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What Is the Role of a Six Sigma Champion in Project Sponsorship?
Ace your Six Sigma Green Belt exam by understanding the Champion’s role. Learn how they sponsor projects, remove organizational barriers, and provide high-level support to ensure alignment with business goals and enable team success.
Question
Which of the following best describes a Six Sigma Champion’s role?
A. To conduct all data analysis independently
B. To work only on small process tasks
C. To sponsor projects and remove organizational barriers
D. To avoid aligning projects with business goals
Answer
C. To sponsor projects and remove organizational barriers
Explanation
Champions enable teams to succeed by providing support. The Six Sigma Champion is a critical leadership role, acting as the project’s executive sponsor and advocate, whose primary function is to enable the project team to succeed by providing high-level support and clearing the path for implementation.
The Champion as Project Sponsor
As a sponsor, the Champion is typically a senior manager or executive who has the authority to allocate the necessary resources to a Six Sigma project. This sponsorship is vital and includes:
- Securing Funding: Ensuring the project has the necessary budget for any tools, training, or implementation costs.
- Allocating Personnel: Freeing up the time of the Green Belt, Black Belt, and Team Members to work on the project.
- Providing Strategic Direction: Selecting projects that align with the company’s key business objectives and ensuring the project’s goals will deliver a meaningful impact.
The Champion as Barrier-Remover
Perhaps the most crucial function of a Champion is to use their organizational authority to remove roadblocks that can stall a project. Project teams, often composed of employees from various levels and departments, may lack the influence to overcome inter-departmental resistance or bureaucratic hurdles. The Champion acts as the team’s powerful ally by:
- Resolving Political Issues: Navigating organizational politics and building consensus among other leaders.
- Facilitating Cross-Functional Cooperation: Ensuring the team gets the support and cooperation it needs from other departments.
- Overcoming Resistance to Change: Advocating for the project and helping to manage the cultural changes that come with process improvements.
By handling these high-level challenges, the Champion allows the project team (Green Belts and Team Members) to focus on the technical work of the DMAIC process—analyzing data and improving the process.
Analysis of Incorrect Options
A. To conduct all data analysis independently: This is incorrect. The hands-on data collection and statistical analysis are the primary responsibilities of the Green Belt and Black Belt leading the project.
B. To work only on small process tasks: This is false. This describes the role of a Team Member. Champions have a high-level, strategic role and do not engage in the detailed, tactical tasks of the project.
D. To avoid aligning projects with business goals: This is the opposite of a Champion’s main purpose. Their most important function is to ensure that projects are selected and executed in a way that directly supports the strategic goals of the business.
Six Sigma Green Belt: Apply, Analyze & Improve certification exam assessment practice question and answer (Q&A) dump including multiple choice questions (MCQ) and objective type questions, with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the Six Sigma Green Belt: Apply, Analyze & Improve exam and earn Six Sigma Green Belt: Apply, Analyze & Improve certificate.