1. Iowa Office of Lean Enterprise
Lean Six Sigma Deployment

2. Presentation Outline Lean Six Sigma Deployment Considerations
Foundation
Execution

3. What is the Long Term Goal for Lean Six Sigma?
Long term goals should drive the deployment strategies.
A guiding vision is important for change management.
Key long term goals to consider:
Enterprise transformation
Strategic improvement
Problem solving
Cost reduction
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Start with the end in mind.

4. Public vs Private Sector Issue
Government and private sector organizations have much in common
Pressure to improve service and products
Expectations to control or cut costs
Large organization behavior
Key differences to recognize during deployment
Customers, clients, users and taxpayers
Politics
Merit system
Funding and budgeting
Lean Six Sigma has been successful in government
Lean Six Sigma works in government
but differences need to be addressed during deployment.

5. How Does Lean Six Sigma Fit ?
The “Flavor of the Month” problem
Multiple initiatives confuse employees
Lean Six Sigma requires a sustained focus
Competing initiatives may need to be stopped
Resolve management conflicts early
Determine where Lean Six Sigma fits
within the entire management system.

6. Which Deployment Model To Use?
Impact
Business Transformation
Organization wide deployment
Major culture change
Strategic improvement
Targeted deployment on critical problems
Projects necessary for success or survival
Problem solving
Specific operational problems
Incremental improvements in organizational performance
Scale
Entire organization
Department
Project/Section/Team
Organization Readiness
Culture
Past process experience
Management team
Stability
Select model based on goals and organization

7. Deployment Models There is no one “right” model
Adapt the deployment to the organization’s situation.
Four models to consider:
Enterprise wide (traditional model)
Department/business unit (scalable model)
Targeted (problem solving model)
Grass roots (bottom up model)

8. Enterprise Wide Model
Characteristics
Top down driven
Comprehensive
Major culture change
Rapid, highly visible deployment
Deployment considerations
Solid leadership from the top management is essential
Large infrastructure and full time staff
Significant planning and management over time
Integration with other management systems
Need for common language and problem solving methodology
Need to address cross functional processes
Five years to achieve lasting culture change
This is the traditional deployment model with a proven track record.
However, it is challenging to execute.

9. Department/Business Unit Model
Characteristics
Department leadership but enterprise management support
Department pilot for enterprise
Comprehensive at the department level
Culture change
Deployment considerations
Easier to start due to smaller scale
Slower pace is possible; scale up after initial success
Greater use of consultants and outside training
Less integration with management systems
Similar to enterprise model but on a smaller scale
Risk of not getting beyond the department level
Good option for a strong mid level leader with a supportive boss.

10. Targeted Model Good model if resources are very limited.
Characteristics
Top management leadership
Focused on a few specific business problems
Driven by a desire for strategic impact
Culture change not a deployment objective
Deployment considerations
Easy to get started
Can work in smaller organizations
Quick results because problems are identified ahead of time
Infrastructure needs are small; use contracted resources
Risk of not sustaining the gains
Good model if resources are very limited.
Can build momentum for organization wide efforts.

11. Grass Roots Model Characteristics Deployment considerations
Originates at the bottom of the organization
Highly motivated individuals lead the effort
Project or problem specific
Culture change not an objective
Deployment considerations
Easy to do
Track record for sustainable improvement is not good
Few if any infrastructure needs
Big success can lead to using other deployment models.
Model can produce good results but often fades over time
due to lack of top management attention.

12. Deployment Foundation
Unrelenting focus on what matters most
Adopting a deployment maturity model
Understanding deployment customer requirements
Roles and Responsibilities
Deployment accountability
Talent development
Change management
Build the deployment on a firm foundation.

13. Focus On What Matters Most
Fully engage leaders in Lean Six Sigma
Require leaders to be highly visible in leading Lean Six Sigma
Structure engagement in key deployment activities
Lean Six Sigma goal setting
Identify the most serious business problems
Set explicit Lean Six Sigma goals
Link to pay and job performance appraisals
Understand the business goals and the major organization drivers
Get leaders to understand their customer requirements
Put deployment accountability where it belongs
Executives and managers need to own Lean Six Sigma
The deployment strategy needs to get executive ownership quickly
Keep Lean Six Sigma relevant to the leaders!

14. Deployment Maturity Model
Transforming
Optimizing
Improving
Two to five years to a Lean Six Sigma culture.

15. Deployment Customer Requirements
Know who your customers are and what they expect.

16. Roles and Responsibilities
Enterprise/Agency Leaders
Vision
Goals
Organization environment
Enterprise (DOM) Deployment Leader
Deployment organization
Deployment processes
Day-to-day deployment management
Champions/Deployment Leaders
Department level deployment
Barrier removal
Project identification and selection

17. Roles and Responsibilities
Project sponsor
Project specific support
Resource allocation
Project focus
Master Black Belt
Trains and mentor’s belts
Technical resource
Coaches deployment champions and managers
Manages project clusters
Black Belts
Leads projects
Mentors green belts

18. Roles and Responsibilities
Green Belts
Lead smaller projects
Key team member on larger projects
Functional Champions
Support for deployment in key areas such as finance, HR and IT
Policies and procedures
Process Owners
Project team member
Ownership of the process
Cross functional coordination
Sustain the project gains

19. Organization Structure Options
Modify structure for scale of deployment
Contract for training
Contract for MBBs
Functional champions may not be needed
Consolidate deployment leadership
Permanent Black Belt(s) in DOM
Adapt the structure to the existing organization
and the goals and scale of the deployment.

20. Talent Management
Rotate top performers through 2 year assignments as Black Belts.
Lean Six Sigma is an outstanding management development experience.
Problem identification
Systematic problem solving
Managing using data
Leadership
Select the best and brightest for black belts.
Don’t compromise on talent.
Plan repatriation.
Make Lean Six Sigma experience a requirement for advancement.
Skip talent management if culture change is not a deployment goal.
Culture change comes from developing leaders,
not from completing projects.

21. Change Management Basics
Manage change from the start
The biggest deployment risk is not technical
Create a formal change management plan
Lean Six Sigma fundamentally changes an organization
Anticipate the impact that Lean Six Sigma will have
Address problems in the related management systems
The legacy of enterprise initiatives is a common barrier
Many will wait it out if given a chance
Skepticism should be expected
Get to critical mass quickly
Window for change is often very short
Take advantage of momentum, start-up good will and leadership enthusiasm
Leadership counts
Leadership needs to be consistent, visible and constant
Change is hard - don’t do it if you are not committed

22. Change Management Basics
Address the people issues early
Layoffs
Pay
Job changes
Understand what helps people change
What’s in it for me?
Certainty
Knowledge
Communicate, communicate, communicate
You can’t talk about Lean Six Sigma too much
The principles of change management are well known.
The challenge is to apply them.

23. Deployment Execution Understanding the core process and critical Ys
Black Belts and Green Belts
Selecting projects
Supporting infrastructure
Training
Mentoring and project support
Project execution
Leadership engagement
Metrics

24. Understanding the core process helps focus the deployment activities.

25. Critical Ys for Deployment

26. Black Belts and Green Belts
2 year full time assignment
25 days of training
Certification
Complete projects/year
Can work anywhere in the agency
About 1 percent of the workforce
Developmental assignment
Green Belts
Stay in current jobs
25% time leading projects
10 days of training
Certification
1 - 2 projects/year
Work primarily in their own area
Greater emphasis on identifying projects and sustaining the gains
There are differences in the roles for Black Belts and
Green Belts even though they use the same tools.

27. Black and Green Belt Lessons Learned
Select Black Belts carefully to get top performers
Full time assignment for Black Belts increases results
Manage project execution and cycle time
Address lagging belt performance promptly
MBBs need to hold black belts accountable
Plan repatriations early
Use performance metrics and share the results
Make belt expectations very clear
High performing Black Belts are essential!

28. Supporting Infrastructure
Projects
Project idea and charter development process
Project financial validation process
Project selection process
Project management process
Audit results process
Project database
Training
Curriculum
Statistical software
Master Black Belt support
Tools and templates
Project report outs
People
Selection process
Certification process
Repatriation for Black Belts
Development plans
Rewards and recognition
Organizational structure
Engagement
Build a strong support infrastructure early
and stay ahead of deployment support needs.

29. Training Types of training Delivery Methods Black Belt Green Belt
Directors and Administrators
Deployment
Awareness
Delivery Methods
Contracted training
Open enrollment
In-house

30. Training Lessons Learned
Top notch training is critical
Delivering in-house training is hard
Training needs to include more than Lean Six Sigma tools
Thinking process
Project management
Leadership and change management
CTQs and CTQ flow downs
Address demands for more than Black Belt and Green Belt training
Don’t forget about the people at the top
Provide enough general training to avoid confusion
Have good chartered projects to work on during training

31. Mentoring & Project Support
Require monthly 1:1 between Master Black Belt and assigned Black Belts to review projects
Encourage Black Belts and project sponsor monthly touch points to eliminate barriers
Hold weekly “study halls” for project help
Assign executive sponsors on projects with $500,000 annual savings and above
Assign Black Belts to mentor Green Belts
Measure customer satisfaction from project sponsors and project teams

32. Mentoring & Project Support Lessons Learned
Keep process owners/sponsors involved in the projects and communicate often
Have discipline in conducting the monthly project reviews
Identify and address issues early
Review checklist
Recognize the critical leadership development role the MBBs play
Know who is doing well and who isn’t

33. Project Execution Lessons Learned
Scope projects appropriately
Use a formal project management methodology
Track project progress monthly
Be willing to stop poor projects early
Use project cluster management for related projects

34. Leadership Engagement
Annual goal setting
Monthly staff meeting agenda item
Project sponsorship / barrier removal
Training attendance
Training kick off speeches
Attendance at LSS functions

35. Leadership Engagement Lessons Learned
Leadership wants to help but may not know how to help. Provide training and hand holding as necessary.
Create and reinforce the expectation that management must lead Lean Six Sigma
Identify projects
Provide resources
Remove barriers
Measure leadership engagement

36. Use the deployment to set an example on using data to manage.
Metrics
Outcome measures
Lean Six Sigma project financial benefits
Culture change
Deployment management measures
Projects completed
Project cycle time
Projects on-track
Active and completed projects per Black Belt and Green Belt
Benefits per project
Black Belt successful repatriation
Charters written
Charter inventory
Black Belts per employee
Projects per employee
Use the deployment to set an example on using data to manage.

37. Sustaining the Gains Create a Lean Six Sigma control plan
Build a data and performance driven management culture
Organization performance
Process performance
Lean Six Sigma performance
Strengthen management accountability
Maintain the Lean Six Sigma focus on the most important organization goals and performance gaps
Tighter integration between Lean Six Sigma and the enterprise’s management systems