The Role of the Six Sigma Black Belt Part III: The Project Manager

This is part of the series The Role of the Six Sigma Black Belt. The concepts and ideas presented also apply to other improvement professionals and leaders implementing improvements in an organization.


The Project Manager Role

Because the process of certification requires the BB to close a specific number of projects that are usually defined in a "project contract", the BB is by definition also a Project Manager. Some BBs may not think of themselves as "project managers" and in fact many of them may not even have experience or formal training in project management. This is a problem specially when Six Sigma training does not include project management materials. As a result many a BB have no idea how to define the project objective, delineate the scope, define the work to be done beyond the prescribed phases or gates (the SS methodology outlines specific phases, steps, and tools to be used), or determine dependencies, or manage schedule and critical path. Though this may not be a problem for small projects, it does become an issue for medium size and large complex projects. 

What can the BB do? There are some alternatives depending on the background of the BB, their place in the certification process, and what the organization expects and will tolerate.

1. Pray for the best and get to work!
2. Request to only work small scoped projects
3. Attend intensive training
4. Ask someone in the team to serve the role
5. Get coaching from experienced BB with PM experience

Many Six Sigma certification programs do not require the BB to excel at managing projects or use a particular PM approach outside of the prescribed SS methodology (DMAIC or DFSS). However, it is clear that BBs must practice good project management skills to be effective as a BB. The good news here is that resources abound for learning basic and even some advanced project management techniques that would help any BB in this important role. You can find many providers through the Registered Education Providers from the Project Management Institute website. The SmartChange toolkit (see tutorial) has many good tools (see some examples) that BBs can use in their project management efforts.

Regardless of the tools however, the BB must see project management as a critical skill set and perform these duties well to be a more effective Six Sigma practitioner.

Next time, we'll explore the role of the Black Belt as a leader.

In the meantime, share your experience as a BB project manager.