Was it really worth it?
While working as the Training Manager, I was selected to attend an internal Six Sigma Green Belt Training Program. I had heard of Six Sigma, but didn't know too much about it. I was "old school" and had been extensively trained while I was in the Air Force in the TQM (Total Quality Management) concepts.
When given an overview of the training program and how I would potentially be utilizing the skills in my everyday work, I was completely excited to attend. It was a two week training with a month in between each week. The first day of training quickly came and I sat nervously waiting for the instructor to arrive. Within the first few hours we were throwing around numbers, looking at charts, curves, and having deep discussion about the interpretation of statistical data. Oh no! I haven't done ANY type of math, let alone statistics for over 10 years. I began to think that there should have been a pre-test or at least pre-requisites.
I finished the week of training and RAN back to my workplace to get started on my big cost-saving project. All of a sudden, everything that we had discussed in training was a blur. Was it because the information was wrong? Were the trainers not effective? Could this methodology be applied to my "assigned" project? My guess is a little of all of the above.
I did get something out of the training. I gained an appreciation for analyzing process and looking for waste and delays :). I was hooked! I started to read eveything I could on the topic of Six Sigma and joined ASQ (American Society for Quality).
After being recruited to work full-time in the newly formed Continuous Process Improvement Team, I had the opportunity to attend Black Belt Training through ASQ. Boy, what a difference that made! A complete difference in the learning outcomes between the two programs! Was one better than the other? Who knows. The approach, content, delivery style, etc. was completely different. The problem is that organizations that are hiring Six Sigma personnel have no clue what goes on in these training programs. What are the objectives? Which one provides the skill sets that better meet the needs of the employer? These are the unanswered questions that are beginning to cause confusion and lessen the credibility of Six Sigma Training programs.
While working as the Training Manager, I was selected to attend an internal Six Sigma Green Belt Training Program. I had heard of Six Sigma, but didn't know too much about it. I was "old school" and had been extensively trained while I was in the Air Force in the TQM (Total Quality Management) concepts.
When given an overview of the training program and how I would potentially be utilizing the skills in my everyday work, I was completely excited to attend. It was a two week training with a month in between each week. The first day of training quickly came and I sat nervously waiting for the instructor to arrive. Within the first few hours we were throwing around numbers, looking at charts, curves, and having deep discussion about the interpretation of statistical data. Oh no! I haven't done ANY type of math, let alone statistics for over 10 years. I began to think that there should have been a pre-test or at least pre-requisites.
I finished the week of training and RAN back to my workplace to get started on my big cost-saving project. All of a sudden, everything that we had discussed in training was a blur. Was it because the information was wrong? Were the trainers not effective? Could this methodology be applied to my "assigned" project? My guess is a little of all of the above.
I did get something out of the training. I gained an appreciation for analyzing process and looking for waste and delays :). I was hooked! I started to read eveything I could on the topic of Six Sigma and joined ASQ (American Society for Quality).
After being recruited to work full-time in the newly formed Continuous Process Improvement Team, I had the opportunity to attend Black Belt Training through ASQ. Boy, what a difference that made! A complete difference in the learning outcomes between the two programs! Was one better than the other? Who knows. The approach, content, delivery style, etc. was completely different. The problem is that organizations that are hiring Six Sigma personnel have no clue what goes on in these training programs. What are the objectives? Which one provides the skill sets that better meet the needs of the employer? These are the unanswered questions that are beginning to cause confusion and lessen the credibility of Six Sigma Training programs.