Politics Information

Six Sigma Can Improve Government Practices


Government bodies at any level, local, state, and Federal, can implement Six Sigma to improve customer service and increase the effectiveness of government. Although Six Sigma has its roots in private-sector manufacturing, it works just as effectively in governmental organizations and government will reap the same benefits as corporations.

Many top companies have produced outstanding results with Six Sigma, dramatically cutting costs, increasing profits, and improving customer service. Governments aren't looking for profits, but they still have motivation to reduce their costs and reduce the inefficiency and waste that causes cost overruns. The reduction of variation and defects within processes is the goal of Six Sigma and that goal is just as valid in government as in any other industry.

Any government institution is a service organization and its customers are the citizens it serves. Like a private sector service business, a government benefits when it learns how to serve their customers better by increasing quality and efficiency. In any service organization, the critical factors in quality and efficiency are the flow of information and interaction between people, especially interactions with customers. Transforming the process of these flows will yield quality results. At the heart of every service business are the opinions, behaviors and decisions made by people. Analyzing and modifying human performance in service environments is as complex as any manufacturing situation. Six Sigma achieves documented bottom-line strategic business results by initiating an organization-wide culture shift.

The governmental institution must understand that it needs to redesign its processes from the ground up to be as efficient as Six Sigma enables. No more "business as usual." Until a process focus-rather than a task focus-is developed, the scope and endurance of improvements will be limited. Analyzing and modifying human performance in these environments is complex, but Six Sigma provides the tools and methodology required to achieve significant long-term improvements.

Six Sigma will help government operations groups, such as public works, law enforcement, and sanitation improve their processes to deliver services more efficiently. It will help departments that handle transactions, such as finance, libraries, and human resources, improve their processes to reduce waste and save money. It will help relationships with contractors and assure that contractors apply best practices to their own programs. Six Sigma will also instill a new attitude of efficiency and responsibility from governmental employees. The organization-wide culture shift comes from Six Sigma's recognition of meeting the needs of customers and the value of lower-defect business processes.

Six Sigma is still new to government. Fort Wayne, Indiana may be the first City in the country to implement Six Sigma. The City of Fort Wayne is using Six Sigma to initiate improvements in a number of different departments, including fire, community development, water pollution control, right of way, human resources, street, transportation engineering services and solid waste. Six Sigma has decreased costs, improved customer service and increased productivity throughout city government. Projects have resulted in over $3 million of savings or cost avoidance for the City.

The use of Six Sigma demonstrates a government's commitment to innovation and continuous improvement. Leaders in government will find many benefits to adopting Six Sigma methodologies and training their employees in Six Sigma.

Peter Peterka is President of Six Sigma.us and has over 15 years experience including implementation of Six Sigma in Government with a variety of organizations. For additional information please contact Peter Peterka at 6Sigma.us


MORE RESOURCES:

Washington Post

Eric Holder's Politics
Wall Street Journal - 16 hours ago
One of the media narratives about the Bush Administration has been its "politicization" of the Justice Department. We've always thought most of that was ...
Holder pardon makes Dems squirm MLive.com
Obama's attorney general pick: Good on privacy? CNET News
Obama's picks - so far, so good San Francisco Chronicle
Democracy Now - Human Events
all 412 news articles


The Money Times

Religion and politics: Big issues behind a little ornament
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 17 hours ago
Any political messages, from either side, are inappropriate. axis 42: To those of you insisting that a Chritmas tree is no place for a political message, ...
Video: Raw Video: White House Christmas Tree Arrives AssociatedPress
Bush Didn't Sell His Soul For Politics OneNewsNow
Vt. Artists Part of White House Christmas Tree WCAX
Seattle Post Intelligencer
all 316 news articles


BBC News

Don't let politics overtake appointment
Albany Times Union, NY - 6 hours ago
Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat and less concerned with the appointee's politics. In these historically trying times, it is imperative to have someone ...
Obama's cabinet picks shake up NY, AZ politics The Associated Press
Dynastic Politics Lives in New York American Spectator
NY Governor Keeping Mum About Any Early Favorites Washington Post
Examiner.com - Glens Falls Post-Star
all 588 news articles


ABC News

Mortgage Plan Prompts More Bailout Politics
The Washington Independent, DC - 3 hours ago
More bailout politics, anyone? The core problem with such a plan, according to a few secondary market experts HW spoke with, is that mortgage rates have ...
Swift Boating on Denial River Smartmoney.com
all 598 news articles


Washington Post

Governor Talks Politics, Marriage
Tampa Tribune, FL - 13 hours ago
By CATHERINE DOLINSKI Gay rights activists are planning to demonstrate outside your wedding and reception to protest the gay marriage ban that passed in ...
Senator says politics didn't force his hand, but analysts disagree Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Open Florida Senate Seat Draws Spotlight to Jeb Bush CQPolitics.com
An interview with Bob Dole Tufts Daily
Tampabay.com - Manchester HippoPress
all 814 news articles


Thai court bans prime minister, ruling party from politics
Christian Science Monitor, MA - Dec 2, 2008
The parties' leaders, including Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, have been banned from politics for five years. The announcement came hours after an ...
Video: Thailand Airport Shutdown Enters 3rd Day AssociatedPress
Thai PM Accepts Verdict Disbanding Parties, Banning Him from Politics Voice of America
Thai PM banned from politics as court disbands ruling party Daily Nation
Sin Chew Jit Poh - Los Angeles Times
all 8,490 news articles


Namibia: An Appeal for Tolerance in Namibian Politics
AllAfrica.com, Washington - 8 hours ago
More recently, we gained international recognition for the smooth transition from the Founding President to the second President after a robust political ...


MinnPost.com

Connecting the purple dots of stadium politics and the Viking ...
MinnPost.com, MN - 23 hours ago
It's part spin, part genuine, part ticket-selling, part brand-maintenance, part politics, part mythology. Yep, it's the "role model" thing that some folks ...


Post-Election Spiritual Politics
Spero News - 5 hours ago
There is a proliferation of study centers focusing on the inter-connection of religion and politics - most on them on the Left. By Stephanie Block Since the ...


BBC News

Inside Politics
Washington Times, DC - 17 hours ago
"In 2002 and 2004, Republicans ran hard on social issues and the courts - and scored victories at every level of politics. In 2006 and 2008, they left those ...
Video: Ga. Senate Race Last Big Contest of 2008 AssociatedPress
The entry titled "It's good to get things out in the open. Now ... Atlanta Journal Constitution
POWER POLITICS HEAT UP GEORGIA SENATE RUNOFF Facing South
U.S. News & World Report - New York Times
all 2,741 news articles

Politics - Google News

home | site map
© 2006