Lean Six Sigma
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By Kelsi Moore / MGT 301/ Spring 2022
What is Lean Six Sigma?
Lean Six Sigma is a managerial concept of Lean and Six Sigma, makes total sense right? It didn’t to me either when first reading about it so let me break it down. Lean method is to reduce waste and Six Sigma is to reduce variation for quality control. Lean Six Sigma has 5 phases to identify the root cause of problems and work that has large amounts of data or something that is measurable. Five of the Lean Six Sigma principles include:
- Focus on the Customer
- Map out the Value Stream
- Remove non-value steps
- Communicate with the team
- Create a Culture of change
While this seems like just another gimmick on the this is how you should manage your business train; it does have great value given the opportunity.
Why Lean Six Sigma in Management Principles?
The entire point of management principles is to make decisions to achieve objectives. When we look at management principles and how we could apply Lean Six Sigma to me when I break it down into those 5 steps it seems simple right? Listen to your customer, plan out your steps, remove any step that is unnecessary, talk to your staff about their goals and what they may need help with, and be flexible and willing to adapt to new situations as they arise.
DMAIC
When I first began researching what Lean Six Sigma was and how to apply it to my own work life, I kept seeing this saying called DMAIC. Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. This can be applied to any problem in your life; work, personal. For example; I had a goal I needed to make for work but I was not motivated to do it and had 0 interest in it. I had to take a step back and figure out what the problem was with the project, look at how big of a role i was taking on, and why it was I was having such a hard time moving forward with the project. Turns out this particular project I was not motivated for because I felt like this was a meaningless project that would just sit on a desk. In being able to analyze the problem and determine that cause I was able to improve the process by changing how I cam about the project and turn it into something that did matter that would not just become another paper weight and in the future can hopefully change my mind set before getting into that rut.
Lean Six Sigma
In the end Lean Six Sigma is just a process with steps you can take to make improvements to any type of project you are working on. It is something that can adapt to any situation and be able to be applied. With management principals you have the ability to improve the way you manage business and approach customers in a way to make things run smoothly in the long run. You have a plan in place you are able to adjust and change as things evolve.
Sources: 5 lean Six sigma principles you should adopt immediately. Lucidchart Blog. (2020, January 17). Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/lean-six-sigma-principles
Purdue University. (2021, November 3). What are the lean six sigma principles? LSS certification — purdue. Lean Six Sigma Online Certification & Training at Purdue University. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://www.purdue.edu/leansixsigmaonline/blog/lean-six-sigma-principles/
