How to prepare for the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification?

July 31, 2022

How to prepare for the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification?

Introduction

Six Sigma is a set of strategic techniques that helps companies improve their business processes. It involves the identification and removal of the root causes of defects and minimization of variability in the business processes. The six sigma professionals demonstrate expertise in project management techniques and financial and statistical analysis, which enables them to lead continuous improvement projects. Six Sigma is a data-driven methodology that strives to solve key business problems.

The Six Sigma certifications are offered by professional associations like the American Society for Quality (ASQ), Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) and Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Look for the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course to learn how to comprehend, use, implement, perform, and apply Lean Six Sigma in business practices.

Principles of Six Sigma

The principles mentioned below must be followed for effective implementation of the Six Sigma concepts:

Identification of the fundamental causes of the existing problems
Maximization of the Customer Value
Implementation of Continuous Process Improvement
Coordination and Collaboration with various teams, departments and management
Showcasing versatility and agility

Six Sigma Methodologies

The principles of six Sigma introduce two methodologies, DMADV and DMAIC. The two methodologies of six Sigma are summarized below:

DMADV

The acronyms DMADV represent the following:

D – Defining the specific goals of the company and the clients
M – Measurement of the Critical to Quality characteristics
A – Analysis of the measurement data
D – Designing the new processes and according to the analysis
V – Verification of the new processes

DMAIC

The acronyms DMAIC represent the following:

D – Defining the project objectives and the customer requirements
M – Measurement of the key aspects of the existing processes
A – Analysis of the measurement data
I – Improvement of the existing processes continuously
C – Controlling the implementation process to ensure that there are no mistakes

Six Sigma Levels

The levels of Six Sigma indicate a candidate’s ability to implement the six sigma concepts and methodologies in a project. The levels of Six Sigma that an employee can achieve are listed below:

White Belt – This is the most basic level of an employee following the principles of Six Sigma. In this stage, you will:

Learn the basics of Six Sigma concepts from scratch
Learn how to solve issues as a team

Yellow Belt – In this stage, you will:

Participle in the project as a team member
Participate in reviewing the continuous process improvements
Learn about the DMAIC and DMADV methodologies

Green Belt – To achieve this level, you must work for a minimum of 3 years with full-time employment in one or more areas of the Six Sigma body of knowledge. In this stage, you will:

Gain expertise in the tools and techniques of Six Sigma
Receive hands-on experience to undergo a certain level of business transformation
Lead the green belt projects and assist with the black belt projects

Black Belt – To achieve this level, you must work for a minimum of 3 years with full-time employment in one or more areas of the Six Sigma body of knowledge. You can also show successful competition of two six sigma projects to attain this level. You can pursue an online Six Sigma black belt certification to obtain this level. In this stage, you will:

Learn the skill of applying multivariate metrics to various business scenarios
Lead various Six Sigma teams
Train the teams in Six Sigma concepts

Master Black Belt – To obtain this level, you must be an existing black belt employee. You need to have a work experience of at least 5 years or demonstrate successful completion of 10 Six Sigma projects. In this stage, you will:

Train green belt and black belt candidates
Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and strategies

Prerequisites for Six Sigma Green Belt Certification (Offered by ASQ)

The candidates looking to obtain the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification need to work for a minimum of 3 years with full-time employment in one or more areas of the Six Sigma Body of Knowledge. Candidates can also check out the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course online to have an in-depth understanding of the Six Sigma concepts. Any internship or part-time experiences aren’t considered for the employment duration.

Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Exam Details (Offered by ASQ)

The Six Sigma Green Belt Certification exam consists of multiple choice questions that estimate the candidate’s understanding of the Body of Knowledge. All the examinations are open book, which means that the students are allowed to bring their own reference materials and calculators. There are two modes of the Six Sigma examination:

Computer Delivered exam
The exam time is 4 hours and 18 minutes, and the appointment time is 4 hours and 30 minutes.
Moreover, the exam questions include 110 multiple choice questions, out of which 100 are scored, and 10 are unscored.
The exam is offered only in English.
Paper and Pencil exam
The exam time is 4 hours.
The exam questions include 100 multiple choice questions
Lastly, the exam is offered in English and Mandarin (in select locations).

Tips To Prepare for Six Sigma Green Belt Certification

Some of the tips to prepare for the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification are as follows:

The syllabus is one of the most important aspects of the certification exam. Make sure that you understand the Body of Knowledge of the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Exam that covers each topic’s explanations and cognitive levels. Refer to Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course materials to have a clear idea about the syllabus.

You can review the official references provided on the official website to help you understand the material covered in the exam. There are also a lot of other study guides available in the market that are designed to help you prepare for the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification exam. Furthermore, these guides include all the core concepts and practice questions to help you excel in the exam.

The candidates are also advised to solve the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification sample questions. These questions help you to understand the type of questions asked in the exam.

The candidates are recommended to give a few practice tests of the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification exam. It will help the candidates evaluate themselves and understand where they stand in preparation.

There are various modes that you can use to study for the exam:

Online training: You can opt for the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course online to learn about all the concepts relevant to the exam.
Self Study: You can also choose to study for the exam on your own. There are a lot of resources that can help you study for the exam. Even if you opt for the online Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course training, you will need to put in some hours of self-study to excel in the examination.

It is highly recommended for candidates to immerse themselves in the Six Sigma methodologies to understand the concepts better. Candidates can also gain practical experience by using the trial or demo version of the technology or product. Another alternative is to try to immerse yourself in Six Sigma methodologies outside of your regular training and self-study.

You can also join the online Six Sigma Green Belt forums and discussions where you can learn about a range of six sigma concepts. However, you should keep in mind that all the members posting in the forum are not experts; hence all the contributions on the forum might not be relevant.

Important things to remember:

The Six Sigma Green Belt Certification exam requires a certain level of preparation on the candidate’s part. Therefore, make sure that you plan your course of study accordingly if you want to pass the certification exam.
You should focus on preparing for the exam as best as possible rather than considering the final score. The results will reflect your hard work if you have prepared well for the certification exam.
There are some non-practical questions in the exam which might be tricky for some candidates. You should focus on the category-wise skills to respond to those questions.
You can choose the language of the certification exam depending on the availability of the exam resources in that language.

Conclusion

Organizations widely accept Six Sigma concepts to reduce the inefficiencies in their processes and attain better business performance through continuous improvement processes. The adoption of these concepts helps in the reduction of waste and the root causes of critical issues.

Enroll in the KnowledgeHut Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course to learn about Six Sigma concepts and prepare for the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification exam to gain the skills you need to contribute to organizational success.

FAQs

1. How much does it cost to obtain a Six Sigma Green Belt certification?

The cost of the Six Sigma Green Belt certification offered by IASSC is $295.

2. What are the different Six Sigma levels?

The different levels of Six Sigma are as follows:

White Belt
Yellow Belt
Green Belt
Black Belt
Master Black Belt
Champions

3. What are the techniques of Six Sigma?

The various techniques of six Sigma are as follows:

Brainstorming
Customer feedback analysis
Root cause analysis
The 5-S system (Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain)
Continuous improvement strategies

4. What are the steps for Six Sigma implementation?

The steps for Six Sigma implementation are as follows:

Get strategic management support by communicating the need to implement six Sigma.
Raise awareness to ensure the company has all the required resources and knowledge.
Establish ownership to identify the collaborators of the six sigma implementation project.
Define the value to determine the added benefits to stakeholders and customers.
Set your priorities in line with the company’s strategic objectives.
Collect measurement data to map the activities and identify the inefficiencies in the processes.
Establish control to sustain improvement in future processes.

5. What are the professional career options after obtaining the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification?

In conclusion, after obtaining the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification, you can apply for the positions of Six Sigma Consultant, Six Sigma Analyst, Director of Operational Excellence, Project Manager, Functional Project Lead, Business Process Manager, etc.

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