The Black Belt class I’m teaching this week follows the traditional model in which each participant has a pre-assigned DMAIC project to work on in parallel to the four-month training period (four training weeks over four months). The assigned projects have two purposes:

1. Increase comprehension by enabling BB candidates to apply what they’ve recently learned to a real-world issue
2. Deliver results to the organization by fixing a key issue

While the vast majority of projects are related to important business issues, there are many that aren’t good fits as initial training projects. This is not an uncommon occurrence. These projects generally fall into four categories:

• Some are better fits to Design for Lean Six Sigma (DFLSS) than improvement (DMAIC)
• Some are very qualitative in nature, providing little opportunity for the participant to apply the suite of learned data analysis tools
• Some are scoped too large
• Some are simply “just do it” projects that require good project management skills to implement previously identified solutions, but don’t require the specialized skills of a Black Belt

While the DMAIC methodology is very robust and experienced Black Belts usually can navigate the above issues easily, they often are very problematic for inexperienced BBs. This results in longer project cycle times (as Belts struggle to apply the new concept); lower results (if tools are misapplied or details missed); high levels of BB frustration, and less learning (which can have huge consequences later – extending future cycle times and lowering results per project because tools are poorly applied).

Strong mentoring support – which also is often a gap – can help new Belts better navigate poor training projects, but why not start with the right projects?

While proper project selection is a critical success factor for any deployment, it is even more important for a Belt’s first project. Instead of just focusing on the short-term business need, the long-term benefits of picking projects that support and align with classroom learning also need to be part of the equation.

Key takeaway:

Balancing the need for short-term results with the long-term benefits of learning through application leads to better performing Belts, reduced project cycle times, and more results (in the short- and long-term).

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 8:47 am and is filed under Project Selection, Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.