Six Sigma Blackbelt Skill Sets

Blackbelt is one of the two key players in any Six Sigma project. The blackbelt is the project leader and directs all activity in the Six Sigma project. Another key player is the organizational champion or the chief sponsor of the project that has ultimate responsibility for successful completion on time and within budget.

The following skill sets are required to be a successful blackbelt:

• Management and Leadership
  Blackbelt must command both the authority and the responsibility to guide large-scale projects. Project management and leadership go hand in hand. Stakeholders, team members, and the project champion expect the blackbelt to be skilled in the use of the project management methods and techniques.
• Decision Making
  On sigma projects, countless decisions must be made.  To make sound, timely decisions, the blackbelt has to have a firm grasp of all aspects of the project at all times. He or she must be able to balance costs, time, and results; prevent budget slippage and scope creep; and appropriately allocate resources if a project falls behind schedule.
• Communication
  Keeping others informed of activities and results can make the difference between perceived success and perceived failure of a project. The following are important areas in which the blackbelt's communication skills are needed:
  - Guiding team efforts at each step of the six sigma process.
  - Creating and maintaining work schedules.
  - Arranging and leading project team meetings.
  - Sharing project successes and results with upper management, the project champion, and other key stakeholders.
• Team Building and Negotiation
  Blackbelts must continually build relationship among the various stakeholders: management, customers, team members, the champion, and suppliers. Power is granted only to a blackbelt who builds these relationships. An effective blackbelt must continually negotiate authority to move a project forward. That authority depends solely on his or her ability to build a strong team among internal and external players.
• Planning, Scheduling, and Acting
  Sigma project management consists of the same elements as in other projects. These include establishing objectives, breaking jobs into well-defined tasks, charting work sequences, scheduling, budgeting, coordinating a team, and team communications. The blackbelt must therefore be proficient in planning effectively and acting efficiently. Balancing the interrelationship between planning and scheduling is critical to project success.
• Focus
  Six Sigma projects may include several major activities on which different people work simultaneously. The project leader can easily get lost in the day-to-day details of specific tasks and lose sight of the big picture. Successful blackbelts jump back and forth between all facets of the identified project tasks.
• Interpersonal Interaction
  To be a perceived as a leader, the blackbelt must be regarded as honest, capable, dependable, and personable. It is important for the blackbelt to build a positive relationship with the project champion and other key stakeholders. Effective interpersonal relationship skills are necessary to create a unified team from individuals with various backgrounds.
  

Ethical Behavior

Ethics is defined both as a set of principles of right conduct and as a theory or a system of moral values. The word is derived from the Greek word "ethikos" which relates to the character or implied good character of something. Interestingly, another source links the meaning of this word to the description of a course of action "arising from habit". This might be the ideal of what a good application of ethical behavior should become.

While ethics is generally used to refer to the principles of good conduct, the closely related term morals is most often used to describe the imputed nature (good or bad) of these rules. While ethics usually concerns itself with the rules of right conduct, morality is more concerned with the judgment of goodness and badness in human character. Ethical behavior then is seen as one that conforms to established rules of right behavior, while morality is more concerned with the philosophical consideration of why this behavior is right or wrong.

Because ethical behavior is related to rules of behavior, there must be a defined set of rules. These rules are generally referred to as a "code of ethics" or a "code of conduct". Codes of ethics or conduct are as old as human narration. One of the first of these types of codes, the code of Hammurabi, is a set of codified laws that date back to around 1790 BC. Additionally, coded rules for human behavior can be seen in every example of religious and moral writing dating back as far as the history of writing itself.

The importance of these codes of behavior is noted by both their ubiquity and the heavy reliance on them by civilized societies. Indeed, many sources affirm that civilized society would not have developed without standard codes of ethics. The characteristics that many of these codes have in common have even been used to rationalize the position that ethical principles are an integral part of the human psyche. An even stronger position is that these moral principles are a naturally recognized part of every person. Whether this is true or not is a question best left to the philosophers. What can be established from a practical standpoint, however, is that ethical principles and the codes they establish have extreme importance in stabilizing society, improving human relationships, enhancing business, and improving human character.

Ethical behavior can be found in human experience every time a followed set of rules leads to productive results. As a contrast, unethical behaviors are destructive to personal and business relationships.

ETHICAL BEHAVIORS ARE:

• responsible
• respectful
• fair
• honest
• moral
• legal
• professional
• confidential (when required)
• consistent
• transparent
• evaluative and adaptive
• culturally appropriate
• relationship building
• enablers of integrity
• respectful of personal boundaries

UNETHICAL BEHAVIORS INCLUDE:

• immoral acts
• illegal acts
• dishonesty
• disrespectfulness
• irresponsibility
• unfairness
• misrepresenting facts
• violating confidentiality
• working without the appropriate qualifications
• prejudicial and discriminatory actions
• inappropriate personal relationships
• not following rules or procedures
• bribery, corruption, and graft
• inappropriate and childish behaviors
• theft, plagiarizing, and copyright infringement
• intimidation, harassment, and abuse
• false or inaccurate reporting
• inappropriate physical contact (sexual or violence)
• sexual harassment
• inappropriate use of authority
• slander and gossip
• unprofessionalism