Fear of Commitment

Summary: When the leadership commitment to lean Six Sigma begins to flag, it is necessary to reinvigorate it. Master Black Belts should work with leadership to ensure that, on an organizational scale, the seven factors of valence, rewards, involvement, authority, competition, publicness, and expectancy are in place to gain commitment from employees and leaders. By partnering with leaders, a Master Black Belt gives leaders someone to rely on for the whole project, keeping them from feeling abandoned. A suitable organizational structure, placed at the highest levels of the organization, can contribute to a successful implementation. Effective communication requires a clear message, knowledge of the audience, good presentation and delivery, an appropriate medium of communication, and interaction with the audience. When dealing with senior management, it is also important to create a picture that shows how the subject being discussed has been considered in relationship to the whole organization, identify the risks and benefits of any plan, link strategies to goals, and win support from other senior managers. When changing an organization, it is important to reduce fear by communicating a vision of the changed organization and protecting the jobs of those going through the change.