This article is the second part in our series on the principles of Six Sigma, focusing on Measure within the DMAIC framework. You can find the rest of our series here. Yesterday we started our series on DMAIC in focus with a deep-dive into Define. Today we take a more measured approach and will give you […]
This article is the first part in our series on the principles of Six Sigma, focusing on Define within the DMAIC framework. You can find the rest of our series here. Working in Six Sigma, one of the first things you will hear about is DMAIC. It’s as much a part of the landscape […]
Every business that exists has an unsung hero. The employee that gets the work done without being told, who is at work on time and ready to do their best. Unfortunately, many managers and supervisors, in the quest to motivate the staffers that may need motivation, forget those who are really holding down the fort. […]
Everybody assumes if a person knows how to do something, that they can also teach it. This is true if we are dealing with a manual activity, such as cleaning a dog kennel or mowing a lawn. But for tasks that are more intricate, such as learning algebra or training a person to teach others, […]
Competition: Rivalry for supremacy; a contest for a prize, honor, or advantage. As you can see from its definition, competition has somewhat of a negative connotation, because in order for someone or something to be regarded as the best, the opposition inadvertently loses some of its value. The Academy Awards Every year, the entertainment industry […]
As more businesses start to enter the marketplace, the need for each business to stand out increases. No two businesses are identical; all have their unique strengths and all can stand out in their own special way. That’s why many companies spend the time and money developing a distinctive brand voice for their company. Creating […]
Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year On the way back from work every evening, more often than not there would be a homeless man standing at the exit of the freeway… He always waved at every car, he was always happy and smiling and sometimes almost dancing. Every day after work I would remember […]
The New Year is a great time to start fresh on a path of improvement. As our lives get busier, we forget that there is always enough time to get everything done. We believe that busier means less time for ourselves. Time Will Magically Appear Those who are well versed with the Six Sigma methodology […]
Papa Panov put on a special pot of coffee for his Christmas breakfast, took down the shutters and looked out of the window. The street was deserted, no one was stirring yet. No one except the road sweeper. He looked as miserable and dirty as ever, and well he might! Whoever wanted to work on […]
The 5 Whys tool is used to determine the root cause of an issue. In the infographic above, we have taken a simple everyday problem of bird waste inside the dogs’ kennels at an animal shelter. The problem is simple enough, but if this doesn’t get dealt with, it can lead to more serious issues. […]
The way we think dictates how we function and why we do what we do. In business, all three types of thinking are necessary, but the one that will keep your business afloat is critical thinking. If we were going to assign a type of thinking to be associated with Six Sigma, it would be […]
In business, time management is imperative. The more we utilize our time well, the more money we can save on production costs and eliminate waste. That being said, if the processes are well researched and thought through, there is an added health benefit: a reduction in stress. A reduction in stress means a happier work […]
We live our daily lives with absolutely no regard to waste, unless we are forced to because of extenuating circumstances. We waste time, resources, and just about anything you can think of. Consequently, we never have enough hours in the day to finish what we set out to do. We often run errands out of […]
The magnitude of the various industries that Six Sigma reaches is simply astounding. Proof of this was seen in those companies who attended our latest Yellow Belt Six Sigma training workshop held in Austin, Texas. In attendance were participants from the following companies: Solvay, Laney Directional Drilling, Texas Mutual Insurance, Charles Schwab, Fiserv, City of […]
What makes us love our jobs? For the amount of time we spend at work and actually doing our job, it really does make it easier if we were to love what we do. In a Gallup report performed in 2013, State of the American Workplace, only 30% out of 150,000 full and part-time employees surveyed said […]
Peter F Drucker, the father of modern management said, ‘‘everybody has accepted by now that change is unavoidable. But that still implies that is like death and taxes. It should be postponed as long as possible and no change would be vastly preferable. But in a period of upheaval, such as the one we are […]
Companies think of growth as an end in itself. Rather growth should be a mean towards a larger goal: that of serving the society. With such a noble goal in mind how can companies ignore the slice of society that works for them – their employees? Advocators of change harp on the bliss of information […]
We are very proud of our recent graduating class of Master Black Belt (MBB) professionals in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Fourteen (14) Six Sigma professionals gathered for an extensive and comprehensive training program, which led to the award of a Master Black Belt Certification. 6Sigma.us is the preferred source of professional training for organizations such as […]
The United States has spent more than a decade trying to improve the quality of outpatient healthcare delivery. The industry has tried various initiatives to address the quality of care and the inherent value of services to patients, without significant improvement. They have addressed the issues of unnecessary procedures and implemented alternative payments models to […]
When I was studying Organization Behavior my Professor emphatically proposed that one of the growing concerns in organizations is to deal with the tides of globalization at work. He also remarked that the situation is getting complex as organizations have less knowledge about foreign cultures and are shy about learning more. There is a constant […]
