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Lean Six Sigma Methodology

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The Human Barrier

This barrier relates to the inherent psychological bent of the human mind that tends to resist change, even when the change might aim at benefiting the individual concerned. When an organization introduces "Lean" concepts, employees generally develop the feeling that they will be required to shoulder new responsibilities and learn new skills so as to perform effectively in a "Lean" environment. Some employees may even start thinking that they will lose their jobs when "Lean" is fully implemented inside the organization.

Their concerns may be misplaced, but businesses should never take such developments lightly, because such feelings can easily affect employee morale and confidence. When employees develop such negative feelings about their organization, they tend to display a non-cooperative and unsupportive attitude that can easily prevent the successful implementation of "Lean" concepts and methodologies.

To overcome this barrier, businesses just need to get their communications right, i.e. make the employees aware that even though "Lean" may involve cost cutting, it does not lead to employee retrenchment. Businesses can ask the HR department to convey the real purpose of "Lean" to the employees or may even request a senior officer, who might have the respect and trust of employees, to do the job.

The Technical or Knowledge Barrier

Businesses, especially smaller ones that have limited resources at their disposal, often find it difficult to implement "Lean" concepts. Lack of in-house technical expertise and the inability to bear the high costs of hiring professionals such as Black Belts and Master Black Belts are often the main reasons that prevent such businesses from implementing "Lean" and deriving its benefits.

For overcoming this barrier, small businesses should opt for in-house training programs that are not only affordable but also allow small businesses to maximize their resource utilization. Small businesses can enroll their employees for "Lean" certification courses and provide them additional incentives for completing the course within the stipulated time. They will then be able to develop an in-house talent pool that has the requisite technical and knowledge base, required for implementing "Lean" concepts in a business organization.

The Learning Barrier

This barrier is created when a business tries to copy a "Lean" project that might have been implemented by a competitor. Businesses often fail to realize that "Lean" that it a continuous learning process and concepts that may have proved effective for the competitor may not necessarily give the same results in each and every organization. To overcome this barrier, businesses should try to develop their own unique "Lean" projects and continue to increase their learning through the "hit and trail" method.

Every business organization is different, which is why learning what works and what does not is the way to go for businesses that aim at implementing "Lean" concepts and deriving the associated benefits.

Lean Six Sigma Methodology

-Lead Generation

-Sales proposal

-Forecasting

-Product launch

-Sales force efficiency and effectiveness project

-Voice of the customer

They can be categorized as those that focus on the enhancement of sub-processes related to field sales and sales processes. This would mean the first four projects would fall under this category. Companies find it easy to identify, visualize and map processes, collect data and set metrics for data falling under this category. The processes are repetitive and consistent, and make implementation easier.

By providing better leads and speeding sales proposals, there is bound to be more revenue generation. At the same time, if the sales forecasts are done effectively, the preparedness or provision of the products would be adequate to ensure availability at any time and on demand. However, these are not enough to become trademark Lean Six Sigma initiatives.

The other category involves two projects of sales force efficiency and effectiveness and voice of the customer. These projects pose a challenge in finding consistent processes, collecting quantitative data, finding causes and implementing solutions.

They have an impact on the field staff and sales process directly. These projects bring about substantial improvement and revenue and margins.

Sales Force Efficiency and Effectiveness Projects

Those companies with sales team that sell standard products are in constant contact with the customer. In industries dealing with medical devices, hospital products, financial products, etc., products are more or less the same, with identical markets and customers.

There is a considerable amount of variation in the performance of the representatives in the team. In Six Sigma terms, where there is process variation, improvement can be achieved by eliminating them and earning improved output, which in this case is the revenue growth.

In these projects, Six Sigma tools such as fishbone diagrams and the 5 Whys are effectively used to identify the root cause of the variations and results. Soft skills are more often the root cause, rather than the hard factors like job experiences. However, soft skills can also be identified and improved, and best practices simulated through out the sales team. Sales managers can help them develop best selling behaviors.

Voice of the Customer Projects

Companies that deal in automotive, household appliance or aerospace markets find voice of the customer projects to be more useful. These projects concentrate on the customer's basic requirements. Simply meeting basic customer requirements is not sufficient; companies need to strive to achieve customer delight.

In these projects, the Six Sigma tools applied identify basic requirements and try to understand what would delight customers. The root causes are identified and solutions drawn to address the delight issue, which is going to be the deciding factor in revenue growth.

In the implementation of lean Six Sigma, the projects undertaken should focus on increasing profitability - not just reducing expenses. The sales force will accept this only when they see that they increase sales as well. Involving the sales staff in the project will help save the time on staff training, and hands- on experience with the tools can be supported by the Black Belts even if they are not from the sales team.

By making it simple to implement, change initiatives can be brought about successfully.

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Tony Jacowski has sinced written about articles on various topics from University, Six Sigma and Information Technology. Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigm. Tony Jacowski's top article generates over 90500 views. Bookmark Tony Jacowski to your Favourites.

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