Lean Six Sigma Project Coaching Program

Did you know that Lean Six Sigma certification can increase your pay, boost your resume and help you get exposure for other job opportunities?

• Boost in Salary
  Many Green Belts have received pay raises and new opportunities after getting certified.
  Green Belt certification can increase your salary by an average of $16,000 USD (ASQ survey), based on comparisons with individuals who do not have any Six Sigma certification. This can also move you towards a Black Belt certification, which can increase your salary an additional $15,000 to $20,000 USD. There is less data available on Lean certification, but some addition to your salary can be expected.
  
  If your organization doesn’t give you a pay raise, and you cannot find other higher-paying opportunities within the organization, consider looking outside where certification will be more respected and valued.
  
  
• Recognition
  Completion of the training, project and certification will look great on your end-of-year performance review, and give your resume a boost. Certified Green Belts and Lean Agents have received other benefits like stock options, special project assignments, better access to leadership, and public recognition from leadership in all-hands meetings or internal emails and newsletters.
  
  
• Internal job opportunities
  Gain valuable exposure by sharing your project success with upper management, and showing how you contribute to the bottom line of the organization. When new opportunities open up, they will be looking for someone like you who can deliver results in a more structured and methodical way.

In order to complete a certification, you will need to implement an improvement project in your organization (or a not-for-profit organization as a volunteer), to show that you can apply the tools and techniques to a real-life situation.

To give you an idea of what a project looks like, here are some examples of Lean and/or Six Sigma projects that have been applied in various industries:

• Nonprofits
  • NY Food Bank Reduces Time to Distribute Food to Residents
  • Food Bank Feeds People 55% Faster
• Government
  • Reducing Hiring Time for Illinois Tollway from 10 months to 36 days
  • Reducing paperwork and labor for collecting business data at BLS
  • King County Reduces Travel Expense Approval Time by 94%
  • City of San Antonio Increased Payments for Street Maintenance
  • Examples of Lean Six Sigma Successes in Brevard County (FL)
• Environment
  • Electricity Reduction at a Large Manufacturing Facility
  • Reducing Hauling Fees for Donated Goods Nonprofit
• Manufacturing
  • Reducing Turnaround Time for Parts Delivery
  • Reducing Inventory Turns for Drilling Chemicals
• Healthcare
  • Reducing Blood Wastage at Medical Center
  • Reduction in Healthcare Incident Reporting Time

If this sounds interesting to you, we have three main approaches for you, depending on how much assistance you need from us:

1. Do It With Me (Coaching) – We work closely with you to keep you on track with the training, and we help you with your Six Sigma project or Lean event over a 4-month period. Best combination of self-learning and mentoring.
2. Do It Yourself (DIY) – You complete the training and project/event primarily by yourself, with a few hours of our support. Lowest cost option but requires self-discipline.
3. Do It For Me (Consulting) – We take the lead on your Six Sigma project or Lean event, and coach/mentor you as needed, with focus on getting tangible results as quickly as possible. Most expensive but effective option.

We offer a 16-week virtual coaching program to help you implement a Lean Six Sigma DMAIC project or Lean Kaizen Event at your organization.

At the end of the 16 weeks, you will:

• Complete the Lean and/or Six Sigma online self-paced course – we will help you stay on track with progress goals each week
• Complete a Lean Six Sigma improvement project or Lean Kaizen Event with tangible results to your organization within 4-6 months
• Receive a Lean Agent, Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification – depending on the project and training you select
• Receive guidance on how to identify another project or expand Lean and Six Sigma to other parts of your organization
• Learn from other organizations going through the same journey as you (group coaching)

We will offer this coaching program twice throughout the year. You can sign up anytime, but we may stagger your dates slightly based on other programs taking place.

The cost is $4995 for your project team (up to 3 people in your organization). We will meet for 2 hours each week for the 16 weeks. You will be asked to complete the weekly online training, and work on your project, and report on your progress to hold you accountable to getting it done. We are all busy, so this accountability is important for getting through the program. Only 25% of candidates get through the entire certification program when they try to do it themselves on their own. They get overwhelmed at work with other priorities, and they quickly fall behind.

We will GUARANTEE that you and your team members will finish your project and achieve your certification, as long as you attend the coaching sessions, complete the training, and put in the effort on your project between sessions.

We’ll also send you a non-fungible token (NFT) to your digital wallet upon completion of the certification.

Here is the typical schedule for the 16-week schedule starting in January 2024, with completion of modules required prior to each week to keep you on track. Each session is 2 hours in length with other companies, discussing the training modules, reviewing project updates and getting help to move forward on your improvement project. If you’d like to have private coaching sessions, contact us for a quote.

Interested? The next step is to schedule a call to discuss project ideas (here are some ideas to consider) and make sure you are a good fit for the program.

This is a great option for those working at a company that will invest in your training, but want to see the payback from that investment. We can almost guarantee that your project will save or avoid more than the cost of this program, so it should be a low-risk decision for your organization.

Schedule time with me on my calendar

If you’d like to try to do this on your own, that’s great! You can sign up for a Green Belt or Lean Fundamentals training and certification program with OpEx Training, and you will receive 2 hours of one-on-one coaching with me.

1. Choose the Green Belt or Lean Fundamentals course
2. Add the Green Belt Certification Review or Lean Agent Certification Review
3. You will receive access to the online training, and you can schedule time for a coaching call when you need help

The program will cost up to $299 for the training and $200 for the certification review (up to $499 total). You can also consider a Black Belt certification program for $499 for the training and $350 for the certification review ($849 total).

If you’re working with a nonprofit, NGO or social good organization as a volunteer or staff member, you may be eligible for free or discounted training and certification. Contact us to learn more!

This is the best option for those on a budget, especially if you cannot get your current company to pay for any training.

Learn more about how the certification review and project approval process works with me in this video below…

If you don’t have the time but have an important project you need resolved, and would prefer that we run the improvement project for you, we would be happy to assist!

You will still receive the same options with our coaching program, but we will be leading the project instead of you, and the cost will be higher (over $10,000). Please contact us for pricing options.

This is a good option for those who are already certified, or those who have an important project or critical problem needing to be resolved right away and cannot wait to complete it through a formal coaching program.

Let’s review the 3 main approaches to consider:

Not sure how to pay for this? Here are some ideas to consider:

• Will your company pay for it? Many people are surprised to find out what their company will cover and pay for related to training and professional development. Career development is a great way for companies to show investment in their people, and will increase the chances that they will stay with the company longer. There are also some grants and tax breaks companies can get for training that may offset or cover the costs.
• Will your company reimburse you upon completion? We can almost guarantee that your project will show enough improvement that it will fully pay for the coaching program (and then some!), which makes it a low-risk option for your company.
• Will your company offer a bonus or pay raise upon completion? Maybe there are other ways they can cover the expenses indirectly (if there are issues directly reimbursing for training), so you would need to pay upfront, but will make the money back upon completion.
• Will you be able to leverage this certification for a promotion, pay raise or new job elsewhere? If so, your investment in yourself will pay off in the near future with a higher paying job or the certification will put you into a higher pay range.
• Can you afford it yourself? If you are paying for it yourself, we may be able to offer a payment plan, so you don’t have to pay all at once upfront. Contact us to learn more.
• Are you helping a nonprofit, NGO or not-for-profit organization? Another option is to conduct your improvement with a nonprofit or not-for-profit organization, which qualifies you for discounted or free training or certification review. These discounts apply to those working for a nonprofit or NGO, or volunteers assisting a social good organization. Contact us to learn more about our discounted or scholarship program, where we review your potential project and the organization, and make sure we have sufficient expert resources to volunteer as a coach/mentor. If you’d like to volunteer to help coach or mentor someone on one of these social good projects, contact us to let us know!

Here is a good article with 9 tips for getting your company to pay for training

Other Questions? You can contact us if you would like to learn more about these options above…