Point to Ponder

Recently one of my linkedin contact [wont dare to put his name here ] posted a question in Q&A section and i quote:

“How do we integrate Six Sigma tools and methods into the work we do daily to serve our customers?”

Further elaborating his question he goes -

” – Question arises as to how do we successfully integrate 6-Sigma into our management systems and as a foundation for an organizational improvement process that is an integral part of how we do business? Can anyone please share his/her personal and professional experiences and challenges that any organization comes across in terms of a paradigm shift and change management, while implementing business/quality initiatives like 6-Sigma. And how to ensure that it doesn’t die down with the passage of time …”

There have been quite a few replies from different domain experts. I too responded to it (paste later below). However the point i want to stress here is the fact that nearly all the replies and the question itself indicates a very important aspect; that Process improvement, Quality management implementation and Process efficiency tools and methodologies like 6-sigma, CAPA etc require continuous focus from senior management. Indeed it is a big paradigm shift.

Indeed I still remember the time when our organization was introducing the Telecom QMS standard via roadshows across the country, we too were posed with questions that at times disappointed the Project team. Esp the ones like “Is it something like SOA?”, “No” was my response. “Oh.. then this might fizzle out like the other standards we worked on” This time round only a was the response.

There is a single slider (6-Sigma-PM-QMS) that we worked upon while we tried to blend the process improvement (6-sigma), Project Management Methodology and QMS implementation.

This might be able to provide some insight to the quality professionals as to how the three areas can best utilized to achieve organizational goals.