When Lean Six Sigma classroom training is desired, but cost and time dictate a new approach

Company & Industry

The State of Colorado is the official home of several state agencies serving various functions for Colorado. Colorado is located in the western portion of the U.S and bodes a population of over 5.5 million residents, each served by the State of Colorado.

Background

The Center for Organizational Excellence, is a high-performance process and knowledge enabler that help drive business results, brings enterprise focus to business issues, and provides demonstrable value to the business through leadership, collaboration, evangelization, best practices, research, knowledge sharing, management, training, and support around a specific focus area. The COE was looking to add the Six Sigma methodology to their current program and their goal was to ensure that both efficiency and quality were being applied to the continuous improvement efforts across state departments.

Challenge

  • Traditional classroom training of Lean Six Sigma Black Belt would require several weeks of training and knowing several departments would be participating, the State of Colorado was interested in a more cost-effective, time-efficient option without losing the benefits offered in classroom training

Solution

  • Acuity met with the leaders of the initiative to determine their needs and developed a blended learning model to meet their needs
  • A blended learning model (which was new to their organization) combined independent Lean Six Sigma online learning in a custom built online campus and onsite workshops which utilized interactive team exercises was developed.
  • This blended training enriched the training and propelled learners to better workplace application, delivering results to the workplace more quickly and effectively

Results

  • Participant response to the new training model was excellent – Participants liked the pace of the training, the level of engagement and the ability to manage their online training at their own pace
  • The State of Colorado now has a standardized approach for applying Lean Six Sigma across multiple departments and divisions statewide
  • The State of Colorado is now offering online Lean Six Sigma White Belt Certification and Lean Foundations training as part of their continuous improvement awareness efforts.
  • Projects are already seeing cost savings and improvements implemented within a few short months and the entire Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training was completed in 3 months allowing the various departments to quickly see results