Wrapping Up the Year
As the year comes to an end, your Six Sigma team should be thinking of two things:
- Recognition/compensation for the team
- Finalizing the financial benefits for their projects
While Black Belt roles are meant to be stretch assignments – almost like corporate boot camp – their hard work (or lack thereof) needs to be assessed and recognized accordingly. The BB position is not an easy one: it involves constantly uncovering issues which some managers may not take to too kindly. As a BB you have to diplomatically gain consensus on recognizing the issue, come up with a fix and then hope that the area manager ensures control of the improvements.
These same series of concepts apply to the team members involved in the project. I think it is even more critical to recognize them: they have full time jobs, yet go beyond the call of duty to support the BBs and the Six Sigma corporate initiative. While recognition will boost the Six Sigma initiative, create more buy-in and improve morale, it has another benefit. It helps identify people who didn’t fully support the project (potential risk for future projects) or did not possess the level of talent that was originally assumed (will need to be replaced).
But the most gratifying part for a BB and MBB is calculating the financial benefits delivered for the given year. And please, if the numbers are good, i.e., you met or exceeded your target, advertise it. If you didn’t meet your targets, hopefully it is not a surprise, but if it is the MBB/BB need to determine its root cause and mitigate it for future projects.
By completing the steps above you can be assured that you have completed part of your due diligence on your Six Sigma initiative – ensuring future success: making certain that you have the right people on the team, they are kept motivated and that the financial targets are met & communicated.
Sheila Shaffie - ProcessArc, Inc.
