Six Sigma And Quality Improvement

What is Six Sigma? Will it work for small and medium sized businesses? What does it take to be successful? Where do I start?� Can Six Sigma be applied to Content Management? I�m asked these questions almost every day. Let�s take a brief look at the issues.

Six Sigma is the current favorite among quality management and business improvement methods for larger organizations. It was developed by Motorola in the late 1980s and popularized by Jack Welsh who credited Six Sigma with much of GE�s business success in the late 1990s. Six Sigma re-emphasized formal statistical methods of analysis and improvement while adding new focus on overall business results and a project management approach to previous improvement efforts. The technical definition of Six Sigma (3.4 defects per million operations) is not as important as the belief among many business executives that it helps satisfy customers with higher value products, shareholders with better returns, and employees with better quality of work life.

Until recently, startup costs of formal Six Sigma programs (often upwards of $250,000 per year) have been an obstacle to all but the largest businesses. Now, advances in both technology and methodology are making it available to small to medium sized businesses, in every industry.

Where to start? A recent Internet search produced 1,150,000 hits for Six Sigma. There are hundreds of methods and techniques, thousands of books and articles, tens of thousands of �experts�, and millions of possible combinations of tools, techniques, and providers. Where you start is dependent on where you are and where you want to be. In this case, some help from a mentor/coach who is not a service or tools provider can be most useful.

Does it apply to Content Management? Yes, Six Sigma applies to any organized endeavor. Case-by-case details are always unique, but the principles remain constant. �What do customers, shareholders, and employees want? What is the most effective and efficient ways to provide it?� The answers are deceptively simple, but the trick is to realize that each situation is different, and complex in its own way. Methods and tools must be tailored to the unique requirements of the type, size and condition of the business rather than trying to change the business to fit standard tools and procedures.

Finally, Content Management, like all business endeavors must manage Quality to satisfy current customers, and make business improvements to satisfy shareholders over the longer term. Innovative methods for quality management and business improvement are now available that can reduce the costs of contractual compliance and improve the quality of delivered content more quickly than ever before at much lower cost. It�s the stuff competitive advantages are made of.

About the Author: is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality and a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Tom is a systems scientist and business improvement specialist with experience in every major industry segment. Tom Pearson Consulting specializes in helping clients find sophisticated solutions that speed and simplify business improvement and change.

Learn more about Tom Pearson here.