How can you unite a team around a common goal?

Inspired by the Lean Six Sigma method, managers of various companies wanted to share their experiences of implementing a new corporate challenge: Motivating and uniting staff around a common goal while encouraging group cohesion. In this article, you’ll discover the principles of the Lean Six Sigma method and the first-hand accounts of Marc, Fabrice, Stéphane and Reinald. 

The Lean Six Sigma method: definition and principles  

Lean Six Sigma is an effective solution for motivating and developing team spirit among employees in order to optimise company performance. Here’s what this method is all about. 

What is Lean Six Sigma? 

Lean Six Sigma is a management approach based on teamwork, which aims to improve performance by addressing waste and defects. It combines Six Sigma methods and tools with the Lean Manufacturing and Lean Enterprise philosophy.  

It seeks to eliminate waste of physical resources, time, effort and talent while ensuring the quality of production and organisational processes. In other words, according to the principles of Lean Six Sigma, any use of resources that does not add value for the end customer is considered wasteful and must be eliminated. 

Understanding Lean Six Sigma 

Lean Six Sigma originated in the United States in the 1980s as a combination of management principles and processes from Japan. In an effort to compete with the best Japanese products, US managers embraced certain Japanese manufacturing principles focused on reducing waste (such as non-value added actions). Over the following decade, these principles were adopted by the majority of major US manufacturers.  

Lean Six Sigma was introduced by Michael George and Robert Lawrence Jr. in their 2002 book “Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma with Lean Speed”, as the combination and refinement of the principles of Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma. 

The principles of Lean Six Sigma 

The Lean Six Sigma management concept focuses on the reduction and elimination of 8 types of waste grouped together under the acronym “DOWNTIME”, made up of: 

• Defects; 
• Overproduction; 
• Waiting; 
• Non-utilised talent; 
• Transportation; 
• Inventory; 
• Motion; 
• Extra-processing.  

The prefix “Lean” refers to any method, measure or tool that helps identify and eliminate waste.  

The term “Six Sigma” refers to tools and techniques used to improve manufacturing processes. It was introduced by a Motorola engineer in 1986, inspired by the Japanese Kaizen model. The company made it a registered trademark in 1993.  

Its goal is to improve processes by identifying and eliminating the causes of defects and variations in business and manufacturing processes. The DMAIC steps of Six Sigma are used in Lean Six Sigma. The acronym DMAIC (“Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control”) refers to a data-driven method for improving, optimising and stabilising business and manufacturing processes. 

Combining Lean concepts with Six Sigma tools and techniques makes it possible to clearly identify which processes are subject to variation and then to reduce that variation to ensure continuous improvement.  

Lean Six Sigma training uses the “Belt” levels to convey expertise, similar to Six Sigma: 

• Yellow belt: Lean Six Sigma awareness; 
• Green belt: The emphasis is on the use of tools and the application of DMAIC and Lean principles; 
• Black belt: Full-time project manager; 
• Master black belt: A black belt with a minimum of two years of experience, capable of teaching Lean Six Sigma. 

What do the managers think? 

Marc: “We decided to optimise our processes to improve our productivity, not by working more, but by working better, by better understanding our work and that of others in order to improve our organisation.” 

Fabrice: “We truly believed that we could optimise efficiency by working as a team, putting everyone in the right place at the right time to succeed together and satisfy our customers!” 

What changes were needed to work as a team? 

Fabrice: “Teamwork requires better communication between people. It is also important to be able to multi-task in order to work towards a common goal. Certain managers, for example, sometimes found it difficult to step out of their expert role, while other team members have had to deal with a lack of confidence in their ability to perform new tasks in order to drive change.” 

So, what can be done to unite employees around a goal of change, overcome obstacles and get them on board? 

Stéphane: “First of all, it is imperative to explain the need for these changes so that staff take ownership of the challenge. We must be able to give meaning to all the new actions.” 

Explain the need for change, engage staff and give meaning to any new actions 

Stéphane: “All members of staff were involved and engaged. They participated in the project by proposing solutions and taking part in the decision-making that this involved. One of the major changes was the introduction of new working hours in order to smooth out productivity and better distribute effort. First of all, members of staff suggested new shift patterns. Then, on their initiative, working hours were allocated according to each person’s availability.” 

Reinald: “You also need to be able to provide maximum visibility on what you want to achieve and how to achieve it. Our daily target is very clear: 95% of the day’s picking slips (received before 4 p.m.) must be dispatched the same day. We also have a shared daily status report with productivity progress indicators. If we are running behind schedule at midday, we have the capacity to react in real-time. This strengthens our ability to react in the event of a delay because we immediately know where to direct our efforts to get back on track.” 

Giving yourself the capacity to act and react with precision allows you to focus your efforts on a common goal 

Everyone agrees that it is a bit like in team sports: sometimes, during the game, we change the strategy or direction of play to achieve the set objective. This brings a great deal of flexibility in terms of power play and the capacity to act immediately as well as giving staff considerable confidence in their ability to achieve their goals.