Some of the biggest companies in the world have few things in common, and one such thing is the deployment of the Six Sigma methodology. Six Sigma has more to it than just being a process improvement methodology. In fact, a well-planned Six Sigma deployment can bring immense benefits to an enterprise. Six Sigma deployment mistakes result in complete failure of the deployment effort and waste of time and resources. Let us have a look at Six Sigma deployment mistakes and ways to avoid them.
1. There is Indifference in Leadership:
There should be holistic support from the leadership for Six Sigma in an organization. This support and commitment from the leadership will act as a key driver for the successful deployment of Six Sigma. Senior leadership should always highlight the importance of Six Sigma even at small gatherings like meetings, forums, and discussions at an enterprise level. The support from leadership should be unanimous; not only senior leadership but also leaders from different levels in the organization should support the initiative. If there is no sustained leadership support, then no amount of resources, effort, or good intentions will help you in this regard.
Solution: There should be significant effort to keep the entire leadership on the same page during the organization’s Six Sigma journey. Senior management should time and again highlight the importance of Six Sigma deployment and how it is connected to the organization’s business strategy. Irrespective of the event in the organization, it is of utmost importance for Six Sigma to be a compulsory agenda.
2. Incorrect Six Sigma Deployment Strategy:
A proper Six Sigma deployment strategy helps in aligning organizational business objectives to expected results and maintaining the support for Six Sigma in the organization. With the incorrect deployment of Six Sigma, there may be confusion among key stakeholders, leadership, and other associates about the value of the effort; and this delays Six Sigma deployment in an organization.
Solution: To avoid this mistake, Six Sigma implementation strategies should align with enterprise business objectives. A holistic strategy should be deployed that covers planning, learning and development, information management, project execution, and more. Teams have to evaluate the progress made for each of the strategies and link to the change in visible business results.
3. Too Much Stress on Six Sigma Training and Certification:
For any successful deployment of a framework/methodology, training and certification of the workforce are crucial, as it builds competency within the organization. But on many occasions enterprises overdo it and fail to support the actual project execution. Irrespective of the number of Green Belts and Black Belts in an organization, without proper mentoring and coaching after their training, business-critical projects will be prolonged or select projects just to meet their certification targets.
Solution: People who are part of Six Sigma deployment should focus more on the organization’s business objectives and create the groundwork for Six Sigma project selection along with proper mentoring which will bring tangible benefits to the organization. For this to be successful, senior management should review changes in business results with Six Sigma deployment strategies such as training and certification, and tweak it if there is any lack of progress.
4. Inappropriate Project Selection:
When an inappropriate/incorrect project is selected to deploy Six Sigma, to begin with, it will lead to projects that lack sufficient data and focus or projects that are completely outside the control of Green Belts and Black Belts’. This sort of project selection results in delayed or projects that are completely scrapped and key personnel lose faith in Six Sigma quickly.
Solution: Teams part of Six Sigma deployment should ensure the selected Six Sigma process improvement projects are data-driven and focus on business, financial, and customer goals which are prioritized accordingly to ensure those goals are met. Deployment teams should conduct regular workshops to identify the right project and ensure all those projects have a designated project sponsor who is responsible for monitoring the business benefits of that Six Sigma project. Organizations should closely monitor the progress of the project and tweak it if business goals are not being met.
5. By not Segregating the Effort:
Every employee in an organization has their part in its growth; therefore, every individual is responsible for the successful deployment of Six Sigma. But on many occasions, deployment teams fail to communicate the benefits to key stakeholders. And it is only they who make formal goals relating to Six Sigma results and nobody else, and this leaves a considerable gap in an organization while realizing the benefits of Six Sigma.
Solutions: Deployment teams should link how organization’s business goals, Six Sigma goals, and individual goals, to give a clear picture to the rest of the workforce of how everything is related. This will also help in gaining support from associates who are outside of the deployment teams and senior management. Management should regularly showcase the deployment results and how these results can benefit their careers. Moreover, deployment teams should chart out a Six Sigma road map for the entire workforce to ensure Six Sigma is properly integrated into the company’s culture.
Avoiding these mistakes early on will help the organization with long-term benefits and accelerate its journey to be the best in its space. It is very crucial to identify these mistakes early and take corrective measures to fix the problems before they become an issue.
