You will easily notice that the unexpected implementation problems and issues are the landmines that often take a heavy toll; the lack of support from project sponsors and top management represents the big guns that can decimate a battalion; and employee disinterest is the small weapons fire that just refuses to die down and often seems to be coming from all directions.
So, how do Black Belts actually survive this onslaught and go on to win the implementation war? Well, it's simply because just like the enemy, they too have many war-winning weapons in their arsenal and they know exactly how to use them to win over the enemy.
Sound Technical Knowledge and Expertise
Making mistakes is certainly not the preoccupation of Black Belts because most of them have in depth technical knowledge and expertise. They have the requisite qualification and training and know exactly how to make the best possible use of available tools and techniques such as Affinity Diagrams, Cause & Effect / Ishikawa / Fishbone, Control Charts, Design Of Experiment and Document Control.
All these and more represent the virtually unlimited rounds that Black Belts often have at their disposal and are free to use them as and when needed.
Strong Leadership and Communication Skills
The strong leadership and communication skills inherent in most Black Belts helps them to overcome the challenges of Six Sigma implementations. With these skills, they are able to develop a good rapport with all the stakeholders such as the employees, the Project Sponsors, the implementation team members and the top management officials.
This way they are able to make all the individual components work together as a big, well oiled war machine that is capable of sending the opposing forces into oblivion.
Domain Experience
This is probably the best weapon in a Black Belt's arsenal since this is the one that often comes handy every time the comrades seem to lose their fighting spirit in face of niggling problems and issues. Domain experience empowers Black Belts with the right attitude that is necessary for taking the crucial and strategic decisions during the implementation phase. This is a lot better than rushing back to the headquarters for advice, every time the implementation team faces a roadblock or a virtual dead-end.
There are many other weapons and weapon-systems that Black Belts can use, but the ones described above are those that often make all the difference between winning and losing. It's no surprise then, to know that most Black Belts often depend on these to win the Six Sigma implementation wars.
A certified Six Sigma professional is one who is an expert in explaining as well as deploying Six Sigma philosophies and principles, including managing supporting system and tools. A Black Belt professional understands team dynamics and has a complete understanding of all the models of Six Sigma and the ability to identify non-value-added elements and activities.
Training Versus Hiring Black Belts
Assume that a business has decided to fully deploy Six Sigma. The organization needs to decide on the timeline and assemble an expert Six Sigma team.
Given below are some advantages and disadvantages that the businesses may consider before deciding on hiring or training:
Advantages Of Internal Black Belts
-From the point of view of investment, though the investment is larger the returns in terms of positive moral and cultural change can be even higher.
-From the point of view of employee loyalty, promoting internal staff always reinforces the employee's loyalty towards the business, which is very important because then the employee will then try his level best to live up to the trust of the company.
-If we look at it from the point of view of familiarity with the company processes, nothing can be better than internal Black Belts because as they are already on the process, once trained they only work faster and better.
-Internal staff also has a familiarity with company structure and they use this knowledge to achieve better results. As they are familiar with the staff as well, they are able to choose the best possible Six Sigma candidates.
-Internal Black Belts are also more equipped to apply six sigma tools in the company processes. Thus shortening the learning curve.
-Internal green belts can develop their career easily by staying in the company's Six Sigma team. This enhances the employee's spirits and dedication towards the work.
Disadvantages Of Internal Black Belts
-Investment is substantially greater for training than hiring.
-Sometimes existing employees can take the loyalty factor for granted and still perform at the same level.
-Familiarity and experience with company processes may prevent the employees from thinking "outside the box".
-The biggest hurdle that familiarity with company structure can pose is that it becomes difficult to manage the team and resources when they change roles from being peer associates to Black Belts and team leaders.
-It is often noticed that since internal Black Belts have no prior experience of being in that position, they often choose an inappropriate tool. Thus, reducing productivity and leading a culture change.
-After receiving training, it often happens that the person is sought by many organizations that are ready to pay bigger paychecks. In such cases often the employee leaves the organization.
Advantages Of External Black Belts
-Investment amount is lesser in comparison to training.
-Most of the time when a person is hired, he is loyal by default during the initial phase. If the company treats him well this loyalty becomes permanent.
-External Black Belts are true champion team leaders and Six Sigma experts. They come up with more creative solutions as they are not familiar with company processes and this makes them think out-of-the-box.
-External Black Belts choose team members impartially on the basis of their skills and many a times it so happens that company employees are more receptive to an outside entity.
-External Black Belts don't need any additional training. Their learning curve is thus non-existent.
-Career development can never be an issue with external Black Belts.
Disadvantages Of External Black Belts
-Hiring costs are not to be taken lightly. A highly professional and experienced black belt will charge more.
-Many times, external Black Belts consider themselves "hired guns". They can leave the project in between and move on to another business that provides them with a fatter pay rate.
-It takes time to be familiar with company processes properly in order to efficiently initiate a Six Sigma project.
-A communication gap gets created because the external Black Belt is not familiar with company structure. Also selecting a team and the implementation of strategy as a whole gets delayed.
-The learning curve as such is non-existent for external Black Belts, but they do get slowed down because they are unaware of the company's inner working processes.
In the final analysis, the decision to train existing employees to be Black Belts or to hire them from the outside must be made by each organization individually. There is no right or wrong answer, but the organization's objectives must be considered carefully.
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 and certification classes for lean six sigm. Tony Jacowski's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.