Considering these factors, professionals like Green Belts and Black Belts must be experienced and well trained for assuring successful deployment of Six Sigma. Although the sponsors, Champions, and Master Black Belts have the right to determine the overall strategy of the Six Sigma program, it is the Black Belts and Green Belts that have to be in the forefront. They control and implement the projects that are the nucleus of any give Six Sigma operation. Besides, they also serve as mediums for propagating Six Sigma culture throughout an organization.
Since many organizations have benefited largely after Six Sigma implementations, there has been a considerable rise in the money invested in training. Therefore, training methods and implementation should be a crucial point of interest to every Six Sigma Company.
Stages included in Effectual training methodologies are:
-Preparation before the Training -Impart Training -Analysis, feedback, and improving the training
Preparation before Training
After perceiving the need for training, the organization ought to gauge customer expectations through interactions with major stakeholders. Also known as the Voice of the Customer (deployment officers and trainees in this case), this provides a crucial input for customizing and enhancing the training program.
Additionally, given that training is a joint activity, it is essential to know the goals, fellow trainers, participants involved preparing for a successful deployment. The trainer should chalk out the plan, determine milestones for every day to keep an eye on growth and regulate the speed of training.
Impart Training
Content - The Six Sigma trainer should be knowledgeable of the distinct phases in Six Sigma namely- Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) and have the ability to execute them in a sequential pattern. Training formats that demonstrate a practical application of the methodology by way of exercises after every stage are said to be successful solutions for many organizations. For understanding the operation of a given process and benefiting from it, participants can implementing the methodologies in their business and thus quicken their learning pace.
Delivery - Imparting training needs thorough consideration of the style and content. A trainer ought to know the information and audience thoroughly for determining a suitable style of delivery for the organization and the participants. He or she should motivate the audience and hold their attention throughout the training.
The trainer should interact with the participants throughout the training and egg them on staying involved in the process. This not only facilitates easy estimation of success but also helps in knowing whether the participants can understand the given subject. Moreover, it also becomes easy for the trainer to ascertain the optimum pace of the training and modify delivery strategies for ensuring success.
Analysis, Feedback, and Improving Training
Collection of participant feedback, analysis, and thereafter modifying the process for better results is an essential activity for every training program. This not only increases the level of comfort among participants but also eases allow participants to give feedback incognito.
Trainers ought to examine the feedback for identifying improvement prospects and positive aspects that can be emphasized in the subsequent training cycle. In addition, the trainers should also re-examine the initial VOC collected from the stakeholders and determine if all the projected goals have been achieved.
Since the trainers are a decisive factor in the participant's subject matter comprehension and achieving goals, he or she should not be lackadaisical and follow simple steps in teaching them the intricacies of the trade. In the end, these complexities make understanding the business an easier process.
Areas for application of Six Sigma Training:
-Customer complaints: Help desk operations in themselves are about problem resolution for customers. When a customer faces a situation that requires the support of helpdesk staff, they provide feedback for the product or service. This helps the team understand the internal processes that may be causing customer dissatisfaction.
-Help desk: The internal help desk will have a large variety of calls to be handled. The helpdesk data will help companies understand what types of calls are being received and assist in analyzing the source of such calls. With a full understanding of the resolution process, agents will resolve issues accurately.
-Employee dissatisfaction: In some cases, employees are dissatisfied and view the help desk function as a problem due to the inefficiency of others in the organization. This is one more area that needs to be resolved.
-Technology: One area that is perfect for applying Six Sigma is technology - what kind is being used, review of existing systems and the effect that the improvement will have on the performance of the duties of help desk staff.
-Call monitoring: The monitoring of calls received is done separately by a few people in charge of monitoring. It can be used to find out if data is being used or if it would be useful in bringing about changes or improvements in processes. The appropriate data collection can be useful to identify process improvement opportunities.
Metrics in the Help Desk Function
There are various metrics that can be used to ascertain the quality of help desk activity. The call monitoring function is critical, as it enables agent evaluation and helps in understanding drawbacks of any processes in place. It helps bring about accountability to everyone in the organization.
Some of the metrics that can be used for analysis and improvement activity are quality objectives, efficiency objectives and the adherence to schedules. The evaluation score includes quality of the calls, the number of first calls which have been resolved, customer satisfaction scores on it such calls, customer feedback and the overall cost of the call. The accuracy in data entry is equally important, as it impacts the percentage of resolutions and errors and rework.
Six Sigma projects will be beneficial to bring down costs incurred due to errors and rework. All metrics and data can be then prioritized and used for improvement projects and sustaining the improvements. The added advantage is that of having a competitive edge over competitors. Companies will be giving better value to service providers and become true business partners.
Any big achievement happens over a period of time - it is not an instant process. Systematic usage of Six Sigma for help desk functions will help bring about high levels of customer satisfaction, which is relevant to the success of any organization.
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.