How Six Sigma Has Changed the Corporate Landscape

How Six Sigma Has Changed the Corporate Landscape

Six Sigma has been around for a while now, and its impact on various industries is already quite noticeable. It only takes a brief look at the current state of the corporate world to realize the huge changes that have been brought forward by the tight integration of Six Sigma practices into the standard workflow. And we’re likely only seeing the tip of the iceberg, too. There are many reasons to believe that we’re going to see even more changes in this area in the near future as companies continue to adopt and use Six Sigma in their work.

More Focus on Root Cause Analysis

Getting to the bottom of a problem has never been more important, and it’s likely going to become even more so. Root cause analysis plays a major role in Six Sigma, and it’s a fundamental aspect of its philosophy. Some companies might struggle to adopt these principles correctly in their work if they haven’t used them before. But once the dust has settled, it’s very easy to see the positive results of proper root cause analysis practices.

The Importance of Specialization

Companies are now also starting to wise up to the importance of having properly trained specialists in their ranks who understand the intricate details of working with Six Sigma and know how to apply it in the company’s specific environment. This is easier said than done, even when dealing with people who’re already familiar with Six Sigma to begin with.

Specialization is only going to become a more critical issue in the near future too, and it will be interesting to see how the market evolves in this regard. We’re already seeing a lot of attention towards Six Sigma specialists, and it will likely become even more pronounced not too long from now.

Improved Performance on All Levels

One of the best things about using Six Sigma correctly is that it can produce some very tangible improvements in the company’s performance on pretty much all levels. From the very top of leadership and management, to the lower ranks of workers doing various tasks, everyone stands to benefit from the integration of Six Sigma into their work.

And when there are some tools available that can actually measure that performance and provide the company with an adequate overview of how it has changed over time, things can get even better.

The Right Mindset

Six Sigma is not just about optimizing your company’s work and ensuring that work gets done as quickly as possible. It’s also about developing the right mindset for evolving the organization as a whole, and this is a skill that can take quite a lot of time to build up to an appropriate level. It gets even more complicated if you consider an organization with a very rigid structure that has gone through relatively little evolution in its thinking over time.

Clearly, when dealing with a situation like this, a different approach is needed. Developing the mindset required to successfully implement Six Sigma principles into the organization can take a lot of time, but once you’re there, you’re going to start seeing opportunities for improvement in pretty much every corner of the organization.

Improved Connection with Employees

Last but not least, a good Six Sigma implementation and the right adoption of those principles into the organization can result in a significantly improved ability to connect with employees on a fundamental level. This is more important than it may seem to some leaders, because various reports have indicated that these relationships have been on a decline for some time now in corporate environments, and things are only going to get worse over time if this is not addressed.

Thankfully, Six Sigma provides various tools for dealing with these issues, and it’s important for any leader to utilize them to their full potential. With time, you’re going to start seeing more and more opportunities for changing things in your organization to improve the way you’re working with Six Sigma. Until then, you should have a lot of patience and be prepared to go through some very challenging periods that might last for quite some time until you see results.