My first experience of Six Sigma training was a negative one. I had been hired as a Green Belt (under the supervision of a Black Belt) in the corporate office of a Fortune 500 company and was charged with the responsibility of training new employees in the Six Sigma techniques. Six Sigma is a well established and respected method of problem solving, but having no prior training in it caused me to do a poor job of explaining it to my new employees. My poor performance resulted in a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding of the real concept.
Even if you have the support of your employer and a good trainer in your corner, Six Sigma training can be time consuming and disorganized. You might spend three days going over information that you know very little about. Worse yet, after spending so many hours in training, you might come out with little more than dog poop. If you are fortunate enough to find a reputable six sigma certification provider, you might see your profits increase a bit, but most Six Sigma Black Belts finds that the actual cost of the Six Sigma training far exceeds what they were taught. You will probably pay for textbooks, seminars, online training, and even an after-school course to keep up with the expanding knowledge base of the Six Sigma Black Belt Certification. If you are lucky enough to find a Six Sigma Black Belt instructor who has been certified, you will see that the initial investment is minimal, but your overall training costs will be high.
The best option for learning the six sigma techniques without incurring costs is to use a book or e-book. There are many available, so you should be able to find one that explains all of the concepts clearly. Most Six Sigma Black Belts finds that it is difficult to understand the data because it is presented in an ad hoc manner. A book or e-book will present all of the information in an organized and logical fashion. This will make the process of learning Six Sigma easy for anyone, regardless of their previous level of training in Six Sigma.
While books and e-books are great for presenting the concepts, they are not enough to teach the employees. They are helpful in introducing you to the various tools that are used during Six Sigma Black Belt training. However, it is important to have employees participate in the training in order for it to be successful. You cannot just hand a paper to someone and expect them to automatically know what to do. You need them to learn on their own through black belt training. It is important for you to allow your employees to take part in this training in order for it to be successful.
You should also be sure to keep the black belt sessions as short as possible. The best way to do this is to do it at the end of the day when everyone has finished. It is a waste of time if the employees have to sit out a class just because you did not want them to go. Six Sigma Black Belt training is designed to be enjoyable for everyone.
The actual implementation of Six Sigma techniques can be done by employees themselves without you needing to invest in a Six Sigma course. It can be accomplished by implementing things such as customer service training and improving order processing. If you are able to do these things on your own then it is not that much of a waste of money. The Six Sigma Black Belt is not really an employee but more of a business tool. It is important for you to find the people within your business that will implement these techniques so they can see results.
The main thing to remember about Six Sigma is that it is very dependent upon your business’ current situation. What works well in one situation may not work so well in another. Six Sigma is something that can be adaptable to a variety of different businesses. It is not designed to be used in a one size fits all kind of business. Six Sigma Black Belt training is meant to introduce Six Sigma principles into the business environment. Once implemented, Six Sigma techniques can help improve any business.