Six Sigma Fighting For Change....

Six Sigma professionals frequently hear the reverberations of generations of contented and discontented workers: "Nobody likes change", "I've done it this way, my father did it this way and I see know reason to change" Bringing about change is never and easy task and in business you can often be bombarded by objections and reasons for people 'avoiding change'.

Living in an era of unsurpassable levels of change, brought about by the tidal wave of new technology we now live in an age where new ideas constantly shift and reshape the world around us, where things never really remain the same for long. Rewind 100 years and this level of rapid change would have been unthinkable. With change comes stress and inevitably people try to hold onto what they know, after all familiarity appears to hold a little security in an ever changing world. For a successful Six Sigma program to take hold and streamline processes a change culture needs to develop and embed itself in a company.

Looking through the smoke screen however will take you closer to the truth, people fear change as they feel it will inevitably make their lives more difficult, raise issues that may show their function "their reason for being" to be unnecessary or defunct.

Through the application of Lean Six Sigma you have the ability to make people see that change doesn't have to be feared but can instead be embraced. If you can capture the heart and minds of the shopfloor, then you will have one of the most powerful weapons in your fight for change. If you can show the "shopfloor workers" the benefits of change and actually make their lives easier bring about self respect and a perceived shift in power then the shopfloor person will be a key voice in the success of your deployment.

Breaking down the 'them and us' attitude and getting ideas to come forth from the shopfloor will give you the voice of reason to gain buy in from the bottom up and leave common sense and the bottom line to appeal to the top.

We all like a voice of reason and when change is seen as causing no harm, it is easier to digest and embrace. One a momentum gathers amongst the shopfloor and we can open our ears and listen to the workers a fledgling change program is given a great start in life.

The boxing gloves may not be laid down at this point as sure there will be work to be done, obstacles to overcome, but your chances of going all 15 rounds will increase with a key chant of supporters in favour of change.