All types of companies are turning to Six Sigma for assistance with their quality improvement projects, which means that there are plenty of opportunities for Six Sigma Black Belt consultants to find the work that they need. However, when you are hired from the outside, the job roles may be a little different than you would expect if you were working on the inside. One of the most common problems is that an outsider coming in as a leader can prove to be an issue with the team that is compiled from inside sources.

If this isn’t handled correctly, it can be a disaster waiting to happen, which is why you need to do everything in your power to ensure that you are not an intrusion on the team but a welcome member that is brought in to help. This is both your responsibility as well as the responsibility of the company that’s hiring you in, but you should be able to utilize your change management skills to create a welcoming atmosphere for yourself and a solid relationship for the team. This is a very big issue, which is often why so many Six Sigma Projects are done by training people in-house rather than outsourcing. Companies would rather spend more and avoid the awkwardness than to try and bring in an outsider, because there’s always a chance for problems.

Even in something as highly skilled and professional as the Six Sigma Process, people can have territorial and jealousy issues that can affect their ability to interact or accept help from others. While your natural reaction might be that they don’t belong on the team if they cannot work with others, it’s not all others that they can’t work with. It’s human nature encouraged by the complete lack of job security as a result of the bad economy that makes people scared and defensive about bringing outsiders into the workplace.

If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘Office Space’, you can understand why people would be scared. Just like when Peter’s company brought in that consulting firm and everyone became paranoid and angry with the company, some people will be intimidated by an outsider coming into their company. Until someone explains what is going on to them, they don’t know that you’re there to help, because the first thing that they think is that you’re there to take their job or to utilize Six Sigma to create more efficiency and eliminate their job. Be prepared for this when entering a new consulting project and you’ll be much more successful every time.