After reading the headline, you're probably asking, "What is Six Sigma and how can it help me?" In brief, Six Sigma is a measurement system and management philosophy, developed
originally by Motorola, which has spread to organizations large and small across the country.
The system is designed to help companies eliminate defects from existing processes and create new processes to enhance efficiency, profits and/or savings. The Greek letter
sigma refers to the standard deviation of a population. Six Sigma quality refers to the level of quality equivalent to achieving fewer than 3.4 defects per million
opportunities.
It may sound tailor-made for manufacturers, but Six Sigma can play a key role in building and sustaining a successful, metric-driven communications program. If you take the
time to rigorously review, analyze and improve the processes behind your communications initiatives with a Six Sigma program, you will produce higher quality output and free up
time and talent to focus on more productive activities.
A central tenet of Six Sigma states that if you can measure the number of defects that exist in a process, you can eliminate them and get as close to "zero defects" as
possible.
Another core principal was defined by management guru W. Edward Deming: "Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure to meet customer expectations are related to
deficiencies in systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better."
The Basics of Six Sigma
Six Sigma is typically divided into five consecutive phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. Each phase has several components that require detailed analysis.
- Define the problem; Identify customer needs - areas that they deem critical to success; Determine how best to measure the process
- Measure the defects; Map the process; Develop a cause and effect matrix; Measure the process based on earlier metric definition
- Analyze the process; Establish process capabilities; Determine factors that most impact process; Identify variation sources
- Improve the inputs; Screen potential causes for defects; Design new process; Implement new process
- Control the improvements; Develop plan to ensure and monitor success; Define; areas of potential weakness in the process; Monitor those potential vulnerabilities on a
regular basis
A Case In Point
To better understand the value of Six Sigma for PR professionals, let's look at an abbreviated summary of a communications project. An e-business needed to enhance the
credibility of its press and sales pitches by providing media and prospective clients with well-documented, compelling customer case studies. But the process to obtain, document
and approve a case study was lengthy and inefficient.
The company began a Six Sigma project focused on reducing the cycle time for generating completed customer examples and reducing the percentage of opportunities aborted.
Key Findings
After weeks of intensive effort - ranging from interviews with sales leaders to rigorous process mapping sessions to implementing a pilot program - the team uncovered the
following impediments to its process:
(1) there were insufficient conduits to the customer; (2) the sales account executive was apprehensive about approaching the customer for publicity purposes; (3) there were
low to no incentives for the AE to participate in PR activity.
After analyzing the data, the team developed a new process to decrease the number of defects. Some key outcomes include:
Conduct additional analysis at the beginning of the process to discern the likelihood that a specific example will be aborted.
Develop a brief, easy to use electronic tracking form for sales to complete that provides valuable data to PR team early in the process.
Audit tracking documents (i.e. duration, outcomes) every six months. In addition, measure and analyze new data, as well as determine the effectiveness of the new process.
As a result, the team reduced cycle time by 86 percent, while maintaining high quality customer examples for use in PR and marketing campaigns. Productivity of the team
increased because they spent less time on aborted opportunities and more time reaching measurable objectives.
Recommended Reading
This column is a brief look at a rigorous methodology. There are several books now on the market that cover Six Sigma in depth.
Check out these titles, available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble:
- The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola and Other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance
- Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Pocket Guide
- The Power of Six Sigma: An Inspiring Tale of How Six Sigma Is Transforming the Way We Work
- Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World's Top Corporations
- Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods
- The Six Sigma Revolution: How General Electric and Others Turned Process Into Profits
Reid Walter, Director; Global Marketing Communications; GE Global eXchange Services; 301/340-5985; [email protected]