Six Sigma Key Principles

If everyone applied Six Sigma key principles to their work and personal lives, we would certainly have a less chaotic environment. Many of us are so focused on time that we forget that applying certain Six Sigma principles actually gives us more time. Six Sigma key principles give us more time by establishing the processes that will bring value to our cause, whether it be business or personal.

The Six Sigma Key Principles

• Focus on customer requirements: This can be an actual customer, or if you are applying the principles to a goal you want to achieve, it can be you as the customer.  For a business customer, you must define what quality is from the point of view of the customer. What is important to your customer when they purchase your product or service?
• Identify and understand how the work gets done: Use a value stream map to identify where waste is happening and help you see how the current process is working. For this, you need to collect specific data. To establish what type of data you will need, define the goal for this data. Once the data is collected, look for ways to improve the current process by finding the root cause of variation or waste.
• Manage, improve and smooth the process flow: Identity value and non-value steps in your processes. This takes constant monitoring since change is an ongoing evolution. Understand the non-value steps which create variation in your business process.
• Reduce waste and focus on value: This continues on what it takes to improve and manage your day-to-day processes. 
• Remove variation to stop defects: Which once again expounds on the improve and smooth the process flow, and reducing waste, thus non-value steps.
• Involve and equip others through collaboration, such as teams in the process.  
• Make the improvement in a systematic way using data.

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