There are many important roles when it comes to Lean Six Sigma projects. These include the roles of sponsor, process owner, coach and facilitator, and team members. We need to recognize that roles can be combined as needed, depending on the nature of the team, and what we’re trying to accomplish. The project sponsor is very important for setting the overall direction for the project. They’re going to ensure that our project goals align well with the business case. They’re often a primary benefactor of the overall results we can expect from the project. The sponsor could be a functional manager, or perhaps an internal customer. Their primary responsibility, among other things, is securing resources, including financial resources, human resources, IT and other types of resources. They play a critical role in communications and setting the example for everybody. They need to make sure we’re celebrating wins and to help identify and manage risks. The sponsor is critical to the overall organizational change management strategy that the team may need to implement as part of their project. The process owner is usually a functional or operational manager who will own the processes we’re working on. They serve as an important subject matter expert.
They’ll guide and oversee process improvement activities. And ensure that our activities are in line with the overall project plan. The process owner will get involved with conflict management resolution. And can be involved with removing roadblocks that the team may encounter. The coach is often somebody at the Master Black Belt or at the Black Belt level. And it’s their job to make sure the team understands the tools and methodologies the team will be using. They’re assigned to help answer difficult questions and help solve some of the problems the team is likely to run into. The coach will also be able to review the phases of the team’s output. If we’re following the DMAIC methodology of define, measure, analyze, improve and control, there may be a tollgate at each of these phases. Where they can help diagnose problems, assess the quality of the work, and suggest alternative methods to move things forward. They may also get feedback on the overall effort of the team. And provide guidance and corrective actions as needed. The facilitator could be a Black Belt or Green Belt, or other person that’s skilled in facilitating process improvement. They can provide assessments of project quality at a granular level. And provide immediate feedback as needed to take corrective actions.
They can keep team members focused on the task of hand and help monitor team performance as well. Facilitators are helpful with recommending improvements and following through during the implementation of improvements. They may also help to overcome road blocks and help resolve team conflict. Team members, the heavy lifting often falls to the team members. Which would often be at the Yellow Belt level. They’ll carry out those specific tasks leading toward a goal. They could have specific skills and expertise that we need. And they can fulfill many different functions, like taking minutes in meetings, helping to gather data or doing research to support the team. A team member may report to either the project leader or to the functional manager. The work performed by the team member is critical to the success of the overall organization and meeting its objectives.