How will Lean Six Sigma benefit my workforce as well as my customers?

Lean Six Sigma succeeds in making the time, quality and cost issues within and between processes, start to finish, steps etc. visible and tangible. It gives eyes and ears to these processes, outcomes and allows you to do something meaningful and intervene to make things better, to the benefit for company and customer! It provides, purpose, direction, baseline and practical means to get your results and effect changes for good.

Seamless operation, less bureaucratic, ’lean six sigma’ streamlines and effective processes make business successful. This overall business methodology and thinking will help you re-make, energize and shape your business better. You are now pro-active and hands-on in your operation, NOT LEAVING SUCCESS UP TO RANDOM CHANCE, BUT RATHER PLANNING AND EXECUTING FOR IT.

REMEMBER A GOLDEN RULE OF LEAN SIX SIGMA: SLOW PROCESSES ARE EXPENSIVE! LSS HELPS YOU SPEED THINGS UP, WITHOUT HAVING TO SACRIFICE QUALITY!

Agility, adaptability, low cost and responsiveness are all qualities that business should have and desperately need almost as prerequisites and entry-requirements for doing business in the new economy.

One of the great contribution that Lean Six Sigma can/does make to your business is what we will call ‘shared purpose, direction and goals’. This individual and mutual ‘orientation’ and ‘coordinated effort, gives common direction to all, fosters commitment and camaraderie. It strengthens and builds the organization, links the leaders to the shop-floor employees and engages everyone at all levels to achieve better performance consistently. It is a unifying and motivational principle that will underpin and build your efforts, getting you results quicker and maintaining it over time. Making success stick, so to speak.

So, ask yourself first and foremost how you think Lean Six Sigma can help you in your business, consider your options, pros and cons or doing/not doing it and then make your decision.

Enable and strengthen your business by using Lean Six Sigma tools to drive improvements, cost reduction and implement it across the levels and aspects of your business that matters most and reaps the highest rewards quickly.

Other aspects of lean to consider for Lean Six Sigma deployment in your business are as follows:

 Leadership
Initiative and leading by example from the top is key. The main flag-bearer and champion of this Lean Six Sigma process and initiative starts with the business leader (CEO/President) and the senior management team. Buy-in and support can make or break the efforts of LSS.

Personal, hands-on, practical engagement, commitment, practice and even reward for full participation in these initiatives, being the drivers of performance per se is critical to and for Lean Six Sigma success. Inspire and mobilize others.

Corporate, business culture and infrastructure, support and championing of the Lean Six Sigma efforts contribute to the momentum and success of it throughout the organization.

Include and engage EVERYONE! Lean Six Sigma provides you the opportunity to harness and leverage the talents of the entire workforce and collective, not merely a hand-full of individuals or some employees. MAKE EVERYONE COUNT AND CONTRIBUTE!

If lasting results and sustained top performance matters to you and your business here are the means to that end in the LSS toolkit!

Metrics and goals make things easier to achieve and practically act upon, effect, change, impact, reshape etc. MAKE EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR BUSINESS COUNT!

 Infrastructure, support and deployment
Share the commitment, discipline and persistent toil to get to where you need to be. It starts with everyone, not just some! Have you customers front-of-mind at every step, process and corner of what you are doing, planning, improving, know what they value, why and how to get it to them quickly, effectively, consistently and affordably, any time, every time! SHIFT YOUR FOCUS.

Shareholder value and $ impact is a good guidelines for priorities and activity within LSS. IMPROVEMENTS CAN/SHOULD BE MEASURABLE AND ACTAULLY TRACKED!

Engage everyone in the process, assign roles and responsibilities and tap into the full potential everyone has to bring to the table. Committed resources, time and training (initial investment) will pay off quickly. Mobilize your workforce and enable, empower and energize them.

 Vision
Making it all about our customers is another key. They are your incoming revenue streams, what keeps the wheels of your business churning. For once, make it count! Quality, time, what they want, when they want it can make you fail or success. Reducing variability is essential. Be consistent, predictable and reliable as a provider and/or supplier, business partner and make what they want a priority. Never merely focus on reducing defects, also know why you are doing it and how it adds value to your customer(s).

Everyone has to understand this mutual undertaking, its value and potential and the role, contribution and recognition of their efforts and input.

 Right resources and projects
Having dedicated resources working tirelessly and exclusively on Lean Six Sigma type processes and work, improvements and projects will have desired outcomes and effects. For meaningful performance improvement you need the right people and the right projects, working on the right value-added things within your business. Focused, deliberately targeted WORK is essential for results and success.

 Teamwork
IT IS ABOUT EVERYONE’s ROLE AND RESPONSBILITIES. ALL MATTER. Leaders, shop-floor, administrative, all staff can contribute and make a difference. Leaders often mount the charge and get the ball rolling, providing support and encouragement along the way. Direction and results matter here. Full-time sponsors, champions and process leaders encourages accountability and gets results quicker. Problem-solving leadership, training and coaching might be required to, grunt-work, data collection and analysis and support. Investment in time and resources is well worth the effort and cost. It will reap you rewards you can only imagine when starting out. It will exceed your expectation in as little as 1 year! YOU WILL START SEEING RESULTS EVEN QUICKER THAN THAT!

 Process and Tools
Tools and culture go hand in hand. You need both. So jumping right in and just focusing on implementing some key LSS tools, might not be the most appropriate and/or effective way of unleashing the power of lean on your organization. Getting the support and infrastructure in place up front, planning for success, resources etc. might save you lots of time, money and headaches down the line, when it comes to actually doing the work and making the improvements!


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