Structural Elements
How a company organizes the personnel involved in Six Sigma projects depends on how it’s focusing its deployment, as well as how Six Sigma is integrated into the organization — whether resources are freed up to focus solely on Six Sigma concerns. There are a number of concerns that must be discussed and decided upon prior to launching Six Sigma projects:
- Black Belt selection. Who chooses Black Belts and what criteria must be used? How many Black Belts does the endeavor require? How will Black Belts be recognized and rewarded for their efforts?
-Project selection. What criteria must be met to engage or terminate a project? Who will sign off on projects, and what criteria will they use?
-Metrics. Which metrics will be standard across the company? What improvement goals will the company set?
-Coordination. How will Six Sigma be coordinated with other organizational endeavors?
-Budget. How will the company handle budget issues, such as whether the salaries of Black Belts are categorized as direct or indirect costs?
-Training. How will the company train its Master Black Belts to deliver Black Belt training? What guidelines will be used for Black Belts to select and/or mentor Green Belts?
Project Selection
The key to good project selection is to identify and improve those performance metrics that will best boost
your company’s financial success and impact its customer base. Projects can be measured through the following key metrics: