Leadership Institute

Leading Lean: The Human Side of Six Sigma

Recommended Solution for: Leading Lean: The Human Side of Six Sigma

Organizations tend to be attracted to Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma for their dramatic financial impact, with success stories touting estimated savings of more than $10 billion in a single organization during the first five years alone. But leading in a “Lean”  environment is about more than money and more than just being disciplined and data-driven.  It’s about more than aiming for virtually defect-free products and processes. The viability of a Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma approach depends on the motivation of employees to do things in new ways, using new procedures.  That motivation derives from a sense of job “ownership” and pride; in other words, it derives from empowerment. When implemented correctly, using powerful statistical tools and methodologies combined with the appropriate leadership and workforce skills, Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma can have a tremendous positive impact on the organization’s culture, driving gains in employee satisfaction, productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability.  Leaders need to be able to:

  • Empower and motivate employees to do things in new ways.
  • Coach and develop employees to ensure they have the skill levels to match the degree of empowerment entrusted to them.
  • Drive change and inspire commitment to it.
  • Support and encourage teams ’efforts to work with internal and external partners to achieve shared goals.
  • Align goals and accountabilities, transfer responsibility and authority to others, and appropriately recognize achievements.
  • Lead effective meetings that allow their teams to function efficiently and make good decisions.
  • Evaluate the situation, identify the most workable and expedient course of action, and then act quickly.

Course Recommendations

* Essentials of Leadership is the prerequisite course for most leadership courses.

  • Coaching for Success -- Teaches basic coaching skills that leaders need to help people take on new tasks or solve problems.
  • Delegating for Results -- Prepares leaders to transfer responsibility and authority to others.
  • Developing Others -- Helps leaders understand the critical role they play in developing organizational talent, and provides a process for them to follow in doing so.
  • Influential Leadership -- Helps leaders get their good ideas heard, accepted, and enacted. (No prerequisite course required)
  • Leading Change -- Explores how change affects individuals and teams and shows leaders what they can do to help others adapt.
  • Making Meetings Work -- Helps leaders ensure that meetings run efficiently, generate good decisions, and result in clear action.
  • Leading High Performance Teams -- Provides team leaders with the tools and skills to diagnose, coach, and reinforce to support their team’s growth.
  • Motivating Others -- Teaches leaders how to proactively create an environment in which people are highly motivated to perform.
  • Building Winning Partnerships -- Leaders learn how to establish true partnerships to meet customer needs by developing strategies for gaining people’s commitment to working together.
  • Setting Performance Expectations -- Helps leaders drive performance and accountability by helping people understand what is expected of them and gaining their commitment to achieving it.
  • Reviewing Performance Progress -- Teaches leaders to conduct effective discussions that recognize people’s success and plan for their future development.
  • Rapid Decision Making -- Helps leaders accelerate the decision-making process, yet still make quality decisions in fast-paced environments with limited time and information. (No prerequisite course required)

Rationale

A key factor in successful Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma initiatives is placing the right emphasis on the all-important interpersonal and team skills required of both employees and leaders.  If the emphasis is placed just on cost, quality, and timeliness, history will repeat itself as companies implement quality programs that quickly die out. People will follow orders and suffer through a new “program of the year,” but the program won’t be sustained unless employees are improving for their own benefit.  Focusing exclusively on the bottom line will not establish a culture that results in committed, satisfied employees, which ultimately leads to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Giving employees the skills and authority to make decisions within certain limits and to develop a sense of ownership will establish that culture and help companies achieve the breakthrough results desired from Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing initiatives.