QualityTrainingPortal E-News
Lean/Six Sigma Champion Training
October 2006 - Vol 3, Issue 2
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Welcome to the October 2006 edition of QualityTrainingPortal's e-Newsletter! We have just released a new course, The Role of a Champion. In addition, we have added a new Resource Center to our website that includes information, forms and checklists that will help champions do their jobs more effectively.

Ray Mikulak, President of Resource Engineering, Inc.
by Ray Mikulak, President of Resource Engineering, Inc.

Champions play a pivotal role in a successful Lean Six Sigma initiative. They serve as mentors to project teams and act as a bridge between black belts and organization management. Without champions, efforts can become entangled with internal obstacles, become misaligned with core business objectives, lose focus and track of time, and may not yield expected benefits.

Champions are typically members of the executive or leadership group who sponsor projects and mentor teams working on those projects. To be effective, champions must be trained in the essentials of the Six Sigma Methodology. Champions do not need to be "expert" in Six Sigma tools and techniques but they do need to have proficient skills in facilitation, collaboration and conflict resolution.

In a Lean Six Sigma environment, champions:
  • Mentor, support and coach project teams.
  • Remove obstacles for project teams.
  • Verify that the direction of projects is aligned with
  • Keep projects focused on the Problem Statement.
  • Ensure timely completion of projects.
  • Drive quantifiable results of projects.
For more information on Lean Six Sigma Champions, check out our Lean Six Sigma Champion Resource Center.

Ray Mikulak is president of Resource Engineering, Inc. You can contact him at 800-810-8326 or 802- 496-5888 or by e-mail at raym@reseng.com.
Carolyn Burke, Customer Service Representative
by Carolyn Burke, Customer Service Representative

The Role of a Champion training consists of three lessons and a Challenge intended to allow learners to test their comprehension of the body of knowledge covered in the course. The course is about 2 to 3 hours long and introduces Champions to their role and responsibilities in a Lean Six Sigma environment. The three lessons are:
  • What Does a Champion Do?
  • System Systems for Champions
  • Pitfalls to Avoid
If you are interested in learning more about the course please visit our website, e-mail me or call me at 866-791-1003.

Carolyn Burke is Sr. Customer Service Representative. She can be reached toll free directly at 866-791-1003 or by e-mail at carolynb@reseng.com.
Robin McDermott, Director of Training
by Robin McDermott, Director of Training

Without a supporting infrastructure, champions will find themselves wasting time, energy and effort developing systems to help project teams, rather than mentoring and coaching them for success. Champions build their own support systems. Working subcommittees help the champions, as a group, divide components of the system into manageable tasks so that everyone does not have to be involved in every activity. Champions should consider subcommittees for each of the following six areas:
  • Communications
  • Training
  • Project Management
  • Metrics
  • Best Practices
  • Roll-Out
For more information on Lean Six Sigma Champions, check out our Lean Six Sigma Champion Resource Center.

Robin McDermott is director of training for Resource Engineering, Inc. You can contact her at 800-810- 8326 or 802-496-5888 or by e-mail at robinm@reseng.com.
We feel that forms and checklists are a great way to guide champions through their various responsibilities as champions. Please see our Lean Six Sigma Champion Resource Center to access downloads of FREE forms useful to champions. Forms include:
  • Project Priority Index Worksheet
  • Problem Statement Worksheet
  • Team Start-Up Worksheet
  • Meeting Minutes & Planner Worksheet
  • Project Review Checklist
  • Project Close-Out Report Contents
To access the Champion Resource Center, click here.

Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day to read our newsletter! We hope that you find the Lean Six Sigma Champion Resource Center valuable and that you will include our Role of the Champion course in your future Quality Improvement efforts.

Best regards,
Robin McDermott, Newsletter Editor
Resource Engineering, Inc.

phone: 800-810-8326 or 802-496-5888