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Quick reference
Roles and Responsibilities
The Lean Six Sigma methodology has defined roles of Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black Belt with respect to project leadership and execution.
When to use
The roles and responsibilities of Lean Six Sigma Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts apply whenever they are working on a Lean Six Sigma Project.
Instructions
Lean Six Sigma is a project based improvement methodology. Each project has a business goal, a start and end point, a plan, schedule, deliverables, and uses resources to accomplish the project work. However, Lean Six Sigma has some unique roles that are not found in most other project management methodologies – that is the roles of Master Black Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt, and Yellow Belt. (Some organizations have even more “belt” levels, but these are the most common.)
Lean Six Sigma projects have a set sequence of phases or stages – Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. There are a set of deliverables for each phase, often described through checklists or templates. Because the deliverables and high level sequence of activities are so well-defined, the level of project management activity is reduced for most projects. In addition, the focus of Lean Six Sigma projects seldom is on budget or schedule but rather on the technical efficacy of the work that is being done. This makes sense for problem solving and process improvement projects, since completing a project on time or on budget - but not actually solving the problem or improving the process - completely defeats the project purpose.
One area of project management that is still emphasized is that of project initiation. The project needs a clear charter or project boundaries and stakeholder support which is often achieved through the development and presentation of a business case.
This leads to a discussion of the roles and responsibilities of the “belts”. The Master Black Belt is the individual responsible for managing the Lean Six Sigma Program (rather than projects). This individual prepares the organization’s templates and checklists, conducts training of candidates for belt certification, and coaches teams as needed. In many companies, this individual does the business case for projects and once a project is approved, they assign the belts who will run the project. Most organizations have only one Master Black Belt.
Black Belts are the subject matter experts who implement the Lean Six Sigma methodology on projects. They are project leaders on large projects and often lead several projects simultaneously. In most organizations, this is a full-time position in the Quality Assurance organization.
Green Belts are also project leaders; however, they do not have the same level of subject matter expertise as the Black Belts. They are often leading smaller projects that are based in their area of responsibility. These are not full-time positions. When a Green Belt has a question or hits a barrier, they refer it up to a Black Belt or the Master Black Belt.
Yellow Belts are important team members on Lean Six Sigma projects. They are usually subject matter experts on the product or process being improved. They need to understand the Lean Six Sigma methodology, but they don’t need to be experts in all the tools and techniques.
Hints & tips
- Many organizations require that an individual have successfully led a Lean Six Sigma project before they can apply for Green Belt or Black Belt certification. This can lead to a “chicken or egg” problem. They are not qualified to lead the project until they have been certified, but they can’t become certified until they lead a project. The organization needs to establish clear and reasonable polices in this area.
- Yellow Belts should be knowledgeable in basic problem solving and process mapping skills, even though they may not know the statistical techniques of Lean Six Sigma.
- When an organization only has one Black Belt, that person is by default the Master Black Belt.
- Some organizations do not have any Black Belts, but rather rely on a consulting firm to fill the role of Black Belt and Master Black Belt. When a Green Belt hits a barrier, they contact the consultants for coaching on what to do.
- 00:05 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
- 00:06 Well, let's talk about Lean Six Sigma projects now.
- 00:09 I want to start this with a discussion of the Roles and Responsibilities of the Belts.
- 00:16 To set the stage for discussion of the roles of Belts, and
- 00:19 by that I mean Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts.
- 00:22 We have to start with a bit of a background on Lean Six Sigma projects.
- 00:27 Lean Six Sigma is a project based methodology, by that I mean,
- 00:30 that there is a start, a finish, and a plan for what you will be doing.
- 00:35 In fact, the Lean Six Sigma methodology Define, Measure,
- 00:38 Analyze, Improve, and Control
- 00:40 provides a high level plan for the project. At the end of each phase or
- 00:44 stage there's a normally a toll gate or phase gate meeting with the stake holders.
- 00:49 To demonstrate that the work of preceding phase is complete and
- 00:53 based on those results a plan for the upcoming phase is presented.
- 00:57 Many organizations also provide templates and
- 00:59 checklists that the project leader, normally a green belt or black belt,
- 01:03 can use to help them plan and manage the project.
- 01:06 I'll provide a few of those in later sessions of the Green Belt and
- 01:09 Black Belt programs.
- 01:12 One thing that is a little different about the Lean Six Sigma project, as compared
- 01:17 to most projects, is that the emphasis is undoing a specific activity and
- 01:21 analysis, not upon meeting a scheduled date or a budget number.
- 01:25 That is not to say that cost and schedule are irrelevant, just
- 01:28 that they normally take a back seat to the Lean Six Sigma analysis and techniques.
- 01:33 And that makes sense for this type of project, it doesn't do any good to claim
- 01:37 that you'd completed a problem solving or process improvement project on time and
- 01:42 on budget, if you didn't actually solve the problem or improved the process.
- 01:47 So, since these are projects some of the normal project management stuff applies,
- 01:52 in particular this applies to project initiation.
- 01:54 You still need a business case for approval,
- 01:57 and large projects should have a charter.
- 01:59 Smaller projects, they're often lumped together into a portfolio,
- 02:03 such as a portfolio of projects to improve the processes in a manufacturing assembly
- 02:07 operation.
- 02:09 In this case, the local management and
- 02:11 stakeholders will pick specific projects for analysis.
- 02:15 You've heard me mention the Belts already, and the roles of the different Belts
- 02:19 are a crucial element of Lean Six Sigma project management and execution.
- 02:23 I'll start at the top with the Master Black Belt.
- 02:26 This is the person who runs and administers the Lean Six Sigma program for
- 02:30 an organization.
- 02:31 Most organizations have only one Master Black Belt.
- 02:34 The individual is the senior subject matter expert for
- 02:37 Lean Six Sigma, and spends much of their time training and
- 02:40 coaching the other Belts in the organization.
- 02:43 Next is the Black Belt, these individuals are also subject matter experts,
- 02:48 normally they are full time positions.
- 02:50 As a Black Belt, an individual is often leading a major Lean Six Sigma project and
- 02:54 often they're, also acting as an adviser for
- 02:57 smaller projects that are being led by Green Belts.
- 03:01 So let's look at the Green Belt role.
- 03:03 These individuals are knowledgeable and competent in all areas of Lean Six Sigma,
- 03:07 although they may not be in the expert category like the Black Belts.
- 03:12 They are often leading Lean Six Sigma projects within their department or
- 03:16 area of expertise.
- 03:17 As such, the Green Belt duties are normally not their full time job.
- 03:21 But rather, they're using their Green Belt skills to augment their normal work.
- 03:26 Next is the yellow belt, these are team members on Lean Six Sigma projects.
- 03:30 They are normally on the project because of their product or
- 03:33 process subject matter expertise.
- 03:36 And now well, not leading the project they need to understand the methodology to be
- 03:40 active in capable contributors.
- 03:42 Some organizations have additional Belts,
- 03:44 which provide further differentiation among these categories.
- 03:48 But these the common ones found in almost all programs, and
- 03:52 these are the ones for which IASSC offers certification.
- 03:56 Let me draw a picture of how these are normally structured, and
- 03:58 we'll start with a Master Black Belt for this organization.
- 04:02 In large organizations there will be several Black Belts,
- 04:05 who are running the major projects.
- 04:07 Now a smaller organization, there may only be one other Black Belt and in fact,
- 04:12 the Master Black Belt may also be in this Black Belt role of running a project.
- 04:16 You notice that this Black Belt is running two projects, each of these projects have
- 04:21 several other team members, some are Yellow Belts, some are not.
- 04:24 Then there are Green Belts who are also running projects.
- 04:28 Again the project teams have both Yellow Belt team members and team members,
- 04:31 who may not have achieved any Lean Six Sigma certification.
- 04:35 Those individuals who are not Belts are often going through training and
- 04:39 preparing for Yellow Belt certification.
- 04:41 The project experience helps them to understand the practical
- 04:46 application of the Lean Six Sigma principles and techniques.
- 04:51 The roles of Black Belts, Green Belts, and
- 04:53 Yellow Belts are the leadership roles in Lean Six Sigma projects.
- 04:57 These individuals will plan and manage the projects.
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