LEAN SIX SIGMA

Deployment: 7 Stumbling
Blocks To Overcome
WATCH FOR THESE successful deployment strategy for any continuous improvement method

LIKELY PITFALLS
WHEN DEPLOYING
A hinges on an understanding of typical hurdles that must be crossed and
requires leaders to secure enough resources with a stalwart commitment
to attack common challenges.
For lean Six Sigma, it’s no different.
AND SUSTAINING There are seven common stumbling blocks that can impact the deployment and
maintenance of a lean Six Sigma program, especially in service industries.
A LEAN SIX SIGMA Granted, none are revolutionary or new to most practitioners, but each of us can
benefit from a refresher course to ensure we don’t stumble over these common
INITIATIVE IN A
obstacles.
SERVICE INDUSTRY
Stumbling Block One: Waning Support, Whining Management
SETTING.
A lean Six Sigma deployment must start from the top. I have seen companies
with senior leaders fully onboard with projects, the right people assigned, impres-
sive dollar savings projected and fantastic quality improvement goals.
Then, two months into the project, support wanes. Day-to-day work problems
rage at the senior level. Middle managers whine until it reaches senior leaders.
Projects are put on the back burner and resources pulled to extinguish those
By William daily fires.
Leaders must understand waning support will very swiftly kill any deployment.
“Mike” Kelly, Leaders must meet the time commitments for all team members, including each
Wells Fargo Master Black Belt (MBB), Black Belt (BB) and Green Belt (GB). For instance,
20% of someone’s time means one business day a week or one to two hours a day,
Home and not extra time on Saturday or an additional extra two to three hours each day. A
100% time commitment means working on projects the entire five-day work
Consumer week, not working seven days a week for 14 hours a day.
GB or BB candidates should be the organization’s top performers. This status
Finance Group should be seen as a growth opportunity, not punishment for prized employees.
Whining persists when roles aren’t clearly defined. During deployment, key
areas to cover are project or candidate selection, training or project timelines, and
a responsible, accountable, consultative and informative (RACI) matrix listing the
people and groups within an organization responsible for the deployment.
Example: At one organization, during an international logistic project to
improve cube use of transport trucks by 20% (see Figure 1), confusion over
resources stalled progress. Seasonal activity was specific for each region and wide-
ly known. Yet the stumbling block became predictable after a few months; con-
fusion on resources occurred during peak times when inventory was being dis-
tributed and transferred.
A lack of personnel and resources prolonged the project. Instead of waiting 12
months to get to the improve phase of the define, measure, analyze, improve and
control (DMAIC) process, the senior leader could have planned to use tempo-
rary staff during peak times and perhaps could have prevented a delay.
Tip to overcome stumbling block one: When championing a project, be aware of
upcoming business and resource pains. Budget or borrow for the project so it can be

16 I A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 I W W W . A S Q . O R G
 7 Stumbling Blocks to Overcome

Figure 1. Transport Truck Capacity Project Example

Open capacity

Desired
improvement

done quickly. The Champion

and other leaders might need
extra patience because:
1. This is the GB’s or BB’s
Standard
first project and he or she capacity Open capacity
is stepping out of his or usage Desired improvement
her comfort zone in learn-
ing lean Six Sigma.
Standard capacity usage
2. The GB or BB is transcend-
ing from an old job to a
new way of thinking.
Support and patience can
never be overused in a lean Six
Sigma project.
Another example: Whining
will definitely start if the projects
selected don’t impact top level
indicators in which senior lead-
ership are held accountable.
One company set out to
eliminate fraudulent or delinquent credit accounts ice level agreements (SLAs). For example, the goal
from being set up without a valid signature. The proj- might be to reduce an activity from five days to a half
ect would have required a simple crosswire to a signa- day, but the system only measures to a full day.
ture pad that would allow an instant signature to be Another goal might be to reduce warranty issues by
captured electronically, as shown in Figure 2 (p. 18). 30%, but most warranty issues do not occur for six to
Across more than 1,600 stores, the daily number of 18 months after the event. Both goals are data acqui-
account applications generate excess paper, mailings, sition issues but for different reasons. The SLA meas-
storage and work hours, and cost millions of dollars. urement does not have enough precision to assess
This could be eliminated with a simple wire, process improvement.
and programming change. Dollar savings projections Tip to overcome stumbling block two: When con-
continued to rise, making this project seem like a no- sidering a data collection or improvement goal, make
brainer. But it didn’t connect to any senior leader’s sure that the improvement can be attained within
top level indicators directly, so support wasn’t given that common measurement system. For the reduced-
and the fruit died on the vine. activity days example, a better goal for improvement
in that SLA scenario would be two days or less, or
Stumbling Block Two: Fitting Square somehow adjust the measurement system so it could
Pegs Into Round Holes measure in hours.
Data collection is critical in the service industry to
The biggest challenge in the nonmanufacturing ensure the right data are being collected and the data
world is data acquisition. There are piecemeal data are precise and accurate. It is also important to know
sources everywhere. Usually, financial data are the alternative data sources when information is delayed.
most robust data in the nonmanufacturing arena, but Another tip to overcome stumbling block two:
they are not very granular. Once the data collection has been established, it
Often, lean Six Sigma projects seek to improve serv- must be validated. Consider whether the data are

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7 Stumbling Blocks to Overcome
repeatable and reproducible. Don’t assume the
data are repeatable and reproducible just because
the company has always been using the data.
Don’t accept the notion that because the data are
not from a gage or an assessment that they cannot
be validated as repeatable and reproducible.
“Repeatable” can be defined as the ability for a
customer service representative (CSR) to help
customers solve the same problem the same way
every time. Reproducible can be defined as a dif-
ferent CSR helping customers solve a problem the
same way.
Another example: The measurement system for one
company’s project was a number of incoming fax
transmissions. The Champion and BB had confidence
in the number. After coaching the Champion and
mentoring the BB on the need for a “sanity check”
data validation, the results were astonishing. Volumes
on Sunday mornings numbered in the thousands.
Compared against the phone line usage, the tallies did
not match.
During a typical high volume period of the month,
there were significantly fewer faxes than phone calls.
By simply validating the accuracy of the counters at
high, medium and low volume time periods, two
issues were uncovered. Both ended up being signifi-
cant X’s in the projects’ resolution. Other tests were
done to ensure the counters were repeatable and
reproducible.
Often, when the source data are gathered and put
through an automated calculation on one or more
systems, the values might not be repeatable due to
computational reasons like rounding and truncating.
The values might not be reproducible because differ-
ent people assimilate the source data. The repeata-
bility might be impacted by timing issues that place
different values in the calculation stream.
Another tip to overcome stumbling block two:
When creating a new data system or fixing an old
one, consider ways to automate the measurements.
Automation typically is cost effective in the long term,
the repeatability and reproducibility is stable and pre-
dictable, and process improvement projects produce
a return on investment more quickly. The initial pain
is the physical cost and the creativity needed to build
the system.
Another example: During a web initiative, a com-
pany needed a measurement system to understand its
new features and promotions and how they drove
web use. Many ideas and scenarios were considered
for a measurement system. Eventually, a measure-
ment system was selected to count the number of
18 I A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 I W W W . A S Q . O R G
Figure 2. Signature Pad Project Example
New link to
signature pad
Application entry Existing point of sale
computer computer linked
to signature pad
clicks within the website beyond the new feature
screen and would tag the user. The system could
measure the tagged users’ frequency. The measure-
ment system showed the impact on targeted market-
ing and helped drive web use up and paper use down.
Stumbling Block Three: Projects,
Projects Everywhere
Once there’s some success with deployment of a lean
Six Sigma project, everyone wants in. Projects can start
mushrooming overnight. Unfortunately, enthusiasm
can be squelched when the same limited resources are
divided among 10 projects, and little gets done.
Businesses can lose focus, and deployments sink.
Senior leaders must stay focused on top level indica-
tors and focus appropriate resources on a limited
number of projects that impact the top level indica-
tors. The list of potential future projects can become
a project pipeline that can be prioritized based on
their impact on top level indicators.
Example: I have seen finance projects in which one
project’s end result improved lease turnover account-
ability, and a simultaneous project sought to improve
monthly full-time equivalent forecasting.
In both cases, Champions selected projects tied to
top level indicators and recruited GBs responsible for
the processes. However, the number of people and
projects exceeded the capacity of the resources
because multiple projects needed the same resources.
Tip to overcome stumbling block three: At times in
the service arena, project progression is like a bal-
ancing act: When everything seems to be well pre-
pared, something gets overlooked, and the team
stumbles off the wire. The Champions need to pro-
vide support to prevent failure.
Stumbling Block Four: Meetings,
Meetings and More Meetings
The service industry is built around communica-
tion. And often communication gets confused with

Figure 3. Typical Overloaded Lean Six Sigma Project Calendar
calling a meeting. When meetings are intertwined
with a lean Six Sigma project, it’s like driving a car
into a pit of quick sand. If it’s necessary for the proj-
ect to have many meetings, then the Champion will
need to allocate a team resource for those meetings.
This might sound extreme. But the individual who
sits in the team meetings must absorb the impact on
different areas and communicate those impacts at
the appropriate meetings, in addition to doing his or
her daily work. This person should have his or her
regular workload reduced to accommodate the
added responsibility.
Example: Undoubtedly, a calendar that looks like
Figure 3 would impede any project. During a docu-
ment generation and mailing verification project, the
GB was invited to meetings requested by the Champion
and deployment Champion after a major revelation
was uncovered in the analyze phase. The GB’s time in
meetings consumed 50% to 75% of his day, which ulti-
mately stalled the project from making improvements
and implementing the new processes. In this case, the
Champion could have been the spokesperson or
assigned an additional resource to the team. That
would have allowed accurate presentation of the find-
ings in all the relevant meetings and forums without
slowing or stopping the solution implementation.
Tips to overcome stumbling block four: Two meth-
S I X S I G M A
7 Stumbling Blocks to Overcome
ods used to effectively run meetings are time boxing
an agenda and token discussion meetings.
• Time boxing agenda items at meetings involves
following strict time limits on topics. The project
leader becomes the time enforcer.
• Token discussion meetings incorporate a token
object to signal to the group who is allowed to
talk in the meeting. Only the person physically
holding the token (such as a stuffed animal or a
stress ball) is allowed to talk. The project leader
controls the movement of the token and keeps
the token from being dominated.
In both of these meeting arrangements, only the
open action items should be addressed. The group will
move through the agenda, complete future action
item assignments and adjourn. Meetings do not need
to last two, three or four hours. Usually one hour is suf-
ficient. A goal of a team as it becomes a well-oiled
machine could be to have 30-minute meetings.
Meetings must be simple, direct and quick.
Stumbling Block Five: The Ever-Moving
Voice of the Customer
During project selection, many leaders want to
focus on what the customer is saying and start projects
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7 Stumbling Blocks to Overcome
based on customer perceptions concerning what is
wrong, broken or uncomfortable. In the service world
this is a great concept: If customers are happy, they
are likely to expand service, buy more products or tell
others about a great experience.
There are risks in any project selection, but beware
of squeaky wheel customers who want just their issues
resolved. All customers are important and should be
treated in that manner. But Champions must be
aware that pulling resources or diverting projects or
teams to squeaky customers should be carefully ana-
lyzed before making changes.
Example: Five BBs and GBs were tasked to attack
the top five customer experience issues and make
improvements. This approach immediately tied to
the top level indicators of overall customer satisfac-
tion and based the projects on an automated data
source. During the project, two of the five BBs and
GBs—well into the analyze phase—were pulled away
from the project and reassigned to a second project.
Squeaky wheel customers received poor service, and
a root cause and solution plan was needed quickly.
Emotions ran high and questions abounded:
• Was the initial work on the first project done for
nothing, and would rework be necessary when full
attention could be returned to the first project?
• Why are resources being pulled away from the
first project, which affects 100 times more cus-
tomers than the new one?
• Who does the squeaky wheel customer know at
the company to influence this reassignment
decision?
Undoubtedly, the team members were less enthusi-
astic to work on the second project and wondered if
they would be pulled away yet again.
Tips to overcome stumbling block five: Assessing
the voice of the customer can be done in many ways:
• Formal in-person surveys.
• Customer service call centers.
• Third-party surveys.
• Comment cards.
• Warranty cards.
• Online surveys.
Using any data that come from the customer will
give valuable insight into what types of projects
should be done. During the project, one of the
team’s first tasks should be to tie the customer data
to an operation business measure so it can be
assessed with daily operations and can help predict
20 I A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 I W W W . A S Q . O R G
what the customer will feel. In turn, making this
data-business measure connection:
• Prevents the pipeline of services from perpetuat-
ing this unwanted customer experience.
• Prevents the rework and repair from dragging
out over a long period of time.
Stumbling Block Six: The Black and Blue
Repercussions of Quick Hits
A quick hit occurs when focus is placed on a trou-
bled area and a commonsense, no-brainer solution
presents itself.
Example: A store was trying to sell vacuum clean-
ers. Sales were slow, and a team from corporate was
sent to investigate. The team even visited a competi-
tor for insight. The store had the latest inventory and
plenty of it. The competitor was selling similar brands
typically priced higher.
The team eventually observed something that
would seem obvious, but it wasn’t: The vacuums
needed to be on the floor for customers to touch and
examine closer, instead of high, out of the way on
store displays and inaccessible. Inventory needed to
be accessible for customers to pick up and buy.
In this scenario, the quick hit was to move every-
thing to floor level and put items within reach of
potential buyers. The move seemed like an obvious
answer, but the practice of displaying the vacuums
high and away from customers continued for a year
before it was changed.
Tip to overcome stumbling block six: One way to
approach quick hits is through a kaizen blitz. A prob-
lematic area is selected and everyone who works in the
area brainstorms for one day for solutions. Some go as
far as physically moving a process around to alleviate
bottlenecks, overburdened queues or redundancies.
Initially, kaizen blitzes can result in great accom-
plishments because they involve organized quick hit
task forces. The danger? They can be addictive and
pop up everywhere. The risk is that many changes in
any process will increase variability in the total
process. Associates need enough time and experi-
ence in learning the new processes so changes
become almost second nature.
Changing too many things at once can reduce the
ability of Champions to hold teams and associates
accountable for process changes. Teams and associ-
ates are more likely to return to the comfortable old
ways of doing business.
Another tip to overcome stumbling block six: Quick

hits can be very successful if they are deployed on a
controlled schedule, if change management is
deployed, and if controls are implemented. Bruises
occur when there are too many quick hits and control
is lost, affecting associates’ confidence.
Stumbling Block Seven: Not-So-Standard
Operating Procedures
Something as simple as answering the telephone can
be categorized as 101 different processes. Customer
perception is measured on consistent behavior with
managed expectations of change.
Example: One customer calling a company was put
into a “pooled resource.” Every time the customer
called, someone different answered using a different
script. Five customers wanting to return merchandise
experienced three different processes. Customers mail-
ing a payment could send the money to three different
addresses with dramatically different process times.
And everyone servicing the customers thought they
were following the same procedure.
One way to establish standard operating proce-
dures (SOPs) is to follow all of the supposed paths
and create process maps. Often, service companies
lack SOPs unless they are required to document and
audit processes as part of a Food and Drug
Administration regulation or ISO 9001 certification.
Creating these maps might require more help and
cause delays in the measure and analyze phase, but
they can be used to create best practices, identify sig-
nificant X’s and aid in writing SOPs.
Once process maps are identified, number values
can be added to process steps, such as head count,
value added time, rework percentage, cost per hour
of material, wait time, work in progress, and more
relevant numbers for each individual project. Adding
the data to the process map will clearly illustrate lost
productivity. The data also could be used in simula-
tion software to identify impacts and waste.
Example: One company couldn’t understand why
only half of the projected productivity capacity could
be completed during each shift. To improve produc-
tivity, the company made a capital investment in high-
speed scanning equipment.
During a lean Six Sigma project, a process map was
drawn and a time study was completed on the associ-
ates and the machinery. Company officials could now
see what was happening:
• The prep crew was reaching maximum capacity.
• The scanning associates were at barely 30% capacity.
• The scanners were at 5% capacity.
S I X S I G M A
7 Stumbling Blocks to Overcome
The bottleneck was removed by having the scanning
associates involved in some activities with the prep crew
until the time scanning associates started feeding the
scanners. This allowed the associates to closely watch
the scanners’ maximum paperwork capacity. This bot-
tleneck and misallocation of headcount was visible
from the process map, which then was turned into a
value stream map.
Before the lean Six Sigma project, plenty was said
about ideas to complete tasks and meet goals. But
nothing had been written down and best practices
were never studied or shared. The project followed
the DMAIC process, which clearly illustrated the bot-
tleneck that impacted productivity. But the value
stream map sparked the creation of an SOP. The con-
trol phase recommended an audit to ensure compli-
ance to the new process and include measures of pro-
ductivity to ensure significant changes in the process.
Tip to overcome stumbling block seven: People who
encounter SOPs are either completely resistant or 100%
enthusiastic. Usually, it depends on how much the SOP
relates to their tasks. New SOPs require behavioral
changes in humans, which is not like flipping a light
switch on or off. Human nature is to revert to a comfort
zone during times of stress. Even though audits are cost-
ly and classified as nonvalue adds, they are necessary to
ensure the behavioral change is maintained.
Audits can be a short term solution if the process can
somehow be measured and established as a proven
indicator of stability. Audits can also be used to identi-
fy nonconformance of procedures.
Always Look to Make Strides
Business dynamics and personalities can impact any
continuous improvement deployment in any industry.
There are common pitfalls to avoid in deploying and
sustaining a lean Six Sigma initiative in service indus-
tries. Organizational support, good data, effective
communication, listening to the customer, deploy-
ment wins, standardization and patience will increase
the likelihood of success for a lean Six Sigma initiative
in service industries. There is not a perfect system or
process, but common sense is a good tool to have in
the lean Six Sigma toolbox.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS ARTICLE? Please share
your comments and thoughts with the editor by e-mailing
godfrey@asq.org.
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