Helpful Soft Skills for Six Sigma Professionals

What skills does a Six Sigma professional need to succeed? If you believe a strong aptitude for statistics, a detailed knowledge of process improvement tools and a deep understanding of the process to be improved are important, you are correct. But don’t limit this list to quantitative skills alone. Successful Six Sigma professionals require strong interpersonal skills as well.

Beneath it all, many see Six Sigma as a people-centered methodology.

Critical Interpersonal Skills for Six Sigma Professionals

Just as Six Sigma professionals require practice to master the intricacies of fishbone diagrams and run charts, they must also practice their people skills. There are several of these skills that are vital to Six Sigma success:

Communication – Six Sigma projects frequently overlap various departments within an organization and involve employees from all levels of management. When working with people who hold varied perspectives on the business, different levels of education and disparate backgrounds, clear and concise communication becomes even more valuable.  A Six Sigma team that communicates its goals, objectives and the benefits of its project is more likely to overcome resistance and gain the cooperation of employees and management.

Coaching – A strong point of Six Sigma is the mentoring and coaching that beginner belts receive from more advanced belts. This coaching bridges the gap between classroom training the beginning belts receive and the real-world conditions under which they are expected to perform. An effective coach instills Six Sigma principles by enabling team members to solve problems by themselves, rather than just telling them what to do.

Driving Change – Convincing an organization’s leaders and rank-and-file employees that a process should be changed is often an uphill battle. Smart Six Sigma leaders help stakeholders see how they benefit from the change. When stakeholders see the opportunities of changing, and the threats of not changing, they are more likely to support change and make it a permanent part of business operations.

Conflict Resolution – Six Sigma professionals often face conflict within their project teams. This can be toxic to process improvement efforts. Team leaders can reduce conflict by defining specific roles within the project team. When team members clearly understand what is expected of them, conflict is less likely to arise.

Time Management – Project teams are able to achieve process improvement far more quickly when they use proper time management. Six Sigma teams thrive when they implement the following simple principles:

• Create a plan with time-based milestones
• Focus on the critical few issues instead of the trivial many
• Keep meetings short and focus on actionable issues
• Replace micromanagement with delegation
• Create to-do lists

Negotiation – Six Sigma professionals negotiate both inside their project teams and with the stakeholders their projects impact. They find that beginning negotiations with a clear idea of what they want and then employing patience, dignity, confidence and good listening skills helps increase the odds of success in their favor.