When trying to understand the role of a green belt in Six Sigma, a basic understanding of Six Sigma is required. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of the output of a process by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, mainly empirical, statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these methods.
Understanding the Role of a Six Sigma Green Belt
Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has specific value targets. For example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. Just like any other profession, the practice of Six Sigma has skills levels or qualifications that represents the responsibility, skill level and capability of the practitioner. The professional ladder is broken down by: White Belt, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black Belt professionals.
The certification of Green Belt indicates a mid-tier level of professional qualification or ability. A Green Belt indicates a person who has mastered a level of skills in the practice of Six Sigma. Typically, Green Belts practice their skills in roles where their Six Sigma qualifications are at least part of their overall professional responsibilities. As a comparison, a Black Belt will spend 100% of their duties on leading Six Sigma teams and a Master Black Belt will spend 100% of their duties on supervising and oversight of Six Sigma operations. The Green Belt practitioners are the mid-level leader and workhorse of the profession. At this level, the Green Belt practitioner does the hard work when tackling Six Sigma projects within an organization. It requires a solid operational knowledge and skill to apply the concepts of Six Sigma.
