Managing Teams And Six Sigma
Managing a Six Sigma team is a considerable responsibility. Six
Sigma is a team process and requires cooperation at many levels.
No one person can manage a Six Sigma project on their own. Just
as it is the organization that benefits from Six Sigma, it is
the organization that truly manages Six Sigma. Yet, that
management must be led by specially trained individuals.
Success in managing Six Sigma teams begins with the top of the
organization. Company leadership must give the teams the
resources and the authority to apply Six Sigma concepts to their
daily activities. They must also ensure that organizational
goals are aligned with Six Sigma projects and that any
roadblocks to Six Sigma deployment are removed.
The proper selection and training of Six Sigma team leaders is
also critical as they have the most direct responsibility for
managing the Six Sigma team. A Six Sigma Black Belt is the team
leader and the key change agent for the Six Sigma process. The
role of the Black Belt is to facilitate the Six Sigma adoption
as part of the culture. They lead, and manage Six Sigma teams to
sustain significant bottom-line results. Black Belts ideally are
people previously experienced in leading cross-functional
process improvement action teams who have been trained in the
Six Sigma methodology. The Six Sigma Black Belt should
demonstrate team leadership, understand team dynamics, and
assign team member roles and responsibilities.
Managing a Six Sigma team comes down to two important aspects:
leading and mentoring. As the team leader, a Black Belt needs to
be directly involved with the project team. This is a crucial
element as it enables the business to cut through and implement
improvements quickly and efficiently. Six Sigma includes tools
and practices that replace reactive habits with a dynamic,
responsive, proactive method of management. As the team leader,
the Black Belt must be being willing to adapt to circumstances
including the need to accept - and manage - occasional setbacks.
This includes handling group conflict and "problem people" and
minimizing out-of-control meetings and personal interactions.
The Black Belt must also be a mentor to everyone on the team and
develop a mentoring process. They must ensure that proper
guidance is given for the new candidates immediately after their
training. This will ensure that the course corrections are made
regularly and the projects get completed on time. Six Sigma
creates an environment that supports true teamwork and the Black
Belt can go a long way toward enabling a positive and productive
team environment. During the project, the Black Belt should
continually Structure the team and its actions to best utilize
the disparity in knowledge and techniques of the team members
and increase project member morale. Always, the Black Belt
should look at every circumstance as an opportunity to help
instruct and improve the individual team members and the
organization as a whole. This is what Six Sigma is all about.