Choosing to implement Six Sigma into your business is not a task for the faint of heart. Implementing Six Sigma is a huge undertaking and the reality is, most Six Sigma projects will fail to meet their objectives. That’s why it can be a good idea to hire a Six Sigma consultant to work with your company.
A Six Sigma consultant is someone who is specially trained not only in Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma but in helping other companies implement Six Sigma in their businesses.
When it comes to hiring a Six Sigma consultant, you will definitely have your pick – there are thousands of consultants out there willing to work for you. Not every Six Six Sigma consultant will be a good fit for your or your organization, however. You’ll need to put some thought into finding the consultant that is right for your business.
Why Should I Hire a Six Sigma Consultant?
As a business owner, it can be hard to delegate certain responsibilities. One of the most important decisions many business owners will make is knowing when it is time to hand over certain responsibilities to other people.
You may feel like you have the power to implement change within your organization but is there someone who could do it a little bit better? Here are three reasons you should consider hiring a Six Sigma consultant:
Lack of Bias
Let’s face it, it’s impossible for you to be completely objective about any challenges that your company faces.
When you are implementing Six Sigma, you are implementing an entirely new set of tools and way of running your business.
It can be helpful to have an unbiased, fresh perspective on the challenges that your company faces.
Six Sigma Knowledge
The right Six Sigma consultant has already successfully implemented Six Sigma in other organizations.
By outsourcing this task to someone who knows more about Six Sigma than you do, you free yourself up to focus on the more business important tasks that only you can do.
Willing to Take the Fall
When mistakes (both large and small) happen they can lead to a lot of fallout and finger pointing within an organization.
And when you are implementing Six Sigma, some mistakes are bound to happen along the way. Sometimes it is easier to have a Six Sigma consultant to blame rather than dealing with a lot of company in-fighting.
How to Choose the Right Six Sigma Consultant
It is important to choose the right Six Sigma consultant the first time around as choosing the wrong person can be a costly mistake. Not only will it cost you time and money but it could cause your employees to lose faith in you.
On the opposite end, choosing the right Six Sigma consultant could help you transform your business and save you thousands of dollars in the process.
As we’ve mentioned before, consultants are removed from the office politics of an organization. This means they can approach problems with a fresh outsider’s perspective that can be helpful.
It is possible for business owners to implement changes within their organization but the right Six Sigma consultant may be the best person to lead this effort. Here are four suggestions for choosing the right Six Sigma consultant:
Define the Criteria
This may sound like obvious advice, but if you don’t know what you are looking for then you are unlikely to find it. On the flip side, you may end up with someone who is the opposite of what you were looking for.
Before you begin to interview Six Sigma consultants really take some time to think about what specific needs your company has. What qualities are you looking for in a Six Sigma consultant?
Culture Fit Matters
A good professional relationship should be based on shared values and mutual respect.
For that reason, it is important that you choose someone who can fit in well with your company’s culture. Employees are often very resistant to change so it is a good idea to hire a consultant who will be able to relate to them.
Find out what that person’s general strategies are to solving problems and approaching employee resistance. It is important to choose someone with good communication skills who will be able to effectively communicate what they are doing and why it is important.
Interview a Variety of People
It is important to point out that this should not turn into a fishing expedition or an excuse to procrastinate.
You don’t need to interview hundreds of Six Sigma consultants and it should not take years to find the right person. You’re choosing Six Sigma consultant to maximize your time, not waste more of it so try to search smarter, not harder.
That being said, you should interview a variety of people until you have a sense of who will be the right person for your company.
Ask for References
The best way to get an idea of who someone is is to talk to other people they have worked with. Talk to other business owners that person has worked with and get their feedback. If enough other respected professionals feel that that person is reliable, honest, and trustworthy then you can probably feel good about hiring them.
Related Questions
What is a Six Sigma consultant?
A Six Sigma consultant works with companies to eliminate errors and inefficiency everyday work. Think of them as problem-solving sleuths on the lookout for how to improve work — to make it smoother and better. They leverage data and special tools to identify why people aren’t feeling well and devise remedies that actually work. These pros lead teams in making things better, show others how to solve problems and help save money by making work more efficient.
How do I become a Lean Six Sigma consultant?
As a Lean 6 Sigma consultant, your career begins with certification – often a Green Belt then a Black Belt. You’ll need lots of real-world experience in solving problems in companies, lots of people skills, and the ability to explain difficult ideas simply. This is because for most successful consultants, they have 3-5 years actually working within companies before branching out on their own. Networking and getting a mentor in the field can lead to excellent opportunities.
Is Six Sigma good for consulting?
Six Sigma consulting can be lucrative as companies always require assistance in cost-cutting and quality. While other consulting categories can go in and out of fashion, the demand to make work better is a perennial one. And it could be even more valuable now, when companies are squeezed by rising costs and forced to do more with less. The best part is that you can actually see the impact that you’re having in the world – such as enabling a hospital to reduce patient wait time or a factory to save millions by fixing production problems.
How much do Six Sigma consultants charge?
The rates of the Six Sigma consultants are significantly different according to their experiences and needs of the project. Consultants new to the field can charge $1,000-2,000 per day, while experienced professionals can charge $2,500-5,000 per day. Some work for project-based fees between $20,000 and $100,000 and up. Some consultants also sell training packages, from $5,000 for basic classes to $25,000 for full company programs.
What industries hire Six Sigma consultants?
Manufacturing companies were the first to adopt Six Sigma, but now these consultants work everywhere. Healthcare institutions hire them to enhance patient care, banks farm them out to make loan processing quicker, and restaurants bring them in to elevate customer service. Even government agencies and non-profits are looking for Six Sigma knowledge to help make their services better and less expensive.
What skills make a successful Six Sigma consultant?
In addition to their technical expertise, outstanding Six Sigma consultants must have superb people skills that can be used to motivate teams to embrace change. They have to be patient teachers and clear communicators, ready listeners. Problem-solving creativity is indispensable: the capacity to see old problems in new lights. So knowing how to analyze data is important; knowing how to help everyone understand complex statistics is even more important.
How long does it take to become a Six Sigma consultant?
For most people it takes 2-3 years to develop a skill set that will support your consulting business. This would be getting certified (6-12 months), working hands-on (1-2 years), learning business. But to become genuinely excellent at consulting takes longer – top consultants often work for 5-10 years to hone their skills and grow their reputation.
What’s the difference between a Six Sigma consultant and a regular business consultant?
Where the business consultant often showcases strategy and loosely-based enhancements, a Six Sigma consultant employs tools and techniques to address issues with data. They concentrate on minimizing variation in processes, and measuring improvements with great precision. If you imagine a business consultant as a general practitioner that prescribes overall health recommendations, the six sigma consultant seems like a specialist that treats symptoms with specific remedies for certain problems.
What tools do Six Sigma consultants use daily?
Six Sigma consultants use a combination of tools for problem solving including process maps, cause and effect diagrams, and statistical software. Even when they rely on humble tools like spreadsheets for data collection, they also turn to modern workflow software to track improvements. The trick is getting all these tools to talk to each other and to identify patterns and demonstrate that changes actually make a difference.
How do companies measure the success of a Six Sigma consultant?
Typical success metric is cost saved, time saved, quality improved. Good consultants do keep a close eye on these numbers — such as demonstrating how they reduced processing time by 40% or saved $500,000 in wasted materials. The best consultants also measure how well changes stick after they have left, how well they trained the company’s team to solve problems on its own.
