Implementing Lean Six Sigma in 30 Days:

The Lean Six Sigma implementation lifecycle can be divided into a five step process. These steps are initiate, enable, implement, replicate, and sustain. The following diagram gives you a visual demonstration of the step-by-step process and what each stage involves. By breaking it down into these five steps, the process becomes more manageable and implementation is more effective.

A Lean Six Sigma initiative requires preparation and planning like any other large-scale program. Typically, this will involve setting up a core or "steering" team with a support infrastructure. The top management and senior leaders in an organization will undergo comprehensive awareness training, providing them with an overview of the Lean Six Sigma deployment process and explaining the challenges and expectations such a project will entail. Certain macro issues such as scope, timeframe, goals, and objectives are also dealt with at this stage. The executive team also issues a statement of commitment to the initiative. This step can be completed in about 2-3 days.

Once there is clarity and commitment from the top management and goals and objectives are put in place, the second step, Enable, involves the selection and training of key people who will actually drive the initiative. Some organizations may seek the help of an external consultant who works closely with these key people to deploy the initiative, especially during the initial days. The key roles in Lean Six Sigma are:

Projects are at the heart of a Lean Six Sigma initiative. Projects are identified, prioritized, and implemented to improve a company's performance; ultimately it should yield financial benefits. The projects must be clearly defined for improvements to be realized. For maximum impact, projects should be linked to the strategic business objectives of the organization. A crucial distinction between any project and a Lean Six Sigma project is that the latter generally addresses problems whose solutions are not known. A simple and effective index, as suggested by Thomas Pyzdek, in the Six Sigma Handbook (McGraw-Hill, 2003), is the Pareto Priority Index (PPI).

The values of various terms in the formula would only be indicative and need not be very accurate. All the projects are selected based on PPI. The higher the PPI, the higher is the priority of the project...

As the organization experiences success with the implementation of a project in one area, it will want to replicate the experience in other areas. However, introducing the initiative into each new area is akin to launching an initiative afresh and involves the five steps of implementation that we have been discussing. However, knowledge from previous experience will be useful even when you are customizing the initiative in different areas. Also, as more and more projects are implemented, the organization will have to set up a system enabling it to track and manage the development of the various projects that are being run. As the initiative matures, and as more and more projects are successfully implemented, the next step, sustain, sets in.

As the Lean Six Sigma practice grows, it becomes increasingly woven into the fabric of the organization. It is no longer an initiative but is now part of the organization's process. A regular review of the projects and the overall program helps to keep the practice relevant to the strategic and business objectives of the organization. Lean Six Sigma is now used as a high impact and fast-result tool to address issues that crop up in the organization. Training and refresher training sessions are conducted for new employees and existing staff to enable them to address problems in their respective areas. Lean Six Sigma related skills and certifications become part of the job and role description repository of the organization and may be used as tools to identify and develop future leadership skills within the organization.

As we have seen so far, the Lean Six Sigma implementation lifecycle is typically a five step process: initiate, enable, implement, replicate, and sustain. For the initiative to be successful, it is essential to have complete commitment from the senior management in the organization.

The various roles in a Lean Six Sigma implementation ensure that the delineation of responsibilities and tasks within a given project is clear. In turn, this should ensure that the implementation of the project is frictionless, as everyone knows what they are doing and should thus work together efficiently and effectively.

It is absolutely essential that the projects that comprise your Lean Six Sigma initiative are linked to the strategic and business objectives of your organization – after all, your organization is the reason that you're implementing the initiative in the first place! By using criteria such as the Pareto Priority Index, you can ensure that the initiative is not only working in line with...