There are an abundance of tools in the Lean Six Sigma toolkit but what really makes the difference is getting a little guidance and seeing some practical examples. Once you see how these tools and concepts function in the real world, it’s easier to apply them to your own processes and you’re more likely to see significant results.
In every organization, the work gets done by hundreds or thousands of processes. Many processes have opportunities for improvement hidden just below the surface. Over time, serious problems can develop if these opportunities are not addressed. The impact of the problems individually may be small, but the accumulative effect can…
So you've completed your Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Training & Certification and you're excited about process improvement. But, you have some questions. Big questions, like: How do I get started on my first project? Once started, what do I do to keep my project on track? Who needs to…
All Lean Six Sigma problem-solving projects follow the DMAIC framework, but with different levels of rigor. There are three different types of DMAIC projects: Yellow Belt Green Belt Black Belt Yellow Belt Projects Yellow Belt projects are solved by gathering clues through direct observation. Some of those clues are directly…
Inside and outside of the public sector, the pressure is growing for lean process improvement and increased quality. The idea has been around for decades. Everybody gets it. Who doesn’t want Government and Education serving us better than last year? We’re trying! But how do we effectively pursue Continuous Improvement…
There are countless reasons why somebody would want to deploy Lean Six Sigma, from the process improvements that are at the core of any Lean Six Sigma project, to the measurable, quantifiable financial gains that come from optimizing an entire team’s processes. Suffice to say, having such a tried-and-tested, globally-renowned…
Group brainstorming has been a part of organizational culture for as long as anyone can remember and is a critical part of Lean Six Sigma. Even though it has its pitfalls, it remains the go-to method for problem solving and idea generation. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, brainstorming has been…
What Exactly is Baseline Data? In the Lean Six Sigma world, baseline data is a measure of how a process is performing (were you thinking “baseball?”). The “base” refers to the start of the improvement effort and the “line” refers to the level of capability. What does baseline data look…
By this point in 2020, the majority of people reading this will have had some amount of experience with remote work. What’s your experience? I’ve heard of teams that flourished, with happier & more productive people, who will embrace remote work moving forwards. On the flip side, I’ve heard people…
I recently wrote a blog article for GoLeanSixSigma.com on the merits of having both an MBA and a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification. That blog, published in April 2020, was written from the perspective of my teaching Business Process Improvement to MBA students at Hamline University School of Business.…
Lessons Learned While Sheltering in Place If nothing else, COVID-19 has given us stories we can use about how rapid change can bring about improvements. For our continuous process improvement team, we all had tough choices to make when we started working remotely. Two days after I started working from…