4 Lean Six Sigma Secrets You Need To Know

Many leading businesses in the world are adopting a new philosophy called Lean Six Sigma. But what is it and how can your business make use of it?  
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Lean and Six Sigma were initially developed as separate disciplines, however implementing them together has proven to be a lot more successful for business’ bottom line. 

While both tools focus on eradicating waste in the operational process, Sigma advocates argue waste happens when you deviate from the process. Meanwhile, Lean practitioners tend to attribute waste to unnecessary work that detracts from your end goal.

To be able to make best use of Lean Six Sigma practices, it is wise if we learn how industry experts and leading businesses have used the program. Therefore we have interviewed the leaders in management and operations and prepared for you five secrets that will definitely help you in your business. Some of them might not seem so shocking, nevertheless they are important considering how misconstrued Lean Six Sigma has become.

​1. Lean Six Sigma is Simple

The premise of Lean Six Sigma is based on simple and easy to follow fundamentals that should be common sense for all businesses. In straightforward non-jargon words Lean Six Sigma says that wastage and variation is bad, and all processes should be designed from the customer’s perspective.
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So to make a start the first important thing you need to understand is that the program is not as complicated as you might have heard.

​2. Choose the Correct Project

It is important that you choose a project that is critical to the business. Surprisingly, many projects are selected simply because they are the easiest to implement Lean Six Sigma on or because working on a project would seem the most impressive to the higher management.
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However, if the project chosen is too ambitious to get done or is not strategically important, generating support will be difficult and implementation will be almost impossible and it might not even result in the outcomes that were initially expected.
Your project also needs to be defined well in terms of its scope and impact on the business. And you also need to ensure that it fits well with the time and resources availability.

​3. Don’t Leave It All On The Black Belts

Black Belts are indeed certified masters of Lean Six Sigma, and achieving that level does take understanding and expertise of the program. Their support and direction is critical for the success of your program.
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However, the changes that Lean Six Sigma suggests in any program require participation of all the people involved in its processing. Leaving Higher Belts alone or making Lean Six Sigma teams work in solo is a strategy that might not help you in achieving your aims. Success requires collective team effort.

​4. Choose your Lean Six Sigma Certification Wisely

​The success of Lean Six Sigma has led to a number of institutes offering qualification in the program. If you simply want a stamp on your CV, you’ll find cheap and cheerful Lean Six Sigma certificate providers.

But beware, because if you end up in a position that required practical knowledge of the program you might find yourself in a difficult situation.

Instead, it’s best to opt for programs that grant you a certificate once you have demonstrated your understanding through examination and real-life application, like IASSC Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt / IASSC Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.