All of the “Belts” play various roles in the Six Sigma project. Green Belts and Black Belts are allowed to commence, expand and lead projects in their functional areas.

Project Implementation

Green Belts are those employees who are trained to implement Six Sigma projects under the guidance of the Black Belts to achieve the desired goals. They carry out these activities along with their regular responsibilities. Green Belts spend around 25-50% percent of their time involved in the Six Sigma projects. They are aware of all the important activities that they have to carry out.

They should be able to explain the importance of the y=f(x) formula to the business and the processes. They are trained in the various tools needed to carry out the data collection and for validating the measurement system. They are also well-trained on DMAIC methodology and statistics.

The Black Belt coach imparts detailed instructions on the statistics and creation of histograms and pareto diagrams. This experience is valuable, and their prowess with Six Sigma methods helps them in getting promotions and incentives within the organization.

Upper management also reviews the Six Sigma Green Belts’ projects and provides the necessary feedback on developments and shortfalls in the project path.

Monitor Project Progress

Six Sigma Green Belts are selected by the management team to receive either Six Sigma online or classroom training, or a combination of both on Six Sigma methods, tools and techniques. However, the Six Sigma training they receive on these tools is generally less than what Black Belts receive. The Black Belts carry out cross-functional responsibilities.

Green Belts carry out the project for their own areas of operations. Each company has its own set of Six Sigma certification requirements, which may include the completion of Six Sigma online training, written or online exams and completion of a project. Green Belts may be given incentives by companies to complete a project or even Six Sigma certification.

However, another company most likely will not recognize the certification of one company. Some companies require one project to be carried out to maintain the certifications. They need to carry out meetings with Black Belt coaches to review the project progress and seek improvements.

Understanding Benefits

With the Green Belts training, they are able to understand the benefits and gains out of the project success. They understand the relevance of the project to make the processes easier and the overall effect of it on the team and the organization as a whole.

Timely completion of the Six Sigma project is necessary before the tollgate review. Green Belts have to plan properly and stay in control of the progress of the project. The project should be strictly based on data; if Green Belt has no knowledge of finance, the Green Belt project will give them an opportunity to learn it, know about the issues faced by management, and to quantify the benefits.

Carry Out Tests

Six Sigma Green Belts know that tools exist, though they may not be using them. They will be able to calculate the average and standard deviation from the set standards of the various metrics; however, they are business professionals and not quality controllers. They will be able to carry out statistical tests using software such as Minitab and JMP.

Green Belts should be aware of the importance of preparing the Fishbone diagram to understand the basis of process defects. They will be able to help their bosses and co-workers by preventing defects. This will also help them in winning support for the Six Sigma project. Green Belts should be able to form a base for change with less resistance from co-workers, if they have shown visible improvements in the processes and the output.

Green Belts should start their projects only after top management commits to the necessary resources for improvement. They should share information with others above them, their co-workers and others who have a stake in the growth of the company.

These are a few things that the Green Belts should know. The list, though, goes on and on.

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If you’re worried about everything and anything you probably feel horrible and that life is a drag. The problem with worrying about things is that it doesn’t actually do any good in helping with your stress management. Worrying does not fix the problem it just makes you feel bad. If you feel bad you have no energy to do anything positive about the thing you are worried about.

So, maybe the best stress management tip is that you shouldn’t worry about anything at all. That won’t help either. Worry does have its uses. If you didn’t worry about the risk of standing in the middle of the road, you’re going to get run over. If you didn’t worry about having no food, you would spend all day in bed and not go to work and starve.

The answer is somewhere in between. Do not waste time and energy worrying about everything in life. Just go and do something positive about the things which most effect you. Even if you fail at first, keep trying until you fix the problems in your life which are getting you down or just accept them and move on.
Having said this, there are some things in life which you can’t really do anything about and so you should never be worried about them. Here are 3 no worry stress management events:

No worry stress management event 1: The small things in life. Too often we find things to worry about so we have something to focus on. Once they are solved we look for something else. Accept that this is a losing ticket as you will never solve everything. This is really just a way of avoiding doing the important and challenging things in life.  A way of keeping yourself busy.

No worry stress management event 2: Death. We all die eventually and there is nothing we can do about it. Most people are in reality worried about how they are going to die, not death itself. The worry can be about a painful or lonely death. Don’t waste the precious experience of being alive thinking about this.

No worry stress management event 3: What people think. All too often we imagine what other people think of us and we imagine it is negative. This is dangerous as it can lead to low self esteem and maybe even social anxiety disorder.  Understand two things; other people may not actually be thinking what you think they are thinking.

Even if they are, so what? No one is perfect and worrying about it will not change anything.
The list of things not to be worried about should really be everything, but it is human nature to worry. Stress management is understanding the difference between needlessly worrying about things which you can do nothing about and positively thinking about ways of meeting challenges which confront you.

Worry is a waste of time and energy and creates no positive outcome. It can even make you ill. Improving your stress management ability is focusing on developing a positive frame of mind, through simple techniques, leads to progress in your life and a sense of general well being. Stop being worried about things and start thinking positive.

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One habit separates the top 5% of competitors who win in life from the other 95% who just play: Goal setting. No surprises there. That is common knowledge.

But what about the 5% of us who DO set goals? The 5% of us who DO understand the importance of setting ‘proper’ SMART goals, goals that are properly written down, with a deadline, all neatly in accordance with the SMARTER principles of goal setting? The goals we have that are Specific, we can Measure them, we truly believe they are Realistic and we have given ourselves a realistic Time Frame for their achievement. Yet still, no matter what our level of passion, desire or commitment, these goals continue to allude us. They remain just that. Goals. Goals written down in our diaries, pinned up on our vision boards but very definitely goals not yet present in our lives. What about those goals? Have you had any of those??  Are you at a loss as to WHY these goals do not seem to be working for you at the moment, or, more specifically, what else it is that you need to do in order to achieve those goals? If so,  then I am going to highly recommend that you read a most amazing book that I recently discovered:  ‘With Winning In Mind – An Olympic Champion’s Success System’, written by Lanny Bassham, 3 X World Champion & Olympic Gold Medallist. (No commission in it for me, sorry). In my eyes, any book that starts: “Most people do not read introductions because most introductions are too darn long. So I made this one short…” has to be worth an afternoon of your time. In it, Lanny explains his approach to goal setting,  and outlines his 10 point ‘Mental Management Goal-Setting System’.

When you read it, you may have an ‘aha’ moment, similar to the one that I did. Let me outline that system briefly for you here, and maybe you will begin to  understand the missing steps to your success …. the reasons why some of your goals may not have been quite as SMART as you thought they were.

Step Number 1:  Decide Exactly What You Want – Find goals that excite and ignite you. This ties in very nicely with our Specific SMART goals.

Step Number 2:  Decide When You Want It – yep, Time Frame, we already understand that one too.

“A goal without a deadline is merely a wish”

Step Number 3:  List The Pay Value. This is interesting. The goal has to be exciting to you and it has to be personal to you. What is the personal value to you?  If the return on your investment is not high enough, you will simply not be prepared to invest the sweat equity required to realise your goal.

Step Number 4: Determine The Obstacles In Your Way. This is key. You must determine  the reasons why you are currently unable to meet your goal.  What must you do to reach your goal? What habits and attitudes must you change? Remember, nothing is going to get better until YOU get better. Nothing is going to change unless YOU change. Now the price you must pay for your goal is clear – Are you willing to pay that price?

Step Number 5:  What Is Your Plan To Get Your Goal?  Aside from a deadline, the other difference between a wish and a goal is that a goal has a written plan. Having identified the reasons why you are currently unable to meet your goal in Step 4, you must now prepare a written plan to overcome each obstacle. Are you prepared to do what it takes?

Step Number 6:  Ask Some Important Questions. “Is the Prize worth the Price?” “Is the pay-value worth the price I have to pay for it?” If not then something needs to change. Either the goal, the time limit or the plan. Now we are beginning to get to the nitty gritty of why it is that some goals always seem to remain just outside of our grasp. Decide this at the outset. Don’t get half way through your goal and then quit.

Step Number 7:  Schedule Your Plan. Break your goal down into the day-to-day things that you need to accomplish, and write those things into your diary. If your goal is not scheduled as part of your day, it will not get done.

Step Number 8:  Start Now. Fairly obvious, but how many times have we scheduled things to start tomorrow?

Step Number 9:  Never Reach  A Goal Without First Setting Another One. - Goals are what drive us. They keep us hungry. A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder, directionless and adrift.

Step Number 10:  Never, Never Quit!

So there you have it. Some insights to help you set your goals and keep them on track to success.

Good luck with your goal setting and good luck with your goals!

One habit separates the top 5% of competitors who win in life from the other 95% who just play: Goal setting. No surprises there. That is common knowledge.

But what about the 5% of us who DO set goals? The 5% of us who DO understand the importance of setting ‘proper’ SMART goals, goals that are properly written down, with a deadline, all neatly in accordance with the SMARTER principles of goal setting? The goals we have that are Specific, we can Measure them, we truly believe they are Realistic and we have given ourselves a realistic Time Frame for their achievement. Yet still, no matter what our level of passion, desire or commitment, these goals continue to allude us. They remain just that. Goals. Goals written down in our diaries, pinned up on our vision boards but very definitely goals not yet present in our lives. What about those goals? Have you had any of those??  Are you at a loss as to WHY these goals do not seem to be working for you at the moment, or, more specifically, what else it is that you need to do in order to achieve those goals? If so,  then I am going to highly recommend that you read a most amazing book that I recently discovered:  ‘With Winning In Mind – An Olympic Champion’s Success System’, written by Lanny Bassham, 3 X World Champion & Olympic Gold Medallist. (No commission in it for me, sorry). In my eyes, any book that starts: “Most people do not read introductions because most introductions are too darn long. So I made this one short…” has to be worth an afternoon of your time. In it, Lanny explains his approach to goal setting,  and outlines his 10 point ‘Mental Management Goal-Setting System’.

When you read it, you may have an ‘aha’ moment, similar to the one that I did. Let me outline that system briefly for you here, and maybe you will begin to  understand the missing steps to your success …. the reasons why some of your goals may not have been quite as SMART as you thought they were.

Step Number 1:  Decide Exactly What You Want – Find goals that excite and ignite you. This ties in very nicely with our Specific SMART goals.

Step Number 2:  Decide When You Want It – yep, Time Frame, we already understand that one too.

“A goal without a deadline is merely a wish”

Step Number 3:  List The Pay Value. This is interesting. The goal has to be exciting to you and it has to be personal to you. What is the personal value to you?  If the return on your investment is not high enough, you will simply not be prepared to invest the sweat equity required to realise your goal.

Step Number 4: Determine The Obstacles In Your Way. This is key. You must determine  the reasons why you are currently unable to meet your goal.  What must you do to reach your goal? What habits and attitudes must you change? Remember, nothing is going to get better until YOU get better. Nothing is going to change unless YOU change. Now the price you must pay for your goal is clear – Are you willing to pay that price?

Step Number 5:  What Is Your Plan To Get Your Goal?  Aside from a deadline, the other difference between a wish and a goal is that a goal has a written plan. Having identified the reasons why you are currently unable to meet your goal in Step 4, you must now prepare a written plan to overcome each obstacle. Are you prepared to do what it takes?

Step Number 6:  Ask Some Important Questions. “Is the Prize worth the Price?” “Is the pay-value worth the price I have to pay for it?” If not then something needs to change. Either the goal, the time limit or the plan. Now we are beginning to get to the nitty gritty of why it is that some goals always seem to remain just outside of our grasp. Decide this at the outset. Don’t get half way through your goal and then quit.

Step Number 7:  Schedule Your Plan. Break your goal down into the day-to-day things that you need to accomplish, and write those things into your diary. If your goal is not scheduled as part of your day, it will not get done.

Step Number 8:  Start Now. Fairly obvious, but how many times have we scheduled things to start tomorrow?

Step Number 9:  Never Reach  A Goal Without First Setting Another One. - Goals are what drive us. They keep us hungry. A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder, directionless and adrift.

Step Number 10:  Never, Never Quit!

So there you have it. Some insights to help you set your goals and keep them on track to success.

Good luck with your goal setting and good luck with your goals!

Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world history. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to recognize and realize in the course of reading books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about leadership.

1. Leaders come in different flavors.

There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators, congressmen, and presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.

*  Lewinís three basic leadership styles ñ authoritative, participative, and delegative
*  Likertís four leadership styles ñ exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative
*  Golemanís six emotional leadership styles – visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding.   

2. Leadership is a process of becoming.

Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership qualities, without the right environment and exposure, they may fail to develop their full potential. So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences. Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not become a leader in one day and just stop. Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your knowledge, skills, and attitude to a test.

3. Leadership starts with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life. As an adage goes ìaction speaks louder than words.î Leaders are always in the limelight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends much on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and co-workers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the newspaper vendor across the street. Repeated actions become habits. Habits in turn form a personís character. Steven Coveyís book entitled 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides good insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.

4. Leadership is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility among members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfill. Formal leadership positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work. Starting as a mere group of individuals, members and leaders work towards the formation of an effective team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and members of an emerging team. Trust is built upon actions and not merely on words. When mutual respect exists, trust is fostered and confidence is built.

5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.

How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the United States of America? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders. There is no rule that only one style can be used. Most of the time, leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. In emergency situations such as periods of war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death. Thus, a nationís leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial decisions. The case is of course different in times of peace and order—different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact and participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading organizations. When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership is most appropriate. But if the staffs have low competence and low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.

Now that you are reminded of these things, keep in mind that there are always ideas that we think we already know; concepts we take for granted, but are actually the most useful insights on leadership.

Measure the right things.

It’s not enough just to measure–you have to measure the right things.

A common measurement trap is to measure something because it’s “interesting.” If knowing a measurement won’t change anything (e.g., help you make a decision, verify an assumption or prove the problem is solved), then don’t waste your time measuring it.

Another common trap in defining the problem success criteria is to lose the direct connection to the problem. Somehow it’s very easy to unintentionally expand the problem with general improvements that are good things to do, but aren’t really necessary to solve the problem at hand.

Avoid these traps: once you decide to measure something always check back by asking yourself exactly what you will do with the results. Then ask the question in reverse: if you have a particular result, will it really enable you to make your decision, verify that assumption, etc.

With problem success criteria, cross-check your proposed measurements with your problem description. Everything in the problem description should be measured by the success criteria. Everything in the success criteria should measure some aspect of the problem presented in the problem description. If they don’t match, your measurements are either incomplete, you’re measuring something unnecessary, or your problem description isn’t quite right.

HINT: “Everything necessary, nothing extraneous” should be your watchword. Measuring the right things will help make sure you solve the problem completely and don’t get sidetracked into doing other things that won’t help make this problem go away.

copyright 2005. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved.

Plan for things to go wrong.

We’ve heard it before, and it’s still true: if something can go wrong, it will. Figure out ahead of time where your problem solving effort is vulnerable and develop appropriate contingency plans. Start on this as soon as you begin the problem-solving effort, making it a normal part of defining a problem.

Vulnerabilities are all the things that could prevent your problem-solving project from succeeding. Typical vulnerabilities include changing priorities, inadequate resources (people, money, time), staff turnover, key players unable or unwilling to participate, other projects not getting completed on time, etc. Of course, the list will be different for each problem, and the probability that any particular vulnerability will occur varies as well. The key is to identify them, and assess each one for probability of occurrence and impact on the project if it should occur.

Develop contingency plans immediately for any that have both a high probability of occurring and a high impact. You may also want to develop contingency plans for low probability/high impact issues. Low impact issues, especially if the probability is low, are probably not worth significant contingency planning.

You will need to monitor your environment throughout the problem-solving project so that you’ll know early if any of the vulnerabilities show signs of occurring. Your monitoring program should always include regular communication with all participants in your problem-solving project as well as with the leaders of any projects you are depending on. You’ll want to let these people know either that everything is on track or, if a vulnerability is materializing, that you know about it, are executing an appropriate contingency plan, and understand what implications there are for the problem-solving effort as a whole.

Copyright 2008. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved.

All businesses regardless of stature and size can use outside expertise in achieving desired peak performances for success. Even talented individuals get the coaching and training they need to improve performance. LMI-UK has developed the right leadership coaching and leadership development programs for everyday people and businesses. Their Open Course is intended for small groups and one-on-one mentoring for private individuals.

LMI-UK is an online firm specializing in coaching and development of individuals and persons for the total integration of relationships in relation to self, others, and work. The rationale behind the programs especially Open Course is to help men and women achieve their career options and build on their leadership qualities. Coaching and development of leadership can be achieved through integration of various approaches.

Leadership coaching and leadership development will enable clients to optimize their leadership potentials. Performing efficiently and effectively because they are now equipped with the right skills. The right skills which can only be provided by a firm which has the reputation for giving rise to advanced leadership development methods. The programs of LMI-UK are supported strongly by proficient coaching and facilitation that are aimed to deliver real changes.

The Open Course is an extremely personal one-on-one relationship. It provides an atmosphere of participative learning. Getting down to the basics of planning, organizing, and being more productive are the startups for helping out in improving the employees’ innate abilities. The program director facilitates change by assisting participants through the process of overcoming personal obstacles. Beyond and above all considerations help clients to optimize strength to eventually realizing goals and dreams.

Leadership coaching and leadership development have created in the fullness of time personal development, honing and learning their own winning strategy to produce amazing results. LMI-UK has indeed managed to meet the different objectives the clients need. The firm is efficiently driving all efforts to make the organization perform at its peak. Making the organization move to efficiently carry out functions is a changing process. If there is change, can success be far behind?

The leadership programs are considered harbingers of change. It is the medium in bridging the gap between theory and practice and in redirecting the transformation of an organization. Leadership coaching and leadership development help in looking at things in their proper perspectives. Looking at change is something the organization has to do rather than something that happens. You need to make it happen.

The goal has always been to assist the organizations and individuals develop the leadership capacities of their people or of themselves. LMI-UK has worked with managers, directors, and executives from companies of different stature and size. It has put into practice its extensive knowledge for clients all over the UK.

Clients have attested to the fact that the incorporation of values and culture of the company into the training have worked well for them. The lessons learned did not end at training.