At quality conferences over the last few years, I’ve heard presentations from Christus Health, Novartis, Crayola® and Underwriters Laboratory (UL) on a fresh approach to Lean Six Sigma. Several of these companies first tried a traditional LSS implementation without results. In an effort to get results, they changed tactics and integrated Agile principles into their approach (perhaps without realizing they were doing so).
Prework: First, these companies identified problems that needed a solution. They made sure there was data about the problem and selected team members who understood the problem.
One-or-Two Day Training: Next, these companies brought several teams together for one-day or two-day Yellow Belt trainings focused on achieving results. Some of these trainings were classroom-based and some were blended learning, involving online video training and team discussion.
Integrating training with analysis resulted in the teams gaining a better understanding of Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques, and ultimately delivering the bottom-line profit and productivity improvements desired.
Post-work: Teams implemented countermeasures and measured results. Rapid training and improvement produced the results that leadership wanted without weeks-long training and months-long projects.
Side Benefits: Some team members showed an aptitude for improvement methods. It became easy to identify good candidates for additional Green Belt and Black Belt training. This allowed teams to not only tackle larger (and more complex) improvement projects for the organization, it also addressed the “one and done” problem seen in traditional training.
Have you noticed this trend as well? What companies have you seen using it? What were the results? Why did it work? Why did it not work?
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