Successfully completing a Six Sigma project that helps reduce the variance in a new or existing process is only part of the battle. You also need to make sure that the brilliant ideas that the Six Sigma project team generated take root and prosper in your company.
To ensure that the fruits of Six Sigma labors don’t wither away on some forgotten piece of documentation, organizations have developed a change facilitation tool called the Change Acceleration Process (CAP). CAP helps win the hearts and minds of the people who will implement and use the new process every day to eliminate resistance and help the process become institutionalized.
CAP uses a simple framework to help understand and implement organizational change. This system recognizes that new processes go through three phases before they become a permanent part of the way an organization does business.
- Current State – The old process is still in place and employees who use the process may not know that process improvements could help them improve the way they do their jobs.
- Transitional State – As the new process is introduced, the CAP team works with front-line employees to spread the vision of the benefits of the new process and gain commitments to support the change.
- Improved State – Once the new process has been implemented, the CAP team focuses on keeping it going until it becomes a permanent part of business operations.
These three phases can be divided into five steps to help employees permanently embrace change:
Creating a Shared Need – The process begins by overcoming resistance to change through providing data and demonstrating that the change is needed.
Shaping a Vision – Everyone who uses the new process must share a sharp and commonly understood vision of the desired outcome. This vision needs to be clear enough to modify behavior.
Mobilizing Commitment – All parties involved in the change must be dedicated to making the new process work. They must be willing to make the changes in their behaviors and actions that the new process requires.
Making Change Last – Gathering positive momentum early in the adaptation stage is critical for making the change a permanent part of the way the organization does business. Give the change a long life by connecting it with other parts of the organization. Share what you have learned from the change with other parts of the company.
Monitoring Progress – Being aware of the processes performance helps the CAP team to correct actions that are not working and to measure progress toward key milestones. Measuring progress ensures the team’s attention remains focused on what is most important.
Modifying businesses systems and structures is a final element in making the changes developed in Six Sigma projects a permanent fixture in the organization. When a company truly believes in process changes, it will rearrange the way it communicates, trains employees, organizes, rewards, compensates and promotes to ensure that company policy is aligned to support the changes, and not working against them.
