4 Ways for Six Sigma Teams to Navigate Organizational Politics
Posted by: meikah | 18 August 2009 | 9:40 pm
There is politics everywhere, and so, it’s always a sink or swim situation. Of course, for the sake our sanity as well as that of the organization we belong to, we devise ways to survive the political current.
Frank Lucer, writing for Business Management on Technology Toolkit, says that there are three ways by which Six Sigma teams can navigate organizational politics.
- Eliminate employee resistance – For some employees, change can mean learning new skills, perform different tasks, and have new responsibilities. These may not sit well with them who have been used to doing certain things their own way. Six Sigma team can assuage these fears by showing them that change can in fact do them good.
- Communicate the reason – As in any new thing or change, employees are scared to fail. Six Sigma team should openly explain the benefits of Six Sigma, why it is being implemented, and why it is expected to succeed where others failed.
- Bypass office policies – One of the hurdles in implementing change is working for or against company policies. This is where management should lend their support. If the Six Sigma team is well supported by top management, the team and the rest of the employees can easily reach a compromise.
- Manage conflict within the group – Conflicting ideas and opinions within the Six Sigma team is not uncommon. Black Belts or Master Black Belts should encourage everyone to express their ideas and offer creative solutions. “As much as Six Sigma is a discipline that is built upon statistical analysis, it is first a methodology that relies upon people.”
Filed under: Politics, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations, Team Dynamics
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Company Politics and Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 24 May 2009 | 10:12 pm
The biggest challenge in deploying Six Sigma is getting people to believe in it and support it. Some of the reasons cited as barriers are:
- personal resistance to change
- inflexible company policies
- incompatibility with existing organizational methods and goals
I remember during the Six Sigma Best Practices and Benchmarking Forum, one of the speakers said that if you had to hold meetings outside office hours or at lunch break, then it’s a sign that management is not supportive of the initiative.
True! Management must treat Six Sigma activities as part of the order of things in the company.
Peter Peterka, writing for Voters Unite, has a good discussion going on how company politics can hinder Six Sigma deloyments. He cited the common barriers and how these can be resolved.
Not surprisingly, all of the factors mentioned above also affect business processes of any kind. They are not unique to Six Sigma. This is one of Six Sigma’s strengths: realistically acknowledging the way politics work in an organization. Six Sigma is not just number crunching. It understands the importance of and encourages the involvement of people throughout and at all levels of the organization working together toward a common goal. Six Sigma encourages planning, communication, and openness about processes, procedures, and information.
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