Six Sigma has followed a martial arts naming system for the professional roles assumed by employees. The Leaders and Champions typically receive the highest amount of training based on the technical aspects of Six Sigma and detailed training on how to lead an initiative.

The Six Sigma methodology has several different roles, but they are not always universal.

Some of the common roles include:

• Sponsor - The Senior executive who sponsors the Six Sigma initiative
• Leader - Top level executives who are in charge of the vision and implementation of the Six Sigma methodology.
• Champions - Middle or senior-level executive who sponsors the Six Sigma project and is responsible for the implementation of Six Sigma throughout the company.
• Master Black Belt - Champions hand pick Master Black Belts to coach the others within the company on the Six Sigma methodologies. This person is typically highly experienced and has managed several projects and is considered a Six Sigma expert.
• Experts - This role is not common with every organization but they are usually involved in engineering or manufacturing sectors. Their role is to improve the services, products, and processed for the customers.
• Black Belts - This person is a full-time professional who will act as team leader on Six Sigma projects. A Black Belt is considered a middle manager is required to have 4 to 5 weeks of classroom training in methods, statistical tools and team skills.
• Green Belts - Green Belts are used to support the Black Belts. They are part-time professionals who participate on smaller projects. This person will have 2 weeks of classroom training in basic statistical tools and methods.
• White Belts - These professionals are aware of the Six Sigma process and can outline the different Six Sigma methods. Their role is to bring relevant experience or expertise to projects.

Another important role in the Six Sigma method is Process Ownership. Process owners are generally used in the DMAIC and DFSS projects and are responsible for the management of processes within the organization. Process leaders can be current managers and leaders or can be promoted from a non-leadership position. A process owner is responsible for managing improved processes created by an improvement team.

A process owner needs to have the following qualifications:

• An expert on the subject matter
• Someone who experiences problems with the poorly functioning processes and will benefit from the improved process
• A person who has a positive influence on others
• Able to communicate effectively with leaders of other processes
• Can think outside the box and create methods for improvement

Champions, Black Belts and Green Belts often present process leaders with a difficult problem and tell them to see that it gets fixed. The process owner will gather the data and assess it "as is". This method places a process owner in a difficult place. Since the process owner had the entire project "dumped" on them, they may be overwhelmed and their participation will be affected. The correct way to use a process owner is obtain their participation from the beginning. As soon as a project leader is informed by the Sponsor or Champion of a problem, they should decide with others who the process owner will be. It must be made clear to the process owner that the Black Belt will share the responsibility of success or failure.

Team members need to be chosen after the process owner is selected. The project leader and process owner will sit down and decide who will be on the core team. The Black Belt can suggest other team members and can select them to be support team members. The process leader will stay involved in the project during the tollgate phase. The Black Belt will make the periodic tollgate presentations about the project to the Champion or sponsor. The process owner will help the Black Belt by taking an active part in the reviews. The Black Belt will do most of the talking in the presentation, but it is up to the process owner to be involved in each tollgate presentation. The Black Belt will be in charge of answering specific questions, but any roadblocks or additional findings will be presented by the process owner. The process owner involvement can help by contributing to the company's desire to make Six Sigma successful by making a culture change on all levels.

The Roles in Six Sigma

Each of the different roles needs to be clearly defined in the Six Sigma process. If the Executives and Champions are trained and the Black Belts, Green Belts, and White Belts aren't, your probability for success will be limited.

The Black Belts are supported by the Master Black Belts. When Black Belts demonstrate their skills of problem solving, self-starters, self-reliance, and can complete the tasks, they can be promoted to Master Black Belts. There is not a clear cut standard curriculum for Master Black Belts, it varies with the individual organizations. Additional training will broaden the tool sets that are at the disposal of Master Black Belts. The theory behind this is to provide Master Black Belts with a wider array of skills so they can assist with additional projects.

Green Belts are key to creating the culture shift in the organization. If Black Belts try to implement the culture shift, they will spend too much time overstepping each other and will not have the proper metrics to motivate the company.

The Champions are in charge of removing roadblocks. A Champion needs to be in a position where they can defuse any issues between the Black Belts and other people in the company. The Champion will be in charge of being the "buffer" between the Black Belts and the Mangers, Vice Presidents and Directors in the company. This will allow the Black Belt the freedom to work on a problem instead of spending their time in disputes with upper-level professionals.

Champions must also be proficient in 4 other areas:

1. Business and operations interface
2. Project selection
3. Pace mediation
4. Results implementation

When discussing business and operations interface, a Champion should know about the field they are in and the new technology pertaining to their field. The Black Belts will be the subject matter experts. One of the primary roles of the Champion is to assure that operational level projects are in line with the strategic level business objectives. The project reviews should be conducted as a way to assure the project is progressing as planned and the result will satisfy the needs of the organization.

The project selection tends to be the area of greatest discussion. Black belts commonly report situations where a top-level manager is frustrated with the selection of the project. A Champion should keep the projects aligned with the overall goal of the company. Pace mediation starts at the onset of a Six Sigma deployment, typically one or two people will be chosen to generate the deployment plan. The Six Sigma provider or the internal sponsors tend to assign the deployment plan to the Champion. When the deployment plan is constructed, it should have goals, specified targets, competitive position, and technology. Each of these should include a metric. If the metrics are met, or not met, they should be analyzed and the adjustments can then be made.

Black Belts are also known as Change Agents. A Change Agent will be responsible for implementing projects that have identified potential savings. Black Belt projects will be cross-functional and cut across department lines. The Green Belt project may be affected by Black Belt projects of this degree.

Whenever a project is completed, there should be a calculated savings report. The finance department of your organization should sign off on this number. The Champion will be held responsible for the number that is signed off. For example, if a project states it will have a $50,000 savings over 12 months and only produces a $30,000 savings because the Champion took 4 months to get involved in the implementation phase, the metric should state something about the lack of involvement from the Champion. The metrics you select will drive the performance, this is why it is so important to place metrics on your projects.

Champions have a large role in deploying and maintaining Six Sigma or other initiatives. Their job involves much more than one single task. Champions must be thoroughly integrated into the business, select accurate projects, adjust the timeliness of the deployment, and assume responsibility for implementation. Failure to execute any tasks by the Champion will cost your organization money in training costs and employee turnover. This is why it is so important to select the right individuals when you are choosing your Six Sigma team members. Everyone involved in the Six Sigma process holds a large responsibility, even your Green Belts and White Belts. Be sure that everyone receives proper training and the Six Sigma methodology reaches all levels in the organization. Each member of the company must have a new way of thinking when it comes to creating a Six Sigma environment.