Many organizations usually go the Agile route or the Six Sigma route, and that is perfectly okay. Technology has become a dominant force in modern times, becoming ubiquitous in our daily lives – both personally and professionally. Whether it is a task you have to perform at the office or at home, you’re bound to find an app that can help you with that.

Organizations are on a warpath in regards to innovation because the secret is out: technology has a significant impact on consumer behavior. If you don’t have the technology to help your customers with their ever-evolving needs, they will look elsewhere. And to add fuel to the fire, they demand solutions of the highest quality pronto.

The consumer market is exerting pressure on organizations, and Agile is used to face them head-on. Six Sigma is used in the same vein but is approached differently from Agile, which is why we hardly see them being applied simultaneously. This leads to the question: can these two play nice for the benefit of the organization and its customers?

Enter Agile Six Sigma. But before we talk about how they can work together, let’s briefly look at each one individually.

Six Sigma

In a nutshell, Six Sigma is a methodology that is employed to minimize defects by controlling variation. A big part of achieving this is through root cause analysis to eliminate any issues that negatively impact quality and consistent output. When implemented well, Six Sigma has been known to increase customer satisfaction.

Agile

Agile is popular in software development. It champions the concept of iterative development, which is where the development of large software is broken into small, easily manageable chunks. Agile outlines the guidelines that allow teams to consistently be productive and meet their deadline while constantly and consistently evolving the end product into something that will ultimately satisfy customers.

Agile Six Sigma – How They Can Work Together

While Six Sigma and Agile are implemented differently, it is not hard to see that they ultimately have the same goal. They are both ways to produce something valuable that will make customers happy. If two things have the same end goal, it is safe to assume that they complement each other and can be combined.

For organizations to marry these two concepts, they need to look at what they are trying to achieve and the issue they are trying to rectify. Software development is a process, after all. This means that Agile teams can incorporate Six Sigma to help them improve their performance. For instance, if the team is consistently missing deadlines, Six Sigma has the tools, like the fish diagram or the Five Whys, that can help them get to the root cause of the problem and eliminate it once and for all.

Conclusion

Both Six Sigma and Agile lead to better outcomes for an organization against market pressures. They can be implemented alone or together. But for the latter to happen, teams should look at what problems they are facing within their Agile framework and use Six Sigma to element them. The end result will be a faster and consistent development cycle that produces an end product that satisfies customers.

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DMAIC, which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control, presents organizations with a data-driven, customer-focused approach to process improvement. Each letter is a phase, and it must be completed in sequential order before moving on to the next one. However, there is still confusion on when exactly the method should be used.

When looking at a complex or high-risk issue with a process, bring out the DMAIC. The method has seen a great degree of success because it ensures that no critical process improvement steps are skipped. That means when looking to increase customer satisfaction or your bottom line or get rid of bottlenecks from time to time, the DMAIC is a no-brainer.

2 Ways DMAIC is Implemented

Another thing that causes confusion is how the methodology is used. For that, there are two major ways.

1. Team Approach

This is where the team leader is well-versed with the method and its tools. The team members still perform their regular duties in the organization while working on the project part-time. The leader, however, can be working on multiple long-term projects at any given time for months on end.

2. Kaizen

If the team approach isn’t for you, then Kaizen is next. Here, the DMAIC steps are usually carried out in a single week. The organization appoints a specialist to help with the process improvement, particularly in the first two phases. After those are complete, the organization organizes a team of people to focus on the rest of the phases until the Kaizen is complete.

Usually, improvements are given a trial run during the Kaizen before they are fully implemented. During the trial run, the impacts of the improvements are monitored carefully, even if the outcomes aren’t particularly good. This allows the team to course correct rapidly before finalizing everything.

Why Control is the Most Important Phase

The biggest challenge that teams often face, even after the improvements produced the desired results, is the difficulty of smoothly implementing the process in its improved state. Time is of the essence here, so there’s pressure to act, but this forces the team to forego any semblance of smoothly transitioning the gains. This makes sustaining the results challenging as well, considering the people haven’t really had the time to buy into the changes – there may even be resistance.

During the Control phase, the team suggests an implementation strategy that will lead to long-term gains. Basically, the team members come up with a set of standard operating procedures that will guide all future process improvement endeavors. That way, results are measured on a constant basis to ensure that all beneficial changes don’t revert to their previous state, and any potential problems can be handled proactively. This is essentially where the plan for continuous improvement is set in motion.

Conclusion

Knowing when and how to use the DMAIC method is key to ensuring that your process improvement efforts are successful. Not only that, but it also ensures that they are standardized for future process improvement projects and that the results are sustained through continuous improvement. As long as the problem is complex and high-risk, you shouldn’t think twice about using the DMAIC method.

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Today, Six Sigma has an impressive track record of improving processes with its wide array of tools and techniques. Sigma Belts – individuals who are trained in some or all aspects of Six Sigma – are highly demanded by companies looking for people to improve their business performance. However, not many people are versed in the origins of the methodology that they rely upon when their business operations are underperforming.

As the 80s were coming to an end, a man named Bill Smith coined the term Six Sigma. At the time, he was working for Motorola and needed an effective quality management tool to improve business performance. So he got work on the methodology, pouring all his time and energy into what would become the future of quality management. Smith had the full support of the CEO of Motorola at the time, Bob Galvin, which made his work smoother.

After Smith was done, Motorola implemented the methodology companywide. The new process management tool proved successful, which led to Motorola being awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1988. This award recognizes organizations in various sectors that have achieved operational excellence.

Soon after that, in the 90s, Jack Welch, the chairman of General Electric (GE), adopted Six Sigma for his organization. The company evolved the methodology, making it connected to compensation for executives and return on investment (ROI). In GE’s annual report, they managed to show that implementing Six Sigma led to financial benefits. That’s when corporations listed in the Forbes Fortune 500 list started implementing Six Sigma as well in order to make their business operations more efficient.

Six Sigma borrows concepts from another quality management methodology: Lean manufacturing. While one might be tempted to think that Six Sigma and Lean are competitors, in the real world, the two are used in a complementary fashion. Their combined effect, know as Lean Six Sigma, has been shown to provide business performance benefits that are simply unmatched. Lean offers a hands-on approach to removing non-value-adding tasks to improve efficiency, while Six Sigma aims to reduce variability within organizational processes to minimize the occurrence of defects.

Lean has been around a lot longer than Six Sigma, with its origins rooted in the Toyota Production System (TPS) in Japan during the 60s. However, Lean thinking can be traced back earlier than that to the Arsenal in Venice during the 1450s. And in 1913, Henry Ford was the first to put Lean thinking to practice by fully implementing it. 

Lean gained further popularity when Boeing implemented it as part of its manufacturing process in 1993. Although its initial efforts were unsuccessful (not through the fault of Lean but other outdated manufacturing processes being used), Boeing continually invested in the methodology until it paid off.

As far as Six Sigma goes, its story has just begun since it is considered to be a relatively new methodology in the business world. Many organizations across the world are still working on evolving it to make their businesses more efficient through process improvement. Regardless, Six Sigma and the recently revitalized Lean have left an indelible mark on history.

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Improving the overall effectiveness of your organization is important at every stage of its operation. There is often a lot you can do to keep things running more smoothly and minimize bottlenecks, especially if you apply some modern analytical methodologies to the situation. And when it comes to process optimization, Six Sigma is one of the most prominent names in the field. And for a good reason. It’s been around for a while, and offers a comprehensive set of tools to help leaders streamline their workflows as best as possible.

What Is Six Sigma?

At its core, Six Sigma is a methodology for process optimization and continuous improvement. It’s based on a few fundamental principles, such as eliminating waste. Six Sigma has been around for a while now, and it’s established a permanent place for itself in many industries. Even sectors that were traditionally not associated with the application of Six Sigma have now started to see great benefits from its utilization. And it will be interesting to see where this ends up in a decade or so. But until then, it’s important to take advantage of what Six Sigma has to offer for you, and to integrate it into your company as best as you can.

How to Properly Implement Six Sigma

Implementing Six Sigma comes down to following some established routines these days. There has been a lot of research into the field, and specialists largely understand what it takes to get Six Sigma integrated into the workflow of the typical company with minimal hassle. You just have to work with competent specialists who understand the field and let them guide you through the process. Remember that Six Sigma works in a highly individual manner. This means that its results are going to vary from one company to another when looking at the same implementation strategy.

This makes it important to try different approaches, and to explore what Six Sigma has to offer for your own situation. Don’t just copy established implementation approaches from other industries, and instead try to work out something for your own specific situation. As we mentioned above, working with a competent specialist is important for accomplishing this. They will know exactly what kind of approach would work best for your current situation.

Measuring Your Results

It’s also important to ensure that you’re actually moving in the right direction with your implementation of Six Sigma into your processes. You should do your best to measure your results and see how you’ve been progressing. This is something that can be a bit difficult to get started with in the beginning if you’ve never done any sort of objective progress tracking before. You may need to put some systems in place to collect data and aggregate it for your analysis.

But in the end, this is something you should be doing for your business in any case. If you’re not measuring the results of your actions, you’ll never know if you’re going the right way. And with detailed analytics, you can easily see when you’re making a mistake – and you’ll know exactly what’s wrong, too. This can help you correct your course and improve the organizational effectiveness within your company even more.

Keep gathering that data over time, too. It will become even more valuable in the long run. The more historic analytical data you have to work with, the better you’ll be able to handle future developments. Even if you can’t analyze it now, you can still keep it stored for future reference.

Another important thing to remember is that you should always implement your changes in a way that they will last. Sometimes you might be tempted to apply a band-aid solution to a problem. But this can cause more problems down the road. With the help of Six Sigma, you can not only identify problems and their solutions, but you can also figure out exactly how to approach those problems to ensure that you’re coming up with a viable long-term solution. This is going to become even more important as you progress further into expanding your company, so take note and make sure that you measure your results as best as you can.

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Warehousing is the storage of goods intended for sale or distribution in a warehouse. However, it becomes more complex when this process comes face-to-face with the dynamic nature of business operations. These require a high level of efficiency to minimize costs and maximize profits.

Luckily, Six Sigma, with its set of management techniques, can be used to improve the warehousing process. If done correctly, applying Six Sigma’s data-driven and statistical tools and techniques to warehousing provides organizations with a way to eliminate issues permanently. Furthermore, it helps them discover performance measures that highlight areas of further improvement.

The goal of Six Sigma is to reduce the number of defects to 3.4 for every million opportunities. This is regarded as a sigma level of 6, which is the highest and most sustainable level of optimization. This increases the levels of customer satisfaction, as well as increases the organization’s bottom line.

Here are ways in which Six Sigma can benefit a warehousing operation.

Customer Loyalty

Customers not only notice but appreciate it when an organization has taken the time to improve efficiency and quality. In the end, customers become loyal since they have confidence in the organization’s ability to deliver high-quality and affordable products with little-to-no hassles.

Six Sigma provides an organization with the tools they need to convert customers into loyalists. When customers see that the warehouse is shipping products with speed and accuracy, they will be satisfied, especially if that is a pattern rather than a fluke. But if errors aren’t caught in the warehousing process and customers start receiving products with defects, they will quickly lose confidence in the organization’s ability to deliver. This will make them hesitant to place additional orders because it might feel like they’re gambling on quality. 

All errors need to be identified and corrected right – the hallmark of a Six Sigma organization. Six Sigma empowers the warehousing team with a comprehensive strategy for handling errors by eliminating them at the root so they never happen again. That way, the warehouse operation can focus on satisfying customers instead of resolving their complaints.

Transforms Organizational Culture

Six Sigma is about improving the entire culture of the organization. Everyone in the organization, from sales and finance to manufacturing and warehousing, knows what they need to make the organization more efficient. 

With clearly defined roles and milestones, it becomes easier to rally people behind the common goal. So not only will the warehouse team be able to work towards making their operation more efficient, but they will work with others to ensure the entire organization is efficient as well.

Reduces Costs

Satisfying customers is one of the major objectives of the warehousing team. And what better way is there to achieve this than to reach a sigma level of 6. By streamlining the warehousing process, on top of reducing or eliminating defects, the team can effectively reduce costs and transfer the savings to the customer.

Furthermore, keeping costs down also means that the organization can increase its bottom line. This means that shareholders will also be pleased and more willing to pour more resources into the warehousing process to make it more efficient.

Improves Quality

Naturally, when the warehouse manages to get rid of errors, quality will go up. Six Sigma provides teams with the necessary statistical tools to gather warehousing data. By analyzing the data, they can extract insights that can help them ensure that customers don’t get poor-quality products. 

The data that the warehouse team gathered can also be shared with other departments in the organization. This will help other teams throughout the organization improve their processes as well so they too can produce quality output and cut costs.

Conclusion

The Six Sigma methodology is a great tool for improving the warehousing process. In turn, this increases customer loyalty, reduces costs, and improves quality. Furthermore, since Six Sigma happens on the organizational level, everyone works together to make everything efficient.

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Process behavior charts or control charts were invented by Walter Stewart in the 1920s. They are a great statistical tool that analyzes how a process changes over a period of time. His main aim of inventing them was to reduce variation in the manufacturing process. If this sounds confusing right now, don’t worry. This brief guide will explain what a process behavior chart is, along with its most important elements.

What is a Process Behavior Chart?

Simply put, a process behavior chart is a graph that is used to display changes in the output of a particular process over a period of time (time sequence).

Take a look at the figure below for an example of a typical process behavior chart.

As you can see, a process chart has some important elements that give one information about the process in question. We have a center line (average output), the upper control limit (UCL) and the lower control limit (LCL). The blue line and points represent the actual output of the process and the variation between them. These lines are drawn using historical data. And by looking at the chart, we can tell whether the variation of that particular process is predictable or unpredictable.

We will discuss the elements of the chart in a little more detail below, starting with the most important one: variation.

Variation

You have heard the concept of variation being mentioned a lot, but what is it exactly? Basically, variation is a number that is indicative of the level of variance between each member of a particular group. In the figure above, the blue line between each point displays the level of variation between outputs in a process.

If you analyze each piece of data that has been measured in the real world, you will discover some degree of variation. No matter how hard we try, we can never obtain the exact same results when it comes to any process. Each result will be unique in its own right.

While a little variation is not a big deal, too much of it can be troubling. This brings us to the two types of variations that can be observed in a control chart: common cause variation and special cause variation.

A process that is stable and in control will produce common cause variation, meaning it is predictable. This type of variation is inherent in the process, which means it is expected from its normal operation, and there’s nothing you or anyone can do about it. Special cause variation happens when the process displays unexpected variation resulting from unknown external factors.

You can tell there is common cause variation at play when points fall outside the control limits. This indicates that the process is in trouble. Reducing this type of variation is crucial to keeping the process stable and in control.

The Center Line

As you can see from the figure above, there is a solid black line in the middle of the control limits. This is the average output or center line, and it represents the output you will get from the process on average. It is used to compare how the process performs compared to the average. When the process in control, the points around this line will vary randomly.

Control Limits

By looking at the random variation occurring in the process, you can work out the control limits of the process (red dotted lines). You have the upper control limits and lower control limits, and the performance of the process must not go beyond them if the process is to remain in control. There’s also what is known as specification limits. But these are determined by the requirements of the process, which are then determined by the client, rather than its variation.

So there you have it; a brief look at what process behavior charts are. They are an important tool used by organizations that utilize Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, especially in the manufacturing industry. They offer them a powerful way to analyze the performance of a process, allowing them to make informed decisions, especially when it comes to its improvement.

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After launching a digital marketing campaign, it is reasonable to expect a return on investment (ROI). But when the expected results aren’t achieved (variation), there is a problem that needs to be investigated and eliminated. Six Sigma has a useful tool known as the DMAIC methodology that can help with the investigation and elimination of the said problem. 

DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. Each letter represents a step or phase in the methodology. And here is how it can be applied to solve digital marketing problems and improve the process altogether.

Define

The team will look into the goals of the digital marketing campaign and define the problem being experienced. For instance, a goal could be to increase brand awareness. And the problem could be that target customers still aren’t aware of the brand. This could be the case even after the digital marketing campaign has been launched and running for some time.

For this to work, especially moving forward, the team needs to establish whether the goal is S.M.A.R.T. These goals are those that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based.

Measure

With the problem defined, the team will then move on to measure it. This involves gathering data in regards to the digital marketing campaign’s performance. For example, if increasing conversions was the point of doing the campaign, the team can look at conversion rates. They can then compare the results they got with what they expected.

It is important to ensure that the data being obtained is comprehensive and accurate. This will highlight the effectiveness of the measurement system. Furthermore, anything that can affect the integrity of the data needs to be identified and ruled out. Otherwise, poor data could affect the improvement efforts and lead to wastage of time and money.

Analyze

With the data in hand, it needs to be analyzed. This will allow the team to identify what can be improved to achieve the desired results. For example, if a website is not converting, an analysis could reveal that you need to reduce the number of distractions on the landing page. That way, when a customer gets on the landing page, they can complete the customer journey uninterrupted.

In terms of the landing page that isn’t converting, the team could uncover that it contains too many outbound links. These are the distractions. When visitors click on them, they get redirected away from the landing page. This is preventing them from completing the customer journey and, consequently, affecting conversion rates negatively. 

Improve

After the Analyze phase, the team will have the necessary insights needed to make changes that will lead to positive gains. Continuing with the landing page example, the outbound links can be removed. These were the biggest bottleneck in the customer journey. And now that they no longer exist, your organization can expect the conversion rates to increase.

This is just one of many examples. Essentially, the team will use this step to eliminate anything that is hindering digital marketing success. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be something that is affecting ROI. It could also be something that is leading to a waste of time and money. 

Control

After the Improve phase, ideally, the problem should be resolved. The team can then use Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) to confirm that the changes have led to the improvement of the digital marketing process. If not, the team should go back to the Define phase and restart the improvement efforts.

If the changes were a success, the team should be congratulated. However, the work has only begun. Procedures for improvement need to be standardized. That way, the team can ensure that the positive gains stick. This is part of the continuous improvement initiative.

Conclusion

Six Sigma originated in manufacturing and that is where it is used the most. One would be forgiven for not thinking that any of its tools and methodologies can be applied to digital marketing. So the next time you experience a problem in your digital marketing campaign, consider using the DMAIC methodology to resolve it.

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As far as approaches management can take to improve performance and guarantee quality go, Six Sigma can be considered to be a huge success. Many professionals across various industries, from manufacturing to hospitality to marketing, are getting Six Sigma certified. And an increasing number of organizations are sponsoring their employees to get the certification.

What is a Six Sigma Certification?

A Six Sigma certification is a professional certificate that shows that you have grasped the concepts of Six Sigma at some level. The levels in Six Sigma are known as Belts. These classify professionals into the following categories:

• White Belt: This is the basic level of Six Sigma understanding. White Belts are given a general overview of Six Sigma tools and techniques. Their job is to assist Six Sigma project teams in coming up with solutions to a problem during brainstorming sessions.
• Yellow Belt: A Six Sigma Yellow Belt has foundational knowledge of Six Sigma concepts. Yellow Belts are part of the Six Sigma project team, usually working in a limited capacity – as part-timers. They cannot work on a project without the supervision of a Green or Black Belt.
• Green Belt: A Green Belt is a Six Sigma professional who has understood the advanced concepts of the methodology, such as DMAIC. They can be leaders of a team if the improvement project is not complex. If it is, they will be part of the team and work under the supervision of a Black Belt.
• Black Belt: A Six Sigma Black Belt has advanced proficiency in implementing Six Sigma. On top of that, they can explain concepts and techniques to others and often serve as coaches to Green Belts. They also have a demonstrable capacity to take on leadership roles and drive projects to success.
• Master Black Belt: This is the highest Belt in Six Sigma. A Black Belt is someone who has worked on the strategic deployment of multiple Six Sigma projects (even complex ones). They are responsible for the development and promotion of Six Sigma curriculums within the organization. Also, they teach Six Sigma to all the other Belts.

Benefits of Getting a Six Sigma Certification

It takes time and money to become Six Sigma certified. Many people often wonder why they should do it. Here are a few reasons why a Six Sigma certification is important:

• Improve performance: When trained in Six Sigma, you will be able to identify the root causes of problems and eliminate them so they never happen again. You will also be able to identify the organization’s main KPIs and metrics, as well as measure and improve them. This is because the tools and techniques you’ll learn will allow you to gain and understand valuable business insights from analyzing the KPIs and metrics and use those insights to make data-driven decisions.
• Leadership roles: During Six Sigma training, you will learn core managerial competencies that will allow you to undertake leadership roles.
• Job satisfaction: A Six Sigma certification offers a self-esteem boost. The training prepares you to think of out-the-box solutions that improve your organization’s efficiency. This means you will experience greater job satisfaction knowing that your contributions are making a huge difference.
• Customer satisfaction and loyalty: With a Six Sigma certification, you can help your organization improve its customer experience. This means customers will be more satisfied and can even become loyalists.
• Best candidate: If you have worked on improvement projects that have helped organizations reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction and increase their bottom lines, you will become more hireable.
• Better salary: Six Sigma certifications allow you to demand better salaries from employers. On average, certified Six Sigma experts are making upwards of $100,000 a year.

Conclusion

By getting a Six Sigma certification, you are ready to apply its tools and techniques to benefit your organization. This is the case no matter the Belt you aim for. Furthermore, you are ensuring that you propel your career forward by possessing skills and knowledge that your peers don’t have. 

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Not many marketers would consider Six Sigma as a means of improving their marketing process. And it is no surprise since Six Sigma is mostly known in the manufacturing industry. The methodology is a disciplined and structured approach that uses various tools and techniques to make processes better. 

One of those tools is DMAIC, which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. You can use DMAIC to improve your marketing strategy, and here’s how.

Define

The Define phase is where you identify the needs of your target market. Doing this is a matter of researching the market, and this information will reveal what prospects find appealing about the product or service you’re offering. You can then use this information to formulate an effective marketing strategy that will deliver results.

Measure

In the Measure phase, you’ll collect and measure data to ascertain the performance of the current marketing process. This will give you a clear picture of the current marketing efforts, allowing you to measure them against critical performance measures and KPIs. It is important to use the tools that will help capture the data accurately.

For example, you can use Google Analytics to see the number of visitors, session duration, top traffic source, conversion rate and bounce rate. Once the metrics have been collected, you can form a baseline for performance. This is what you’ll use for comparison after improvements have been made.

Analyze

By analyzing the data from the previous, you can zero in on areas in the marketing process that could use improvement. Here you can use Six Sigma tools like the 5 Whys to identify the root cause of the marketing strategy underperformance. Furthermore, statistical tools like hypothesis testing can verify if you’re looking at the right cause.

Finding the root cause of the problem is important because eliminating it means the issue goes away for good. Anything less and the problem has a high chance of recurring at best, or you end up wasting resources fixing the wrong thing at worst.

Improve

With the root cause identified, it is time to eliminate it from the marketing process. For example, it could be that the marketing strategy is geared towards improving a website’s conversion rate, and you’ve discovered that the website has too many distractions that take people out of the experience. That means minimizing the distractions can maximize focus, allowing visitors to make it to the end of your website’s sales funnel.

Control

Control involves constantly analyzing the results and making further improvements. Six Sigma means you’re committed to ensuring that the previous problems don’t find other ways of creeping back into the process. It is not enough to complete the DMAIC once and call it a success; it is a long-term commitment.

Conclusion

If you’re experiencing a low ROI with your current marketing strategy, it might be time to consider using Six Sigma to improve it. By using DMAIC, you can systematically remove elements that are causing your marketing strategy to underperform. It is not just something that manufacturers can use, but everyone, even marketers.

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Lean Six Sigma is spreading throughout many industries as it is a process that can enhance the success of a firm and its processes. Lean Six Sigma can be used to increase customer experience and satisfaction as it has a 99.9997 efficiency rate which means that it produces 3.4 defects in one million units.

1. Eliminating Mistakes and Defining Customer Service

First of all, to improve the experiences of customers and enhance their satisfaction, a company needs to realize what the customer wants. In this way, it can design services so that they match the needs and goals of a customer.

Lean Six Sigma can help a company identify the main mistakes in its processes and fix them before they lose the customers to the competition. This can enable businesses to also create and design higher-quality products and services that can benefit the firm’s success and popularity in the long run.

Lean Six Sigma also reduces the amount of bad products which can eventually lead a company to financial ruin as they can drive away customers.

2. Customer Oriented Approach

The whole purpose of a company is to provide products and services to people which means that they should help individuals achieve their goals. To do that, companies can use Lean Six Sigma and analyze the services they are currently providing to come up with solutions.

For example, if the problem in healthcare facilities is that patients have to wait too much before they are examined, healthcare facilities can come up with solutions that improve scheduling which can enable them to see more patients.

By creating a customer-oriented approach in which companies create products and services specifically designed for customers, businesses can thrive and increase revenues. Lean Six Sigma can be used to reduce delays and defects from the system and processes. Defects in products and services can result in fatalities or injuries which can make the company liable and lose its reputation.

3. Efficiency and Quality Control

Lean Six Sigma makes a company look at every process in detail and align its resources and workforce toward creating better standards at the company. Employees and specialists can use Lean Six Sigma and identify all the steps that went wrong and resulted in a defect or mistake in the customer service.

This can increase both efficiency and productivity as employees can be more aware of what they have to do and be more careful in the production of assets and services.

4. Innovation

Lean Six Sigma fully enables a company to understand what functions and whatnot at the firm. When a company fully understands that and cannot do anything to either eliminate mistakes or improve the processes, it is driven towards innovation.

Creating innovative products and services can enable it to retain customers and attract some more. Great companies not only improve their processes but create original services designed for their customers which can be achieved with the help of Lean Six Sigma. Innovation can improve customer loyalty as the customer’s vision in terms of quality and efficiency is exceeded.

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5S is a quality control technique of Lean that can improve productivity and reduce waste in a multitude of industries. The 5S technique was created in Japan and involves five Japanese words such as Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. Seiri means separating the good and necessary tools and instructions from the useless ones to remove the latter. Seiton means arranging tools and instructions in such a manner that they are easy to use and find whenever they are needed. Seiso stands for clean-up campaigns, and Seiketsu stands for daily repetition of the three previous S’ to improve the workplace. Shitsuke resembles the creation of a culture in which all the other S’ are performed permanently with precision. Lean 5S principles can apply to the retail industry and improve the business.

Sorting

The first principle of Lean 5S that can be applied to the retail industry is Seiri, or Sort as it translates to in English. The retail application of this principle to both merchandise and fixtures, and involves sorting out items and tools that are useful from the tools that are not. In this way, a company can eliminate the useless items and keep their storages and work areas clean. The useless or not essential tools can be kept temporarily in other rooms until they need to be used.

Straighten

The second principle involves the creation of a storage area where needed items can stay. Retails should determine the perfect location for each tool so that it can be reached easily when it is required. Retails can tag or paint each tool and put them near others that do similar jobs or processes.

Cleaning

Cleaning is an important aspect of maintaining a retail store. It is an activity that forms the first impression to customers and clean places attract more customers. Systematic cleaning also means taking good care of the tools and equipment that are used. Cleaning should be done every day and to make the place shine the tools or equipment that are not working should be immediately repaired or replaced so that nothing remains obsolete.

Standardize

Standardizing means analyzing the processes and activities at the business to identify which work properly and increase productivity. This can help retails remove the processes and practices that no longer suit them and do not enhance the services provided. Retails can involve in this process all the participants at the firm as everyone can contribute toward creating better standard practices. Also, by collaborating with people that actually perform these tasks, firms can pinpoint easier what is working and what is not. One strategy that can be implemented to identify the working tasks is to make daily checklists to see if the requirements are being met.

Sustain

The final principle of Lean 5S involves checking if the other processes work properly, and repairing or replacing them if not. Lean 5S can help retails improve their business and productivity which results in increased revenues and more customers.

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Kaizen is a Japanese philosophical concept and Lean manufacturing tool which believes that processes can always change for the better and there are no limits to how much they can improve. Translated from Japanese, the word Kaizen is made up of two words, kai which means good, and zen which means change. Although the term and philosophy were designed to serve business and company services or products, it can also enable people to improve themselves and evolve.

1. Getting Started

To start growing and improving, the Kaizen philosophy reveals that a person only has to start doing something. That means that one step a day is infinitely better than no steps a day and that growth may eventually come out of just one simple effort made every day. This speaks about the power of habits and the power of daily activities as they are the ones that really turn things around and can shape a human being. For example, if a person wants to be more physically active, they can walk or run each day for 5minutes and when they feel prepared they can increase the amount of time. The same goes for people that want to write a book, one sentence or two per day are better than only imagining and thinking about doing something.

2. Simple Math

Daily improvement is achievable as the Kaizen philosophy teaches people that if they grow and improve with 1.01% percent every day, they will be up to 38 times better by the end of the year. Slow and steady wins the race as it is also showcased in the story of the hare and tortoise. The hare may be fast and can run 100 times faster than the tortoise but the resilience and steady progress of the tortoise eventually outruns the hare as they avoid tiredness and exhaust.

Another simple comparison can be done with normal habits and activities such as brushing teeth, while it may not change much in a person’s life, it sure as hell keeps dental health problems away.

3. Continuous and Infinite Improvement

One thing that Kaizen can teach people is that improvement is infinite and that there’s never a time when something or someone cannot further improve. This can keep people engaged and never let go of the healthy activities as success is a long ladder and falling from it is fairly simple. This means that even if a person improves nearly every day, they can still fail and fall as improvement should be a daily habit and one day of stoppage can mean very much, especially in the beginning.

4. Eliminating Bad Habits

Improving continuously means letting go of everything that is stopping the improvement. This means that to fully grow as a person and human being, a person should identify shat’s stopping them from achieving a certain objective. After eliminating the objective, a person can try and visualize what they have to do to improve and reach their target in detail and small steps that can be followed every day.

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Choosing a perfect strategy for your business is always a debatable and important issue for business houses. Among many strategies, the two most popular are Lean and Six Sigma. 

Lean, the all-time favorite methodology has now entered other industries from the floors of manufacturing units such as the Lean HR method. 

If we are more concerned about making processes efficient and with lead time reduction, Lean is the right choice for us whereas if we wish to concentrate on cutting down defects, Six Sigma should be our choice.

It is better to say that both Lean and Six Sigma are useful methodologies to improve processes, lead time, and finally your bottom line. 

To know more about these strategies let’s discuss them one by one first and then we’ll compare them for concluding this article.

The Lean Method

The Lean methodology begins with proper waste management and cost-cutting in manufacturing processes and products. This may be achieved by controlling/avoiding the following eight fields:

– Inventory: Excessive stock in hand

– Waiting, in the manufacturing process, on machinery and supply chain

– Overproduction: Management of unused bulk products

– Processing: Lengthy and cumbersome manufacturing process

– People, who are not working with full energy and zeal

– Transporting: Damages to the material due to unnecessary, excessive, and avoidable transportation of inventory during the handling and manufacturing process

– Excess motion of manpower to increase work efficiency

– Defects in the final products

Hence if we wish to be “Lean and Mean”, we have to control the above waste areas to improve our efficiency and our profits. 

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is not only for quality control and defects’ minimization as is generally assumed. In a broader spectrum, this methodology is a scientific approach to minimizing defects and improving the manufacturing process by using statistical data and techniques of project management. 

In this methodology, first, the problem that needs to be improved is defined and then the experts look at the process and analyze the problem by using data analytic techniques. Further, they improve, control, and fix those problems. Hence the acronym DMAIC ( Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) very well defines the Six Sigma methodology.

There’s another framework in Six Sigma, DMADV, which is more concerned with the design process. DMADV incorporates Design, followed by Measure. Next is the Analyze phase, which is followed by Design and finally Verify. The approach helps optimize the design of a product or service.

Lean vs Six Sigma or Lean and Six Sigma

Instead of focussing on the Lean vs Six Sigma debate, we can use Lean and Six Sigma methodologies together for better results. This new methodology is known as LSS (Lean Six Sigma). This strategy gives the best results in minimization of defects and lead time shortening if applied correctly and in a balanced manner.

In brief, these two methodologies are the two faces of a coin that complement each other by minimizing process costs and improving outputs and bottom line.

Lean Six Sigma focuses on the team as a whole, and aims to reduce defects and waste— combining the best of both approaches. The strategy has managerial principles too and harnesses DMAIC steps and tenets. Today, it’s a powerful game-changer for many businesses globally. 

Comparing Lean and Six Sigma

1. Lean is a methodology that minimizes waste in the production line while Six Sigma emphasizes the quality of products.
2. Lean ideology focuses on the flow process while Six Sigma focuses on the problem.
3. The main purpose of the Lean strategy is the removal of waste while Six Sigma believes in variability removal from the processes.
4. Lean methodology is based on visuals while Six Sigma is based on a scientific approach (mathematics and statistics.)
5. The motto of Lean is improvising production by increasing process efficiency while Six Sigma’s aim is a perfect quality product that fulfills customers’ requirements.
6. Toyota developed Lean while Motorola has brought about Six Sigma.

Conclusion

Both the strategies work great for an organization. Both of the methodologies, if applied either individually or together, will result in a positive outcome like minimization/ reduction of the wastage, defects, and variation in processes. 

They also minimize cycle time, increase customer satisfaction, improve product quality, and minimize product and process costs with excellent throughput.

We also discussed how an amalgamation of both techniques to minimize waste and defects together in what is called the Lean Six Sigma approach can work wonders for businesses. 

The post LEAN VS SIX SIGMA: Choosing the right strategy for your business appeared first on OpEx Learning Resources.

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is a combination of two methodologies “Lean” and “Six Sigma”. Lean and Six Sigma are two faces of a coin. The Lean methodology deals in waste management while Six Sigma deals in quality management. The abbreviation“LSS” is an innovative methodology in which lean and six sigma blend in such an amazing way that eight wastes’ management and the quality of process and product are achieved together. 

Success mantra of LSS

To make your Lean six sigma project successful, keep the below points in mind:

Customer is God

Always satisfy the customers by fulfilling their expectations for quality products and value for money. Shower maximum benefits upon the customer as per market trends.

Eagle eye on problems and solutions

Always concentrate on the root cause of the problems and try to work on their amicable solutions. Select a scientific approach for detecting the exact field of the problem by collecting data and further focus to correct that particular field with the help of LSS methodology.

Streamline the process

Try to avoid complicated and lengthy solutions to solve the detected problems. Cumbersome solutions always increase waste and decrease quality hence choose simple and streamlined processes to solve the problems.

Efficient teamwork, training, and proper conversation

The motto and development of the project should be clearly communicated to the concerned team members. LSS methodology ensures project smoothness and success by majorly altering and focusing on the management part. 

 Never act rigid and irresponsible 

Be flexible in improving or removing irrelevant and defective processes that affect the efficiency of the process. LSS’s goal is to succeed and not fail hence be responsible, and never hesitate to take a decision for tremendous change in management to ensure better quality and minimum wastage.

Why Lean Six Sigma?

Lean six sigma helps you to identify your customers’ needs. It explains to you how to care for your valuable customers. LSS helps in improving the efficiency and persuasiveness of the process line. 

By using methods, principles, and proper tools, the LSS methodology becomes one of the most efficient and effective ways to achieve goals in an organization. LSS not only reduces and removes waste, and problems but also improves process functions and customer satisfaction.  

LSS is now an established methodology that helps in achieving the highest level of efficiency and profitability for your organization globally.

Base pillars of LSS

Scientific approach: In this methodology, we use a systematic approach to clear up troubles by using a scientific mechanism.

Work ideology: LSS uses trouble management tools to identify and redefine the root cause of the problems and implement them completely.  

Data and process management: To achieve the best results Lean six sigma completely relies upon process improvement and data use.

All these three pillars work together and supplement each other to support the Lean six sigma methodology. By using the above techniques, Lean six sigma becomes one of the best methodologies for business improvement globally.

History of LSS

Bill Smith, an engineer by profession and American by nationality is the founder of this methodology. In 1986 when he was working with Motorola, he introduced this strategy which was later trademarked by the company in 1993. It is said that this methodology was influenced by the Kaizen model introduced by Japan. Lean and Six sigma were introduced in Japan and the US respectively. 

If we go back in history we cannot rule out the names of Eli Whitney, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Walter Shewhart, Edward Deming, Joseph Juran, and Eiji Toyoda who contributed their efforts towards the development of LSS.

Which organizations and processes are using the LSS methodology?

Although Lean is associated with the manufacturing process and Six sigma with quality, now LSS methodology has crossed the boundaries and is implemented almost in all business houses. 

LSS is globally implemented (even virtually) in various departments like information technology, customer-related services, HR, sales, marketing, finance, call centers, research and development, legal cells, etc. 

Many organizations are using the lean six sigma strategy to improve their work culture. Some of those are Government, Education, Banks, Medical, Hospitals, Railways, Aviation, Transportation, Media houses, and Telecom departments. 

Industries like Agriculture, Pharma, electronics, mining and other manufacturing units using Lean Six Sigma methodology are getting bright results. 

Closure Note

Lean Six Sigma is a simple, innovative, and scientific methodology that continuously works to improve your organization in achieving goals. By implementing the LSS strategy, industries, manufacturing units, virtual work stations, and departments can improve their profits, sales, teamwork, customer relationship, quality control, employee efficiency, salary & wages, chances of promotions, and overall business development. 

On the other hand, it lowers process wastage, cost of quality, and controls time management too. Hence industries, business houses, departments, and individuals who take the Lean Six Sigma certification enjoy all the above benefits.

The post Lean Six Sigma: Combining the Best of Both Worlds appeared first on OpEx Learning Resources.

If you’re in the managerial or strategy space, chances are, you might have heard of the terms business intelligence and business analytics. Sometimes, people use them interchangeably, which adds to the confusion because there certainly are important differences between them. However, what do these terms really mean and what are the essential differences between them? Read on to know that and more!

Business Intelligence is All About Data

Business Intelligence is when a manager uses data to drive operational frameworks in the company. It is common for the management of any company across industries to collect data from multiple sources and use it to improve workflows, efficiency, and quality.

A number of tools can be used to drive business intelligence: from simple spreadsheets to complex data mining software. 

Business Analytics is All About Predictions

Like business intelligence, business analytics too harnesses data from across sources, but there’s a key difference in how this data is used. Business analytics puts more emphasis on statistical techniques and using data to make predictions and craft strategies for the future. 

Business analytics is thus future-oriented. Oftentimes, business analytics relies on complex tools and leverages experts with skill sets ranging from computer data scientists to data mining.

The Difference Lies in Past vs Future

As you might have noticed already, the difference between business intelligence and business analytics lies in the time periods they are invested in. 

While business intelligence would give a manager an idea of their processes at a point in time in the past, business analytics would help them create personas for their future processes or customers, for instance.

There’s a significant overlap between both fields though, and experts differ in their opinions. Business intelligence is often used to get key insights about business which then form the foundation for further study and research that business analytics undertakes. 

Both paradigms use data at their core but the approaches differ. 

Description vs Prediction: Other Differences between Business Intelligence and Business Analytics

Business intelligence will often help brands create strategies and decisions for current challenges and problems at hand. On the other hand, business analytics will create strategies that deal with future operations.

Business Intelligence is often descriptive and business analytics predictive. Business Intelligence (BI) typically deals with dashboards and visual aids to understand data and use it to drive decisions. Data is examined in the form of reports and tables customized for user personas: managers, analysts, leaders, etc. 

Business Analytics (BA), on the other hand, has a complex toolset, including software applications and tools. While BI deals with big data, BA harnesses that big data and makes sense of it for key decisions that will shape the future of a company.

Similarities between BI and BA

There are a lot of commonalities between Business Intelligence and Business Analytics. Both rely on harnessing data. Similarly, both will analyze large data sets with different aims. However, analysis is an integral part of both approaches. 

The source of data is diverse— data gathered from surveys, organizational data, data from across customer touchpoints: everything goes into the data pool. A variety of statistical and data modeling tools are used. Common BI and BA solutions include SAP Analytics, SAS Analytics, Zoho Analytics, and others.

Wrap Up

Both business intelligence and business analytics are terms used interchangeably in business parlance but they actually differ considerably. While business intelligence is more concerned with harnessing data to understand past situations, business analytics concerns itself with using data to make predictions for the future. 

While some experts believe Business Analytics forms a part of the broader Business Intelligence approach, others believe it’s the other way round. The ideal approach, in the end, is to use both BI and BA to the best effect. The aggregation of data is common to both frameworks and so is analysis. 

Companies can bolster productivity, improve efficiency, and cut down costs with the use of an amalgamated strategy that blends the power of business intelligence and business analytics. The result will be an approach that gathers data and converts it into digestible and actionable insights. This will help brands see a bird’s eye view of their businesses and see where they’re heading.

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Lean is a buzzword of modern times and a very prominent one at that. You’ll find businesses around the world, big and small, using the lean methodology to improve efficiency and reduce waste. But what really is the lean methodology? If you’re just starting in this sphere and would like to know more about the unique advantages lean brings to the table for your business, stay tuned! 

Lean Fundamentals

Lean has its origins in the manufacturing industry so you’ll see a lot of parallels in the lean DNA with that sector. That said, the principles of lean are extremely versatile and apply to businesses in diverse industries. If there’s one thing at the very core of lean, it has to be continuous improvement. That’s really what lean is all about.

Understanding the Customer

It is crucial to understand the needs of the consumers before we set out to improve processes. Referred also as the customer value, this is how much your customer is willing to pay for your products or services. There are several ways to identify customer value, such as using analytics and interviews. Once complete, this exercise will leave you with a better idea of who your customers are and what they really want. 

Identifying Waste

Once the customer value is identified, it’s time to look out for activities and processes that can be deemed ‘waste’ and removed for the better. In general, those activities that do not contribute anything to increase value for the customer are considered wastes. Businesses should strive to eliminate waste as much as possible or keep it at the absolute minimum.

Ensure Seamless Flow

The third step involves creating a seamless and smooth flow from one value-adding activity to another. This typically involves removing all roadblocks and interruptions between processes that contribute value. Consider breaking down processes into smaller, more manageable ones, and training your workforce so they can add more value.

Deliver Just-in-Time

Any business must strive to reduce their stores of inventory as much as possible. This is a great way to reduce waste. Called a pull-based system, this technique ensures just-in-time delivery which means your services/products will only be produced at the precise moment when they’re actually needed, thereby minimizing any excess waste.

Reduce Errors

Every cog in the machinery of your business should work towards achieving perfection as closely as possible. This will reduce errors and help increase value for your customers. Start with one process at a time and work upwards until you reach the very top of the hierarchy. While this might seem complex and overwhelming, it’s really an incremental process where you get better and better at what you do, one day at a time.

Waste Fundamentals

Waste is one of the ideas central to the lean methodology. Let’s try to understand waste a little better in this section. Lean has very structured ideas about what waste means. For instance, if people or materials move around a lot during manufacturing without a significant value increase for the customer, it’s better to minimize such motion.

Similarly, if you have a lot of inventory, it’s time to cut down on the same and only produce as much as is needed at the right time. It’s also important to study how processes interface with each other. If they’re not in sync, one process will produce an output without the other one being ready to receive its input. This will lead to unnecessary waiting and thus, waste. Keeping processes in sync is one of the central goals when it comes to reducing waste.

Errors in quality, also called defects, are also a type of waste. If a lot of unnecessary transport of goods or materials is involved from production to consumption, that’s considered a waste too. 

Conclusion 

Lean methodology is one of the most groundbreaking philosophies with far-reaching implications across sectors. Lean helps reduce waste, improves quality and efficiency, and helps in the maximal utilization of the resources at hand in a sustainable manner. 

No matter which industry sector you operate in, lean can help make a big difference to your business and bring you a step closer to the desired business outcomes. What’s more, lean helps improve value for the customer, which bolsters customer satisfaction in profound ways. This ensures your customers stay happy and keep returning for your products and services.

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The Business Intelligence Dashboard or BI is a business tool that measures, examines, and analyzes data with the help of selected Key Performance Indicators of that business to evaluate business performance. BI dashboard comprises tables, charts, diagrams, and other tools that explain the insights of business processes to the user by using the captured data.

Data extracted from various sources might be combined, examined, and analyzed in smart business intelligence dashboards easily. 

Among the best features of the Business Intelligence Dashboard, the important ones are the data extraction abilities from different sources, custom-tailored interface, and data interactivity. 

A BI dashboard not only permits users to envision typical data and its process but also provides a summary of the business performance of various periods.

Why BI dashboards?

• For accurate data analysis using key performance indicators
• For better business decisions
• Latest and most accurate technique over manual analysis methods
• Smart and dynamic business tool
• It helps stakeholders to act, make decisions, and review

How can BI dashboards help to improve business?

• Use of BI dashboards minimizes the time of employees resulting in better business process efficiency and performance. 
• Keeping in view the various business activities and trends, BI dashboards select the best trends and avoid the outdated and non-profitable trends thus securing the business.
• BI dashboard solutions guide the user to walk ahead of his competitors by analyzing huge complex data. It also helps the management to keep an eye on the activities of the competitors. 
• By analyzing accurate and actual data, BI dashboards help you with the best returns from investments.
• It helps the user to improve relations with the customer and also increases customer satisfaction by analyzing the attitude, pattern, and behavior of the customer.

Which factors are important for BI dashboard designing?

• Accurate, precise information and data to identify business problems and business goals.
• Mark your requirements to design the right dashboard according to the nature of your business. For data analysis and trends select Analytical dashboards. For simple and real-time data, choose Operational dashboards that target KPIs. If you wish to expand and improve your business strategy then Strategic dashboards are the right choice. To deeply explore the internal business processes, middle-level management uses Tactical dashboards.  
• After deciding the properties and nature of the correct BI dashboard for your business, just make an effective and simple design. 
• Create an effective, efficient, and compact story with your data that will convey the desired messages and fulfill the requirement of the listeners. 
• The background is very important to represent data in the dashboards. Without the background, data is meaningless. Hence it is a must to furnish data with the context to make the dashboards effective and efficient. 
• Make BI dashboards interactive by adding features that improve their interactivity. 

Benefits of BI Dashboards

• It provides clear data analysis and the position of the business in the present changing scenario of the market.
• It provides effective, efficient, and flawless time-saving management. Data could be checked in no time.
• Using data and past information, the future demand and supply of business can be predicted. 
• It uses key performance indicators that guide managers to improve business processes for achieving business targets. 
• Using BI dashboards, business houses can control the inventory that minimizes the risk of stock shortage.
• It provides current and real-time customer behavior that leads to better customer understanding for business growth.
• It helps corporates and managers in taking the best decisions according to the business status and market conditions.
• Its mobility and simplicity provide the users with freedom and peace of mind.

Limitations of BI dashboards

• If not designed intelligently the complexity of data will complicate the process.
• Manual entries of supporting data
• Based on a different technology from the other existing business software that is sometimes difficult to understand. 
• Employees use metrics according to their requirements which creates a data cluster.

It is evident that the benefits of Business intelligence dashboards overpower their limitations. Hence effective and intelligent implementation of BI dashboards with proper training may take your business to new heights. 

Conclusion:

We have seen that Business Intelligence Dashboards can be designed easily and are simple and user-friendly. 

Using the BI dashboards, managers of business houses can make positive decisions that lead businesses to success. BI dashboards minimize human errors and filter negative trends that result in business growth.  

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What are KPIs?

KPIs or Key performance indicators may be defined as an analytical approach to evaluate your company’s performance for achieving business goals. By using KPIs, organizations may appraise business success in achieving targets and also keep their focus on the performance output of business along with an eye on the working of various departments like HR, sales, and marketing.

In other words, the Key Performance Indicator is an approach to calculate the success of a business house and its progression in fulfilling its goals.

Most corporates and the higher management of an organization use key performance indicators to find out and study the features required for a successful business. Constructive key performance indicators always concentrate on the functions and processes related to the business of the organization that are beneficial in achieving goals and targets too. 

KPIs for all business setups are different according to the structure and nature of the organizations and their business preferences. In other words, we can say that the key performance indicators for a new start-up business would be entirely different from a public limited company and a private limited company. Hence KPIs differ from organization to organization based on business priorities. 

Interestingly the senior managers holding different positions in the different departments of an organization have different ideologies for KPIs. As far as different key performance indicators are concerned one manager might prioritize profitability, another one sales, a third one marketing and customer satisfaction, and so on. In a successful organization, a blend of different KPIs is used for better performance and goal achievement.

Why Key Performance Indicators?

1. It is an analytical approach that guides senior managers and management as to what changes in the business process can improve performance for achieving desired goals.
2. Corporates can judge the actual status of their business by using KPIs.
3. If properly used, the Key Performance indicators can warn the user about possible future business problems and guide them to protect their business investments.
4. KPIs application motivates and involves employees to improve the performance of the business process which certainly results in the success of the business. 

How to select the appropriate KPI?

The selection of correct and appropriate KPI is very important. This will involve and motivate all the employees for better performance to fulfill their organization’s goal. On the other hand, the selection of incorrect and inappropriate KPIs will result in poor performance and a fall in business achievements. While choosing the right KPI, the following points should be kept in mind:

1. Always measure the correct articles to fetch the business goals and objectives and to also improve the efficiency of your team members. 
2. Evaluate and analyze business processes, organization’s ideology, and overall business goals. 
3. The mindset of every individual, corporate and senior manager is different according to the nature of the business and its goals.

KPIs: What should be measured?

Nowadays in the global business market, the accurate calculation or measurement of business performance is very simple and fast. An intelligent Data analyst always concentrates on an organization’s key performance indicators and their tracking the right way. The most important point is to decide which things should be measured. Some simple guidelines for your reference: 

• By extracting the requirements of each department, detach all the problem points one by one.
• Recognize and concentrate on your main organizational goals. 
• Just keep in mind which factors can improve the process and employee efficiency for achieving business goals.
• As a data analyst, go deep into analyzing metrics.
• After selecting decisive KPIs, try to split them. Consider the best 8 to 10 KPIs to achieve a company’s goal into an accurate metric.  
• The sole purpose of key performance indicators is to obtain targets and set goals for quantifiable amelioration.
• Spare some quality time and choose the most appropriate KPI rather than opting for mix and match.
• With the help of selected 8 to 10 KPIs, analyze the data and start data design.
• Examine data sources, guess the intricacy of data design, and develop the correct BI tools.
• Split the selected KPI into its data element.
• After connecting KPI data to your work process, constitute metrics effectively.
• To keep everyone on board, design a bilateral and exceptionally perceptible dashboard.

Winding up: Notes

As a data analyst one should utilize the data in an effective manner for the best results. Ask questions for better evaluation and for efficient and transformative data analysis. Someone once said, “if you can’t measure, you can’t manage”.

Key Performance Indicators are one of the best techniques that evaluate business performance and help in achieving business goals globally irrespective of the business nature, location, and departments. It is evident that without calculating and evaluating the business process and activities, you can’t get success in business, and KPIs help in achieving business goals by evaluating and analyzing customer data.

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There are a number of techniques for achieving success in your business. Among them, Six Sigma is one of the most effective and systematic ways. In the Six Sigma method the following steps are adopted:

1. Know the problem by considering all the related facts
2. Work on innovative ideas by working on ingenious tools
   • Selecting the most relevant solution to the problem by selecting the right tools
3. Connect shareholders and plan their participation
4. Careful execution of ideas and solutions
5. Double check the desired benefits 
6. Final production of a feasible entity

Six Sigma is an established and tested way that manages and implements the above points.

Proper planning of the project is very important to make a project successful. Planning includes proper time management for concept development, main events identification, discussion with stakeholders, development of a detailed plan, the selection and use of appropriate tools, exploring ideas by conducting workshops and group discussions and finally blocking the time schedule.

Determining the exact scope of the work and the required/desired outcomes 

After the detailed planning of the project we should focus on the span of the project to know the problem in a better way. After discussing the problems with team members and collaborators the scope of the project should be locked once.  

Six Sigma methodology is based on the DMAIC model.The pillars of the DMAIC model are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. DMAIC applications systematize trouble-solving processes by suggesting new innovative solutions that also makes the standard of results produced by organization processes better. 

If you wish to achieve success in your business, consider adopting the DMAIC model to make quality better, minimize flaws, and above all to ensure efficient cost control.

We should keep in mind that knowing the problem is very necessary for the right approach towards fixation of that problem. It is suggested to never rely on folk law to understand the problem, just follow the DMAIC approach to analyze the actual problem. 

After fixing the problem we should concentrate on the solution of the problem. Creative tools, selection tools, and decision-making tools help us in exploring innovative ideas and also in finding the best solution. The use of DMAIC, group discussions, and brainstorming strategies will help you in finding an optimal solution to the problem.  

Never neglect and ignore the stakeholders as they are the key persons who always undertake efforts to make your business successful. Involve and manage shareholders and team members with proper planning of their roles. It is believed that if you fail in proper stakeholder management, your project is likely to fail as well. 

Implementation execution is the most crucial phase of a project. Most of the projects are defeated due to poor implementation execution. Hence execution of implementation should be done with utmost care. Make this successful by involving team members, proper planning, understanding its magnitude, prior testing with tools and by involving business leaders.

It is well known that an organization’s financial performance is a very important factor. You should also consider the way the project is refined for stakeholders’ management. It is very critical to know the benefits; one can implement the idea and the solution only when the benefits are clearly visible. 

For better results, always make correct estimates timely, gather required information, never give up on performing difficult manual tasks to procure data, involve and encourage team members and stakeholders.

In the end, the end product should be sustainable. It should encourage business growth and help the business flourish without the involvement of the management and team members. The final product should be complete in all respects by the deadline. It should follow all DMAIC guidelines. 

A Few Last Words:

We’ve seen that if properly implemented, the Six Sigma methodology plays a significant role in achieving success for any project. Six Sigma increases efficiency and thus produces very high quality products. Organizations and investors should strive to adopt six sigma ways to achieve success in their projects. 

The management should develop a disciplined and coherent strategy for the implementation of the Six Sigma methodology that will take the organization to new heights of success and help achieve business goals.

Six Sigma is based on a solid foundation that is time tested and has been used by businesses the world over.

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What is Business Intelligence and how does it help to grow your business? 

BI implies the use and proper management of past and present data to improve the efficiency of a business. By implementing a Business Intelligence model, the management can take the best decisions to grow their business. 

Business Intelligence helps businessmen understand and analyze competitors’ and customers’ behavior as per the market trends. BI also guides how to improve business operations for better profits, achieve success, and solve problems amicably.  

Apart from the benefits mentioned above, BI also teaches you about business cost cutting, fingering out lacunas of the business operations, and improving employee satisfaction. In this discussion, we will learn 5 ways by which business Intelligence can transform your business in terms of business growth and improvement.

Consolidation and Management of Data

Data management and its optimal use are very important in business transformation. Proper data management and the integration of various business data is a very complex and difficult task. 

Business Intelligence strategy helps us in the integration of various data sets that lie in several softwares and spreadsheets in a smoother and simpler way with the help of business intelligence tools. 

The BI tools consolidate various forms of data in the present working software of the system and help us to analyze the data in real-time in a single place. Using BI we can see and observe the overall business image in the present market. 

Undoubtedly the integrated BI solution improves business operations and makes the business successful. By consolidating data, the business tools help the management in making the best business decisions, know their customers better, and make them aware of the latest market trends to achieve business goals. 

Save time by Prompt and correct decision-making processes

The business intelligence model organizes the unorganized data that helps the higher management executives to access and analyze the accurate information of their business. 

This time-saving and reliable process makes them ready to take the most efficient and best decision in no time for effective results. BI implementation minimizes the time factor and involvement of human error thus allowing you to spend the saved time on some other productive activities. 

BI provides authentic data information in minimum time which helps you in controlling the supply chain management and systems and an authentic prediction that encourages you to make decisions deliberately.   

Improving customer service

No business can flourish without satisfied customers. The Business Intelligence strategy gathers customers’ data and studies their behavior using customer relationship management software. 

By understanding the behavior of satisfied and dissatisfied customers you can improve customer service by involving and developing various techniques so that you may win customers’ trust.  

Using social media platforms the management may render personalized services to their customers. 

Providing business data at your fingertips

In the present market scenario, it is very important to carry your business information handy. The Business Intelligence model makes real-time business data available at your fingertips. 

Using Business Intelligence solutions, you can access related business data on your mobile phones, tablets, and laptops at any time from anywhere and may make instant decisions to grow your business. 

You can accomplish competitive benefits by using real-time data. The availability of data will help you in finalizing a deal, better serving your customers, and marketing and sales management. 

Estimating the ROI of your marketing approach

In this present competitive business atmosphere, it is very crucial and important to estimate the accurate ROI generated from the marketing strategy adopted by the management. BI model guides you on how to fulfill your business targets by providing real-time data and analytical reports generated on the basis of the data. 

This helps you in bettering inefficient marketing strategies in the light of a better return on investment. Apart from the big business houses, BI also helps in the growth of small businesses as far as the ROI of their marketing is concerned. 

BI model is not based on assumptions but on the reports generated from the actual data, thus helping you in making correct and accurate business decisions. Business intelligence analytics help you in rejecting ineffective and inefficient marketing strategies and in managing the marketing budget to improve the ROI of your business.

Summary

Business Intelligence is viable and beneficial for both big and small businesses. The real-time consolidated data of the business plays a very incredible role in business growth. The top management, employees, workers, and other executives may make fast, accurate and well-informed business decisions by using BI tools. 

The Business intelligence strategy helps business houses in cost cutting, improvisation of ineffective production processes, and in finding new business avenues. In brief, BI is absolutely essential for all businesses. 

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