Conducting the Knowledge Transfer

The Six Sigma project is not complete until the concerned personnel who have to operate the process have the know-how to do so.

Many Six Sigma projects have failed because the project team was overjoyed at achieving success. However, one must not forget that improvements are only on paper until they are implemented. And there exist a wide variety of organizational reasons that a wonderful Six Sigma project may not be implemented with the same degree of efficiency.

Hence conducting knowledge transfer is an important part of the Six Sigma project and must be done carefully. Some advice about how to navigate this part of the project has been mentioned below:

Key Points to take into Account while Conducting Knowledge Transfer:

Chronology: The knowledge transfer process must be iterative and must be chronological. This simply means that instead of training everyone at one go, the first step should be to train the senior and middle level management. Once this has been done, the executives and the supervisors must be trained and the upper management must be involved in the exercise.

When the upper management train the lower rungs, they refresh their training. This is important because the lower rungs will first reach their immediate management if something in the process goes wrong. Hence the upper management must have a fair idea regarding how the new process works.

Buy-In: Before the knowledge transfer process is initiated the Six Sigma project team must create a buy in for the solution. This is because many times, workers feel that the improved methods are designed to eliminate their jobs. However, in reality they have been designed to assist the workers in their jobs. This must be communicated to them and it must be ensured that the workers agree to this. Or else there is a chance of a hostile reaction and the entire Six Sigma project might fail because of deliberately improper execution.

Budget: Before the training begins, the Six Sigma project team must give the process owner a budget required for training. This budget must include the resources required. Typically the trainings must be held on a rotation basis, so that the normal working of the organization is not disrupted.

Knowledge Transfer Regarding

The contents of the knowledge transfer cannot be generalized. They will vary depending on the process that was executed. However some of the major components of the training are as follows:

1. Technology: Workers must be made to feel comfortable with the new technology that will be used. Many times workers will not ask doubts. It is the responsibility of the training team to see that the technological innovation is well understood and correctly implemented.

2. Best Practices: Workers must be informed about the new Standard Operating Procedures that have been put into place. Workers may get confused between the old ways that the followed as well as the new ways that have been put into place. Contrasts must be highlighted to ensure easy recollection.

3. Reporting: Changes in the process entails a change in the reporting structure. It must be made sure that workers correctly understand who they are reporting to and who is responsible for the process.