We’ve seen the potential value of a well-formed Six Sigma project teams and the harmony of roles of each team member. From this we’ve learned that team composition has a direct impact on the success of the team itself as well as that of the project.
Selecting the right people to be in the team is tops, and how to choose the right ones is a measure of good leadership. You need good leaders to guide the organization to a new way of thinking and doing business, which is an inevitable consequence of Six Sigma deployment. Your goal is a breakthrough improvement. Therefore everyone involved—from corporate leadership to unit leadership to project Champions, Black Belts, Master Black Belts, Green Belts down to functional support groups—in it should be a leader. A tabular information on Six Sigma roles can be found here.
I think this is the first time I’ve mentioned the unit leadership team. This team takes care of identifying the improvement opportunities and chartering the Six Sigma projects. It can be a division, a facility, or a function. The unit leadership team, often called the Six Sigma Council, leads the overall effort within the unit.
The next critical question would be how to fill the team with people who can work with the Black Belt or the Green Belt? A good size for the team is about four to six people. They must be familiar with the process, can contribute to identifying the solution, and will be involved in its implementation. The best way to achieve this is to have regular meetings between the Black Belt and the Project Champion. The process might look like this.
Included in this activity is for the BB and the Champion to indicate each member’s specific task. Also, it is always better to involve everyone in the initial stages of the project. People are more likely to cooperate and appreciate their value if they see and understand their role in the undertaking.
Deploying a Six Sigma project will definitely shake up the organization’s structure. Some employees may need to have to work in the project and at the same time work on their job. And this may not pose a positive result all the time. Tension and stress will be part of the daily grind. This is something organizations cannot afford to have—an overworked workforce.
The solution for some companies is that they hire consultants to do the job for them. For others, they get new people and tap the good employees in the organization to be in the team. In any case, based on testimonies, training your own people to work for the Six Sigma project is always the best option. You just need a good system for delegating tasks, rewards, and training to make it work.
Sources:
Leading Six Sigma: Launching the Initiative
Leading Six Sigma: A Step-by-Step Guide Based on Experience with GE and Other Six Sigma Companies
