How to get your Lean Six Sigma training approved?
Supplier Selection
The problems facing anyone trying to obtain training in Lean Six Sigma or Six Sigma are vast. Firstly do you want a Lean Six Sigma course or a Six Sigma course, do you want the training on line or in the class room and lastly will the training be done in house or on an open course? After that you have the simple job of deciding from the hundreds of suppliers in the market place. Some are one man bands while others are multi-national companies with everything in between. So how do you make a decision?
Hopefully we can help you through the mine field of selecting your perfect training solution.
Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma training? This is becoming an easier and easier choice all large companies are now training people in Lean Six Sigma as the two concepts are completely complementary, use the same tools and techniques and should be taught together. To lean more review our lean six sigma overview article. So no matter what you started thinking about six sigma or lean six sigma you should sign up for a lean six sigma courses, if all the large companies are doing this there must be some truth in it.
Next decision is on line or face to face training. On line training is great if you are time constrained and have the ability to learn on your own. If you want to ask questions, hear questions from other people and to be shown things then face to face is the way to go. Check back with us as we will be producing an article on the advantages and disadvantages of on line training soon.
In house or open course? The real decision here is are there more than 5 people in the organisation who need to be trained. If there are then in house is the best solution. You can pick the dates, you can talk about your business openly, you can use your industry as the examples to talk about and you can use your language without having to explain things. It also works out cheaper if there are 5 or more to go on the course. If you don’t have 5 people then you will have to find an open course to attend. Now the fun starts.
How do you pick a supplier when there is no standard duration or agenda the price range is massive as are the types of suppliers? We have tried to help by pulling together a supplier selection sheet. If you click the link below you can download for free a copy of the form. You can then compare as many suppliers as you wish.
Prices for training courses range massively, for black belts some suppliers charge 3 times more than others. You have to ask yourself why? Our understanding is that in some instances you are paying for the name of the training company, others you are paying because the duration is different and lastly you might be getting added extras.
Why do Durations vary? Our courses are designed to be as short as possible. We recognise that in today’s commercial environment normally the cost of the training is less important than the amount of time you have to be away from your organisation. As a result we only train people in topics that they will use. We provide lots of examples and practise on each topic but we allow people to do more practise at home or in the office rather than with the other people on the course. Other organisations will for example spend days and days getting you to input numbers into Minitab and then work on examples. This is great but you work at the rate of the slowest member on the course. We feel you could better utilise say 3 days back in the office. With our post course support of course you can always ask us questions when you try it in the office and can’t remember what to do so you lose nothing and gain time. Our Green Belt course is 5 days which is very intense as is our Black Belt course which is 12 days. In the Green Belt course we don’t teach some topics which are covered in other training courses such as Design of Experiments the reason is very simple very few Green Belt will ever use it. So if you are not going to use it then there is little point training you in it. We can train you when you do need it.
The subjects covered are another item to check between your potential suppliers – ask for an exact breakdown of what will be covered.
Some other supplier selection topics are just a go no go decision – dates of the training, location of the training.
The rest of the supplier selection criteria are a bit more subjective. For example the Master Black Belts who will be conducting the training, how good are they, how many people have they trained, are they trainers or consultants, how many will be running the course etc. We are often told that one of our major advantages is that we always use 2 Master Black Belts for every course and that as they are consultants who train then they can provide vast amounts of experience, examples and can be flexible during the training. Other providers have trainers who have never been there and done it, they have to stick to the slides as that is all they know. You can judge a good consultant by the number of project they have run or coached the amount of savings they have secured and the industries and companies they have worked in. You should check this out or ask questions – ask for biographies of the trainers.
Another area to investigate is the clients that the organisation has trained or consulted in. Look at their list, is it credible ask questions about what they have done in these organisations.
The professionalism of the organisation is another good indication of what the training will be like. Review items such as the sales person or person you talked to in the organisation – where they knowledgeable, did they give you advice and help, did they sound professional when answering the phone and responding to your questions and requests. Or was it a persons house you rang (one man band), a call centre (just sales people with little knowledge). When you asked for emails, data, information how quickly did they respond? When you got information, emails etc how professional where they? These things give you an indication of the professionalism of the organisation and if they will provide good training and support before, after and during the training. You are after all looking for partner who can help you not just be trained but to be developed.
Another great indicator of professionalism is what the website looks like. If it looks like it has not been updated for years, has poor layout and navigation, no information on it then we feel that they are not a great company. Everyone knows that your website is a major part of your business so if the website is poor what does it say about the company?
Support is another critical indicator when looking to choose a supplier. The support starts with your call to ask about the training. How did they help? You then need to find out what other support they will give you. As an example we provide support throughout the process. It starts prior to the training where you can contact a Master Black Belt to talk about your project or any concerns or issues you have. We can even supply projects if you don’t have any to work on. We help with logistics, hotels, travel etc. We provide pre reading and can even help you get your training approved. During the course our consultants can offer advice on an aspect of lean six sigma and how to develop your career. We can use your own data to explain tools and techniques. We can also provide you with feedback to help you develop personally – presentation skills, facilitation etc. However the really important feedback for any company comes after the course. Everyone will at some point after any training course try to do something and say things like ‘it made sense at the training but I can’t remember how to do it or apply it’. This is where good companies provide telephone and email support. We go a stage further and run regular web seminars where you can ask MBB’s questions and listen to others asking questions. We also have a forum where you can become part of our Lean Six Sigma community. So assess what support you obtain from your supplier.
Good training companies will also provide different experiences during your training. We all learn in different ways so a good provider will provide different methods to help you learn. We try to hit every learning style. You will run simulations, play games, have discussions, teach, listen, read as well as be tested all the way through our courses. Again having more than one trainer helps as you hear different voices, get different experiences and examples. Check out the kind of learning that you will be experiencing.
Another are to review is what materials you are provided with either during or after the course. As a minimum you should be given a paper and electronic copy of anything you are shown on the course. You might however also be given templates, articles, ebooks, and calculators etc We provide all of theses and as you get access to our members area you also obtain access to careers advise and updated articles, templates forms etc.
Lastly you need to assess if the experience of dealing with the company gives you a warm feeling, do you feel like you would like to do business with them.
If you collect and assess a number of suppliers using the criteria above then we feel you will have developed a very credible and robust selection profile. This will not only help you pick the best supplier to suit your need but will help you when you come to justify the training to your managers or HR.
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