Page 71 - Six Sigma Demystified

52 Six SigMa DemystifieD

zon put it, “A leader . . . creates the right environment for business to be done.”
A soccer coach can neither dribble down the field for the team nor provide
constant and immediate instructions to players on shooting, passing, and
defense. Instead, the coach needs to develop skills in the players and then
empower them to exercise judgment in the use of those skills.
As on the soccer field, responsibility in a customer- focused organization
must be delegated down the line. Rather than tightened oversight to achieve
adherence to customer requirements, bureaucracy must be reduced and the
organizational hierarchy flattened to increase the communication between
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organizational levels, particularly communication to and from the front- ine per-
sonnel with access to customers.
Through empowerment, the responsibility, focus, and authority of front- line
personnel are shifted toward doing what is necessary to win customer oyalty—
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without the need for additional management approval. This empowerment
demands flexibility, sharing of information, and an understanding of the busi-
ness operations, which is afforded by cross- training. The ultimate result is what
Carlzon called “moments of truth” in customer relations, where customers
realize the commitment of the organization to solving their problems (see
Figure 3.3).

Figure 3.3 The new organizational structure puts customer con-
tact at all levels of the organization. (Pyzdek and Keller, 2009.)