Exploding Six Sigma Myths by: Peter Peterka / TAB Money Group

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Six Sigma doesn't improve the customer experience. It may seem that Six Sigma turns the focus away from the customer because it is driven by data. In so many companies, quality improvement is driven by the latest customer complaint, or some manager's latest issue. This may seem like you are being responsive to the customers, but such an ad hoc and scatter-shot approach is inefficient and ultimately doomed to failure. The question you need to ask is what data is presented to the organization in order to select improvement projects? Without the right data, how can you succeed? Unless the approach is systematic and the solution driven by measurement and analysis, there is little hope for lasting quality improvement.

Six Sigma is oriented toward the solution of problems at their root cause and the prevention of their recurrence, as opposed to attempting to control potential causes of failure on a project-by-project basis. Six Sigma inspired process redesign will change the way a company thinks about how they do their work and deliver their services. So many companies are focused on short-term financial goals. The “show me the money” attitudes of shareholders and the stock market shift focus away from the customer. Six Sigma, on the other hand, is clearly focused on the customer. It accomplishes this because it centers its attention on the end results and long-term cultural change.

Six Sigma is not just about number crunching and finances. All of the numbers are just data used to reach the real goal of Six Sigma: helping increase quality and service for the customer. Companies need to figure out what their customers want and need. One thing any customer of any business in any industry wants is a better experience. Quality and efficiency don't only help the financial bottom line, they help the customer experience.

Companies need to remember that their first and final allegiance should be to the customer. By embracing Six Sigma, a company can achieve greater quality and efficiency in the flow of information and interaction between people, especially interactions with customers. Transforming the process of these flows will yield quality results for the customer experience.

Six Sigma is just another fad. There have been so many quality improvement fads over the years. It is not surprising that people are now a little jaded. The weakness of many of these fads is that they have the superficial appearance that something profound is happening, yet the substance is not there. A whole bunch of numbers and graphs on spreadsheets are not enough to bring about substantial and lasting quality improvement in an organization. The fads sell themselves as cheap and easy quick fixes. The reality is that there are no quick fixes to significant process improvement. Six Sigma understands that.

Six Sigma is neither a fad nor a quick fix. The data and descriptive statistics that Six Sigma mines out of a project are real data and meaningful data. You use data to create actionable goals, analyze and determine the root cause(s) of defects, and then measure the results to shows how those goals were achieved. The data determines the causes of the problems that need improvement and how to eliminate the gap between existing performance and the desired level of performance. Tools are put in place to ensure that the key variables remain within the acceptable ranges over time so that process improvement gains are maintained. The changes brought about through Six Sigma are real, significant, and long-lasting.

Also, Six Sigma is not a simple 1-2-3-you're done process. It is a “way of life.” It is a multi-level, cyclical movement toward continual process improvement. Six Sigma is a time-consuming and high-energy process. Companies develop a long-term plan that outlines the move from current performance levels to Six Sigma performance levels, with tangible, short-term goals in between.

Successful Six Sigma programs are built on a solid organizational foundation. The organizational structure and system needs to be clearly identified and communicated to the entire organization to successfully implement Six Sigma Quality. Becoming a Six Sigma organization doesn't just happen. Planning and training goes into setting up a successful Six Sigma organization. Employee roles and responsibilities must be established and clearly communicated to all.

The more Six Sigma projects your company completes, the more involved you become with more mature and meaningful projects than when you began. Six Sigma becomes part of the core of your business. It isn't a quick knock-off program; it keeps growing and changing as your business needs grow and evolve. The other fads didn't last at your organization, but Six Sigma will.

About the author:
Peter Peterka is a featured author on TAB Money Group. He is the President of Six Sigma us. He is a featured author on TAB Money Group. For additional information on Six Sigma DMAIC or other Six Sigma Green Belt Training project programs contact Peter Peterka.

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©2008 TAB Money Group - All Rights Reserved Money Group Pros

Effective Public Speaking for Small Business Owners by: Keith Longmire / TAB Money Group

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Public speaking is comfortably the quickest and easiest way to improve your company visibility, establish yourself as an expert, get you face known and get businesses coming to you.

Most small business owners and managers fully recognise this yet even the thought of standing up in public to speak to a room full of strangers can evoke a somewhat nauseous feeling in many people.

Some of the most confident business people often do their best to avoid public speaking. But not taking advantage of every public speaking opportunity is a serious mistake.

Public speaking is great for your business in two main ways.

One - you gain face recognition, and
Two - it establishes you and your company as industry experts.

Let’s start with face recognition. This sounds like a simple thing, but don't discount its importance. Imagine you are at an industry trade show. You are side by side with another company in the exhibit hall. You sell basically the same product.

But you are delivering the keynote speech at the conference. Your picture, name and company is on each of the entry-way signs into the conference center.

Which company are attendees at the conference (who, by the way, are qualified prospects) likely to visit?

Odds are they will stop at your stand.

Even people who are just walking by may stop to talk to the person they saw speak at a conference session. Sometimes that's all the edge you need to make that lucrative sale.

The other reason they decide to stop is they recognise you as the industy expert. You must be. How else did you get invited to give the prestigious keynote speech? The prospects assume you know your business or you wouldn’t have been invited to speak at the conference.

This is true regardless of industry. If you are a psychologist with a local practice and people see you speak at a conference, or even at a local Rotary meeting, they will begin to see you as an industry expert. Should the occasion arise for that person to need to visit a psychologist, or to refer a colleague or friend, your name may come to mind simply because they’ve seen you before.

It is important, however, that if you decide to take public speaking engagements, that you deliver a good speech.

The good news is that you don't have to be perfect. In fact, usually public speakers do not have to be particularly good to be a great success. Your audience is usually more than half on your side. They want you to do well.

And providing you deliver good, solid content in a professional manner your audience will leave well satisfied.

But be prepared.

There is nothing worse than letting a prospect see you give a less than well prepared speech. If your lack of preparedness causes you to pause a lot, stumble over sections of presentation, or fumble with slides or other presentational aids, that will give you the air of incompetence just as surely as a well prepared and delivered presentation will give you the air of expertise.

Here are my top 7 tips for preparing presentations.

1. Choose 3 or 4 key topics - no more.
2. Make sure your have researched your content.
3. Write a script - you may not need to use it but the act of writing out a script is a great way for getting your thoughts and ideas straight.
4. Structure your speech around your core topics. Make sure you have a beginning, middle and end.
5. Make sure your presentational aids are prepared well in advance. Test them in the conference hall.
6. Rehearse - words that look great on paper often don't flow well when spoken aloud.
7. Rehearse again.

Just as much as being seen and heard can gain you recognition and business, being seen and heard giving a poor presentation can lose you business.

So you may want to look into taking a few public speaking courses to brush up on your skills.

Public Speaking may well seem like a lot of effort and trouble. It might even cause you enormous personal anxiety. But there is not doubt that it is worth the time and energy it takes any manager or business owner to give public speaking presentations.

There are few better ways to gain recognition for your name, company and to establish yourself as the obvious expert in your industry.

About the author:
Keith Longmire is a featured author on TAB Money Group. He is the owner of JKL Business Growth Solutions. JKL specialises in bringing main stream business improvement and marketing solutions into the reach of smaller businesses. His website http://www.jkl-small-business-marketing-solutions.comhas been designed to help owner-managers cut through the hype and produce innovative marketing plans that deliver results.

©2008 TAB Money Group - All Rights Reserved Money Group Pros