Game Change LTD

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Training

Black Belt Training and Certification equips you with “Advanced Practitioner Level” perspectives and Lean Six Sigma skills in process variability reduction (DMAIC), process waste reduction (LEAN) and a comprehensive toolkit to plan and lead change in your organization.

This course builds upon your Green Belt knowledge to expand your Lean Six Sigma expertise, strengthen your knowledge and skill sets, and gives you the confidence you need to take that next step as a continuous improvement professional and return back to your organization with a greater level of analytical, project implementation and change leadership skills.

You walk away with the learning and the know-how. This means not just focus on the “what” to do but the “how” to do it, with greater emphasis on typical project barriers and “hints” and “tips” on “how” to overcome using case studies and compelling best practices as part of the learning experience. 

Come with a change initiative

What are change initiatives?
Change initiatives are usually plans and actions aiming at implementing a process transformation in an organization that could result in a change of the culture, communication, human resource, logistics, and etc. Change initiatives come from all geographies, industries and career levels, so it’s hard to generalise.

Common examples of challenges

  • Creating a company-wide culture of customer focus or digitalizing a product or service
  • Motivating employees to accept changes in a continuously changing business environment
  • Adopting a new organizational solution and making sure it’s fully implemented
  • Setting up a new system in an overseas subsidiary – with a lot of push-back from local employees
  • Facing the changes in employment/process/system due to taking over new markets or companies or being acquired by others.

Why are they important in this programme?
Having a change initiative(s) allows participants to contribute their unique experiences, personalise the tools to their own situation and make an impact back at the workplace. By the end, they have a clear set of priorities and are ready to create an action plan that can be used immediately upon their return to work.

It is not necessary but recommended that applicants have at least one change initiative, which allows them to adopt a learn by doing approach to apply learning outcomes to a real world scenario(s).

How you benefit:
  • Sustain actionable knowledge. Harness information you already have into a solid understanding of how to build sustainable processes and structures to enhance your organization’s capability
  • More competent as a manager. Become a more competent and confident manager with new insights, knowledge and skills.
  • Elevate key skills in change leadership, analyzing data and decision making to take on greater responsibility to pinpoint and manage performance shortfalls
  • Insights on where to focus attention to influence change in your organization and how to identify, scope and charter continuous improvement projects
  • Master the skills you need to combine statistical and quantitative methods with the interpersonal skills required to influence, inform and drive change
  • Develop coaching skills to guide team members and advise management during Lean Six Sigma implementation
  • Come with a change initiative (optional) to apply the learning in your personal or your organization’s context

Participant Profile:

Black Belt Training and Certification is designed for Certified Green Belt’s from a wide variety of manufacturing, service and transactional organizations either currently involved with, or who aspire to, or have recently gained continuous improvement responsibilities;

  • Seeking to develop in-depth knowledge and analytical skills in process variability reduction (DMAIC) and process waste reduction (Lean)
  • Who want to strengthen their ability to lead change and enhance their organization’s continuous improvement capability
  • Participants coming in groups/teams to collaborate on an Action Learning project tailored to their organization’s context

Course Pre-requisites

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate either with Game Change or another bonafide training provider
(evidence required prior to course start).

Exam and Certification

Exam: 50 Questions
Duration: 70 min.
Pass Mark: 70%

Achieve 70% pass mark in the Black Belt multiple choice final exam

Our Live Virtual Classroom courses leverage the power of technology to allow you to join from anywhere in the world to connect and engage live with instructor’s and peers just like in a classroom.

Featuring the same course content, world-class engaging, interactive teaching and diverse participants you can expect from face-to-face learning this new blended format includes virtual and online learning to deliver the insights and tools you need to bridge the gap between theory and real-life execution.

Delivered over 15 weeks that combines video lectures, real-life examples, discussions and quizzes to bring the key concepts to life. Each week of content follows a very clear path to facilitate learning for busy professionals. Our learning platform allows participants to learn at their own pace during each week, by viewing the content, completing assignments and engaging in discussions, taking on average 4-6 hours per week to complete.

Last but not least, the course provides a ready-made support network via our online learning platform where you can get in touch with Master Black Belt experts and fellow participants facing similar challenges.

The online material allows you to complete a significant portion of work flexibly – at your own pace, wherever you might be. Preparation completed online is then pulled into Live Virtual sessions, helping you make the most out of your time in class to apply the learning and to ensure you fully understand the topics.

  • Purpose built instructional videos recorded in our media studio
  • Interactive exercises and quizzes
  • Cases, readings and additional resources
  • Online discussions, guided by Master Black Belt’s and teaching assistants

As a course participant, you will complete approximately 58 hours of online material supported by virtual instructor led sessions. We have split each block of preparation into manageable chunks of time.

Throughout the online preparation modules, there are discussion points which will be drawn upon during the virtual classroom sessions, ensuring a direct connection between learning online and in the classroom.

There are 3 live Instructor-led Virtual Sessions, 6 hours duration each.

Like the other participants, you will bring your experiences to the classroom for in-depth and stimulating learning sessions with your fellow participants and Master Black Belt instructor’s, you will take a collaborative approach to the subject matter allowing you to;

  • Consolidate knowledge and understanding
  • Share your professional experience
  • Master Black Belt instructor’s challenge your ideas
  • Apply your knowledge to real-world cases

The core modules are structured progressively around the DMAIC methodology which allows you to apply learning from your course into the workplace rapidly. By accessing course materials at any time and leveraging the diversity of experience within your cohort, you’ll come up with innovative ideas and solutions to personalise the tools to your own situation and make an impact back at the workplace.

The breadth of topics covered in your core modules will give you the confidence to a clear set of priorities to create an action plan that can be used immediately upon your return at work.

  • Make a positive impact to change and improvement projects at your workplace
  • Adopt a learn by doing approach to apply learning outcomes to a real world scenario(s)
Next Course

E-Learning Modules

58 Hours

Instructor-led Live Virtual Sessions

18 Hours

Dates

Session 1Session 2Session 3
26th Mar – 202412th Apr – 202424th Apr – 2024
   
   
   
   
   
Virtual Instructor-led sessions take place live via Zoom between 09:30 to 15:30 BST / 08.30 to 14:30 UTC

Estimated time to complete

76 Hours

Course Duration

15 Weeks

Course Fee

£ 2,195

What's Included

  • 58 hours eLearning with Integrated Roadmaps and Quizzes (12 month access)
  • Additional 18 hours Instructor-led Virtual Classroom
  • 12 month free access to Black Belt Bootcamp Learning Platform, Toolkit, Case Studies and Downloadable Resources
  • Black Belt Online Exam and Electronic Certificate
  • Unlimited Practice Exams and Re-sits free of charge
  • Email Tutor support via discussion groups

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Ongoing personal and professional development. Recognition and career advancement opportunities.

Part of a strong international network. Join a community of continuous improvement professionals that will support you during and long after the course is over

Program Features

The quickest, easiest and most engaging way to get individuals and companies on track with Lean Six Sigma concepts and tools.

In-person and virtual workshops

Ready-to-use job aids, tools and templates

Peer-to-peer learning forums

Distinctive digital learning content

Expert coaching support

Nudges, reminders and micro learning

Excellent for remote teams

Auto-translate curriculum and instruction

Multi-channel; eLearning, virtual, face-to-face or in-house

Make progress in less time and deliver results quickly

Tailored learning solutions for companies

Mobile friendly

Highly practical

Join our Lean Six Sigma community

Practice exams

World Class Lean Six Sigma Certification

We don’t just deliver training. 

We train to deliver business results.

Taiichi Ohno, who is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, once said:
” All we are doing is looking at the time line, from the moment the customer gives us an order to the point when we collect the cash. And we are reducing the time line by reducing the non-value adding wastes”

Since its establishment in 1937, Toyota has developed the improvement system, the ”Toyota Production System”.

This was the system that inspired researchers at the end of the 1980s to define what we know today as the Lean philosophy.

In brief, Lean is meant to simplify operations, eliminate waste, and to carry out more value-creating activities by developing people and processes.

Click here to read more…

Six Sigma was developed by Mikel Harry and Bill Smith at Motorola in the late 80’s but has roots stemming back to Deming and the principles of Zero Defects and Total Quality Management. Over several years that followed the initiation of its efforts, Motorola achieved a 200 fold improvement in production quality from 4 Sigma to about 5.5 Sigma and saved a reported $2.2 billion in the process.

Another early adopter was Allied Signal as they implemented the methods in the early 90s so that it became more than just a system to measure production quality.

Six Sigma became well known after Jack Welch made it a central focus of his business strategy at General Electric in 1995 to drive growth and cost reduction and in GE’s 1999 annual report they attributed benefits of $2 billion net income to Six Sigma.

Six Sigma is a compilation of statistical concepts and other tools and techniques put together in a systematic way to get results.

Click here to read more…

Lean Six Sigma is not just a collection of tools, but an integrated continuous improvement methodology aimed at delivering defect-free products and services — as well as producing value for the customer as efficiently as possible. 

The Lean Six Sigma methodology is a merger of two distinct but complementary methodologies—Lean and Six Sigma. Lean is based on Toyota’s production system and has been developed into a Lean set of principles that have been widely applied in both manufacturing and service businesses. Six Sigma was developed by Motorola in the late 1980’s initially to improve product quality and has also been widely applied in manufacturing and service organizations.

Click here to read more…

Upon successful completion of all certification requirements, participants are awarded with an official Belt Certificate from Game Change, which they can also showcase on their LinkedIn profile. In addition, we will also invite you to be a part of an ongoing learning community for all Game Change Certified Belts.

Yes, the certification fee is included in all Game Change courses.

The terms are used to describe individual proficiency as a Lean and Six Sigma practitioner. The original terms were defined by Motorola and only covered Six Sigma aspects, but more recently the application and training of Lean and Six Sigma has been combined and this has now emerged as an industry standard.

Lean Six Sigma Yellow, Green, Black and Master Black Belt Certification demonstrates an individual’s knowledge, skills and dedication to achieving a high standard of competency in the application of the Lean and Six Sigma approach, concepts and tools.

Employers are increasingly looking for Certified Belt status as evidence of practical understanding and the ability to run projects and obtain financial benefits. Certification is therefore essential for career advancement and to be recognised as a true lean six sigma continuous improvement professional.

The simple answer is no. Historically, both the Lean and Six Sigma approach originated in companies (Toyota and Motorola respectiveley) and all major organizations have since run their Belt training differently.                                                                 
 
When considering your choice of training provider the real benchmark is the best practice process used by companies such as GE, Motorola and Honeywell. Their robust approach, requires training content to not just focus on building technical competence but also a demonstration of the practical application of the DMAIC methodology to project scenarios and developing the skills in selecting the right tools and techniques. This is the same approach adopted by Game Change which is why our training is truly world class. Our certification process remains true to the spirit of Lean Six Sigma set by the early adoptors such as Motorola, GE, Honeywell, Toyota and the analytical rigour and ‘learn by doing’ standards necessary to ensure course participants gain full appreciation of the practical skills needed to achieve World Class Lean Six Sigma Certification. 

Results are available immediateley after successful completion of the online Final exam and the respective Yellow/Green/Black/Master Black Belt Belt Certificate is available for electronic download.

To successfully attain Master Black Belt Certification you are required to;

Submit at least two successful projects and evidence of the use of tools and techniques associated with Lean Six Sigma for assessment at the end of the course by a Master Black Belt instructor panel.
Deliver a project presentation during Session II of the course to an audience made up of other course participants and Master Black Belts.
Achieve 70% pass mark in the Master Black Belt final exam (75 multiple choice questions).

There is a choice of 3 options for Master Black Belt project submissions;

A current problem that you are currently solving using the Lean SIx Sigma methodology and tools.
A past project where you have applied the Lean Six Sigma methodology and tools and can show evidence of this.
We can provide real projects and case studies for you to work on.

The main focus is to assess your practical appreciation of the methodology, tools and techniques. The following are typical of project topics submitted by attendees for this course;

Raise customer service levels in a call centre
Cut costs and speed output in activities from manufacturing to sales
Realise the cashable benefits of integrated processes and IT
Establish effective business measures and performance management systems
Boost quality, eliminate defects and improve reliability of processes and systems

The problem statement must be important to the business, customer or stakeholders.

This examination is intended to cover all aspects of the respective Yellow, Green, Black, Master Black Belt curriculum with a high emphasis on the practical application of concepts learned during the course. Online practice exams are available during course attendance.

Multiple choice (no negative marking so you are required to attempt all questions).
Online Exam
Closed book, calculators allowed.
Yellow (20 questions/30 min); Green Belt (30 questions/40 min); Black Belt (50 questions/70 min); Master Black Belt (75 questions/120 min)
Pass mark for all exams is 70%

Our current certification rate runs at 97%, 92%, 91% and 100% for Yellow, Green, Black and Master Black Belt exams, respectively.

All our course content is designed to account for non native English speakers and all courses include multi-lingual auto translate features.

No, once you become certified, there is no requirement to re-certify again.

Upon successfully completing the course, participants will be awarded with an official Lean Six Sigma Yellow/Green/Black/Master Black Belt Certificate available for electronic download and which they can also showcase on their LinkedIn profile.

The Game Change Lean Six Sigma Training and Certification program is based on the GE, Motorola and Honeywell certification model which is recognised as the appropriate way to become certified. All our course curriculum conforms to the Body of Knowledge as specified by the American Society of Quality (ASQ) and other best practice standards.

This program has been sucessfully attended by hundreds of organisations and thousands of business professional Worldwide since 2005.

The standards require an individual to pass rigorous training and testing hurdles to gain Lean Six Sigma certification. Case studies are designed to ensure a practical understanding of systematically, selecting and applying appropriate methods and tools and the learning outcomes are individually assessed by the Instructor and through quizzes during the course and through the Final Exam on the last day of the course.

Master Black Belt’s are required to conduct a guided audit of at least two individual projects submitted prior to the start of session II of the course for formal assessment by a panel of Master Black Belt instructors. The results form part of the certification criteria in addition to the Final Exam.

E-Learning courses are self paced and we recommend you to devote 1-2 hours per week watching video lectures and completing E-Learning Modules on fundamental concepts, 1 hour per week on interacting with fellow participants in discussions or reflecting on the concepts through quizzes, and 2-3 hours per week in applying the fundamental concepts to your everyday work.

Blended, Virtual and Group Training is designed in a manner to encourage the whole class to learn together, moving at a certain pace from session to session, while providing enough flexibility between sessions for the participants to review the content at their own convenience. You can log in anytime at your convenience and review the weekly content at your own pace, as the learning design is asynchronous.

For live Zoom calls with the instructor, which will take place at a particular time, and you will need to be online at that particular time. These live calls would typically take place during an afternoon as per Central European Time to accommodate the maximum participants across the globe. We will also record these live calls for those participants who are unable to join the live session.

Face-to-Face Classroom courses require participants commit to a series of 8 hour days of intense learning.

Our trainers are all carefully selected to ensure that only the best Master Black Belts, with years of relevant hands-on experience, deliver our courses. Each trainer has worked across multiple industries and has helped implement Lean Six Sigma in all contexts in companies worldwide. Our trainers are passionate about effectively coaching people through their training and to successfully get Lean Six Sigma implemented in their organization.

Yes, of course. The learning experience is designed to encourage interaction and simulate as close an experience to face-to-face as possible. Participants would be able to interact with each other through discussion forums, distributed throughout the online Bootcamp learning platform. They would also have the opportunity to interact with each other during the live Instructor led sessions.

Our typical training class includes a mix of international course participants including team members, supervisors, project manager’s, functional and technical experts, internal and external consultants, senior executives, business leaders and sponsors from a wide variety of manufacturing, service and transactional environments.

The diversity in Game Change classes truly enriches the learning experience, as each student contributes with his or her own culture, perspective and mindset to the issues studied. Moreover, one of the cornerstones of our programme is our emphasis on group work and virtual teams and the importance of sharing best practices.

Course participants are an important source of support to each other, developing close friendships and an international professional network.

At Game Change, you never learn alone. To bring this notion alive in the online setting, we have built a learning community comprising of the participants, trainers and subject matter experts. Our unique approach to peer-to-peer learning plays an integral part in stimulating content discussions, encouraging collaboration between participants as well as guiding the participants closely in meeting their learning objectives.

The Bootcamp is the learning platform, facilitated by Game Change Master Black Belt’s with a wealth of learning and implementation resources including Discussion Groups, Toolkit, Templates, Downloads, Events, Prcatice Exam’s to test your knowledge and much more.

Please click on ‘Enrol Now’, then click on ‘Payment’ to proceed with your payment where you have the option to pay online or request a company invoice.

We accept that sometimes you may have to cancel your course, for full details surrounding our cancellation policy, please read our terms and conditions.

Yes. We offer 10% off the advertised price to students who can produce a valid email address (e.g ac.uk) and identity reference number from a recognized educational institution.

No – Once you have paid for the course there are no further costs. During the course you can purchase additional coaching sessions if you wish but there is no mandatory requirement to do so.

As long as you meet the course pre-requisites you have the opportunity to upgrade between courses at any stage.

There will be no charges for a substitute delegate replacing an original delegate if Game Change has been informed before the start of the first session. Substitutions cannot be made after the start of the first session.

All Game Change Learning Courses can be accessed on desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Currently supported browsers (usually based on support of latest two browser versions) are:

Chrome: version 31+
Safari: version 7+
Firefox: version 26+
IE: version 10+

The application uses modern web development approaches (HTML 5) so that it can function responsively across desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones without the need of players or add-ons. 

At the moment we do not support offline access of content so you will need to have access to the Internet whenever you want to access the course content or zoom sessions.

Yes. The entire content of the course, toolkit and access to the Bootcamp online learning platform is available to you for 12 months after completion of the course. After 12 months, continued access is subject to Bootcamp subscription charges.

Absolutely, and we actually encourage participants to attend in teams in order to maximise the learning and impact. Group Training is facilitated by our unique learning platform. Intersted? Get in touch.

This tried and tested learning program will equip you with the advanced decision making and process improvement skills to take on greater responsibility to effectively engage with others and to successfully implement continuous improvement and change projects for your organisation. It will provide you with a set of concepts and tools enabling you to lead your organisation with impact and efficiency – maximising its performance in changing times. Take a look at our Which Course? page for the breakdown on what the courses mean and what Belt you should take.

If you’re still not sure which course is best suited for you, get in touch and one of our Master Black Belt’s will be happy to assist you.

Our diversity is our distinguishing feature. Game Change is probably the only training course where you will find a dozen or so nationalities in the same class, with one common aim – a goal to learn about the topics being discussed, interact with fellow participants to acquire a global perspective and develop continuous improvement tools to take back and apply to their everyday work.

With so many different national and industry perspectives to learn from, you really will start to see things differently. By challenging your old assumptions, you will become aware of new possibilities and start to understand how very different people think.

All course material includes multi-lingual auto-translate features and all Live Zoom sessions include multi-lingual subtitle translations.

If you haven’t completed your course by the time your access expires, you can request for an extension. Get in touch to see what we can do.

Don’t worry. Although successful completion of project work is a requirement to complete some of the courses, we know that sometimes it’s not a straightforward process to be able to make changes within an organisation.

For that reason, we have a number of case studies which delegates can use in place of their projects. If you have any questions about the case studies, or to find out if your project is suitable, please get in touch.

Re-sit exams are available online at a time when it suits you up to 30 days after completing the first exam.

We believe in our ability to help you certify and as a matter of company policy we do not charge a re-sit exam fee. You can make several attempts, hopefully not required.

Courses will receive support from our Master Black Belts via our Bootcamp learning platform. They are available to answer any questions regarding the course content and your project at hand.