Welcome back to the 5th installment of our Book Club.
Part 5: Deploying Lean Six Sigma
Continuing our read of the book: Lean Six Sigma for Dummies by John Morgan and Martin-Brenig Jones, we are now continuing onto Part 5 of the book which consists of Chapters 13 to 18. This installment covers Chapters 13-15.
Chapter 13 – Leading the Deployment
This chapter focuses on getting key pieces in upper management and the leadership group to lead the deployment and implementation of Lean Six Sigma. It starts by introducing 3 main components to successful deployment: Doing the right work, doing the work right, and creating the right environment.
This chapter then delves into the importance of the need of a high-level endorsement from executive leadership within the organization, in addition to the need of a dedicated deployment program manager who is enthusiastic and willing to take on this role. This individual needs to have a continuous improvement mindset along with several other desired characteristics to maximize the chances of implementing a program. In addition, project champions should be added to the team to help facilitate and support the Lean Six Sigma Project along. A valuable checklist for all these roles is emphasized throughout the chapter, to assist the reader in determining the characteristics required for successful hires in this role.
Chapter 14 – Selecting the Right Projects
Following from the previous chapter, where proper human assets are put in place to maximize the potential of success, the projects themselves need to be aligned with the organization. The overall goal of Lean Six Sigma is to get the organization wholly aligned from a strategic perspective.
This chapter identifies three short steps to project selection:
- Identify Potential Projects
- Assess suitability of Potential projects for Lean Six Sigma approach
- Prioritize suitable projects with outline charters.
To determine if Lean Six Sigma is appropriate for a project, it is recommended that the focus should be placed on DMAIC initially, as it emphasizes good research and introspect to ensure that LSS is a fit. The next steps are assigning project champions and project leads to this.
The rest of the chapter walks through how to prioritize projects through using specific criteria as metrics, and then using those to create a criteria selection matrix to determine which opportunities will yield the most impact.
Chapter 15 – Running Rapid Improvement Events
Once the pieces are in place to carry out DMAIC to projects, the next steps to look towards are quick wins – or what are called Rapid Improvement Events in the book. One key term introduced early in this chapter to remember is Kaizen, which means a change for the better. Kaizen events are quick actions to yield changes from low hanging fruits to enable faster execution and results. These events occur typically in less than five days rather than the months needed for typical DMAIC projects. This chapter details the phases, along with an extensive list of techniques referring to previous chapters to ensure successful implementation of Kaizen events. It further expands on what the facilitator’s role through this project and caps off with what should be on a checklist for running successful events.
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We would love to engage those of us following along to explore this book (and others in the future!). We welcome your thoughts and feedback along the way as we grow in our Lean Six Sigma journey and the embrace of continuous improvement and increased productivity.
For more in-depth knowledge, and hands on training, you and/or your organization should consider one of GO Productivity’s Lean Six Sigma Courses. We help provide you skills and coaching on your projects, and how to be more productive and improve your bottom line! Reach us today at start@goproductivity.ca
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