How do you manage change and resistance when implementing DMAIC in Lean Six Sigma?

1 Define the problem and the benefits

Before you start applying the DMAIC methodology, you need to clearly define the problem you are trying to solve and the benefits of solving it. This will help you align your team and stakeholders on the project goals, scope, and expectations. You can use tools such as SIPOC, stakeholder analysis, and voice of the customer to identify the key inputs, outputs, and requirements of your process. You should also communicate the value proposition of your project and how it will impact the organization and the customers positively.

3 Communicate and collaborate with stakeholders

Another source of resistance to change is the lack of trust, understanding, or support from the stakeholders. To overcome this, you need to communicate and collaborate with your stakeholders regularly and transparently. You can do this by identifying your key stakeholders and their needs, expectations, and concerns, creating a communication plan that outlines the frequency, mode, and content of your messages, and engaging your stakeholders in the project activities, such as data collection, analysis, and validation. You should also seek feedback and input from your stakeholders and address any issues or risks that may arise.

4 Test and validate your solutions

Before you implement your solutions, you need to test and validate them to ensure that they are feasible, effective, and sustainable. This will help you reduce the risk of failure, waste, or rework and increase the confidence and acceptance of your team, stakeholders, and customers. You can use tools such as pilot testing, simulation, or control charts to evaluate your solutions and measure their impact on the process performance and customer satisfaction. You should also document and share your results and learnings and solicit feedback and suggestions for improvement.

5 Implement and sustain your solutions

Once you have tested and validated your solutions, you need to implement and sustain them to ensure that they are adopted and maintained by your team, stakeholders, and customers. This will help you realize the benefits of your project and prevent the process from reverting to its previous state. You can use tools such as standard work, visual management, or Kanban to facilitate the implementation and sustainment of your solutions and monitor their performance and compliance. You should also provide ongoing support and training to your team, stakeholders, and customers and review and update your solutions as needed.

6 Learn and improve continuously

The final step in managing change and resistance is to learn and improve continuously. This will help you foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in your organization and encourage your team, stakeholders, and customers to embrace change as an opportunity rather than a threat. You can do this by collecting and analyzing data on your process performance and customer satisfaction, identifying and prioritizing new opportunities for improvement, and applying the DMAIC methodology again to solve them. You should also share your best practices and lessons learned with other teams and departments and seek feedback and ideas for further improvement.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?