SS in Your Organization
There are three methods by which SS is implemented:
- Business Transformation - A "transformational" approach is a broad-based initiative that starts at the very top of the organization and is applied across the board. This is most common to companies in crisis, where the employees recognize the need for major changes and are willing to adapt to survive.
- Strategic Improvement - SS is applied to specific business units to address specific issues, and can spread through the organization from there. Most often, it can be used to streamline operations (manufacturing) or support departments (billing), and can be applied to other departments incrementally.
- Problem-Solving - SS is used to address specific problems only, and the rest of the business runs as it always has. The SS principles may be adopted by smaller groups over a longer period of time.
The route to take generally depends on the business and its culture, especially the perceived need for change and improvement.
There are specific roles in SS:
- Black Belt - A full-time person dedicated to driving change. This person leads, coaches, and pushes people into using the SS methodologies.
- Master Black Belt - An analytical expert, generally trained in statistics and having a high level of familiarity with the SS methodology, who serves as a resource to support the black belts.
- Green Belt - An individual who is trained in SS methodologies, but who is a participating player rather than a coach
- Champion/Sponsor - This is an executive who champions the SS methodologies, generally someone of a high enough rank to push back against the managers who resist or wish to fight against the change
- Implementation Leader - This is a temporary position, created when the process is being introduced, and goes away when the company has fully adopted the methodologies.
There are testing and certification programs for all the various levels of SS, but the BB and MBB are generally seen as the ones who are most critical.