. Each division should be reporting the progress they are having with Six Sigma so others can learn from results.
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