OLAO Lean Six Sigma

Who We Are:

We work across NIH to support a range of Lean Six Sigma process improvement projects to enable Institutes and Centers to fulfill their missions. From staff training, enterprise quality assessments, process documentation and evaluation, subject matter expertise, and change management, we help NIH achieve their goals.

What is LSS?

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a set of methodologies used to systematically improve processes by:

Emphasizing quality and/or speed of product or service delivery
Eliminating sources of variation and waste (defects)
Targeting process improvements around issues voiced by customer and organization
Measuring performance against original process requirements (baseline)

Learn More about our Green Belt Program Here:

Green Belt Training: A four-day training course for federal employees in which you will learn the details of the LSS DMAIC methodology to improve quality, productivity, customer satisfaction, and/or efficiency while reducing cost and/or waste. Trainees have the option to pursue a Green Belt Certification (see below) after the training by opting to complete a LSS project within their organization. For more information: Green Belt Training

Green Belt Certification: Three elements are required to obtain a LSS Green Belt Certification:

Completion of the four-day Green Belt Training
A passing score on the Green Belt Proficiency Exam offered at the end of the training
Successful completion of a Green Belt project with LSS mentoring.

For more information: Green Belt Certification Mentoring

Learn More about our Black Belt Program Here:

Black Belt Training: A 32-hour live Training Course for federal employees that currently hold a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. Over the course of the immersive training, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belts guide you in learning key methods including: building a culture of continuous improvement, Lean concepts and tools, DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) for Black Belts, people and schedule management and more. Following successful completion of the classroom training, you will execute an LSS Black Belt project to support NIH OLAO LSS Black Belt certification.

Black Belt Certification: Four elements are required to obtain a LSS Black Belt Certification:

The candidate must be Green Belt Certified
Completion of the Black Belt Training Course
Achievement of passing score on the Black Belt Proficiency Exam (Part of Black Belt training course)
Successful completion of a Black Belt project with LSS mentoring.

For more information: Black Belt Program

Learn More about our Executive Training Here:

Executive Training: The Office of Logistics and Acquisition Operations (OLAO) at NIH will host a one-day training course for federal employees and contractors, who supervise employees, on LSS to help you address challenges in your daily responsibilities. This in- depth training is predominantly geared towards NIH executives to provide an understanding of LSS and how the methodologies can be applied across their organization. Tools will be introduce that you can start to deploy immediately following the session.

Executive Awareness Training: A “three-hour” awareness training course for federal employees on LSS to help you address challenges in your daily responsibilities. This high-level training is predominantly geared towards NIH executives to provide an understanding of LSS and how the methodologies can be applied across their organization.

For more information: Executive Training

Learn More about our Jumpstart Training Here:

Jumpstart Training: Jumpstart! training is a three-hour virtual training course for federal employees on process improvement tools and concepts that can help you and your teammates drive improved operational efficiency and effectiveness virtually.

This training covers the following topics:

Brief introduction to the Lean Six Sigma process improvement framework DMAIC
The Project Charter Tool
How to virtually perform As-Is process mapping
The importance of collecting the voice of the customer for improvement initiatives
The framework and steps for data collection to identify improvement opportunities
The concept of 5S and how it can help to organize a workplace or workflow
How to use Kanban to track progress of team members and inventory of supplies
An overview of the NIH OLAO LSS Program and LSS learning paths

For more information: Jumpstart Program

Click Here from an NIH laptop to access all NIH process improvement tools and templates.

Learn More about our Lean Six Sigma Lunch and Learn Training Here:

Lean Six Sigma Lunch and Learn Training: Lunch & Learn training is a one-hour introductory virtual training course for federal employees and contractors to introduce the concepts, tools and methodology of process improvement. This can help you and your teammates begin to understand how easy it is to drive operational efficiency and effectiveness virtually.

This training covers the following topics:

Lean Six Sigma - Why Now?
Lean Principles Overview
Six Sigma Overview
Lean Six Sigma Overview
LSS Program at NIH
Certification Options
Questions

Click Here from an NIH laptop to access all NIH process improvement tools and templates.

Training for the remainder of Calendar years 2023, 2024 and 2025

All times are U.S. East Coast – (EST, EDT)

Green Belt Training (4 days - $1,000.00)
August 7, 2023 Through August 10, 2023 from 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
November 13, 2023 through November 16, 2023 from 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
February 5, 2024 through February 8, 2024 From 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
May 6, 2024 through May 9, 2024 From 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
August 5, 2024 through August 8, 2024 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
November 18, 2024 through November 21, 2024 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
February 10, 2025 through February 13, 2025 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Additional times may be offered and/or arranged for groups of ten or more – call for details.

Executive Awareness Training (Three Hours - No Cost)
November 3, 2023 from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
February 2, 2024 From 9:00 AM - Noon
July 12, 2024 from 9:00 AM – Noon
November 1, 2024 From 9:00 AM - Noon
February 7, 2025 From 9:00 - Noon

Additional times may be offered and/or arranged for groups of ten or more – call for details.

Executive Training (1 Day - $300.00)
September 8, 2023 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
December 12, 2023 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
March 11, 2024 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
June 13, 2024 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
September 11, 2024 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
December 10, 2024 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
March 12, 2025 From 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Additional times may be offered and/or arranged for groups of ten or more – call for details.

Lunch & Learn Sessions (One Hour - No Cost)
August 18, 2023 From Noon – 1:00 PM
September 15, 2023 From Noon – 1:00 PM
October 20, 2023 From Noon – 1:00 PM
November 17, 2023 From Noon – 1:00 PM
December 15, 2023 From Noon – 1:00 PM
January 19, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
February 16, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
March 15, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
April 19, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
May 17, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
June 21, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
July 19, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
August 16, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
September 20, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
October 18, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
November 15, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
December 20, 2024 From Noon – 1:00 PM
January 17, 2025 From Noon – 1:00 PM
February 21, 2025 From Noon – 1:00 PM
March 7, 2025 From Noon – 1:00 PM

Black Belt Training (12 Days – 2 Hours per day - $2,000.00)
September 12, 2023 through November 28, 2023 from 10:00 AM – Noon
March 05, 2024 – June 11, 2024 From 10:00 AM - Noon
September 10, 2024 – December 3, 2024 From 10:00 AM – Noon
Additional times may be offered and/or arranged – call for details.

Jump Start Training (3 Hours - $250.00)
September 19, 2023 9:00 AM – Noon
December 6, 2023 from 9:00 AM – Noon
February 23, 2024 From Noon – 3:00 PM
May 14, 2024 From 9:00 AM – Noon
June 28, 2024 From Noon – 3:00 PM
August 23, 2024 From Noon – 3:00
December 12, 2024 From Noon – 3:00 PM
March 4, 2025 From 9:00 AM - Noon
Additional times may be offered and/or arranged – call for details.

Questions?