BMG's Ask an Expert

		Ask an Expert - October 2007 Hess Corporation is a leading global independent energy company. Master Black Belt Cindy Bivians coordinates the company’s “Marketing, Refining and Corporate Lean Six Sigma Deployment Summit.” Below she shares her insight about this annual event.
Cindy Bivians Master Black Belt Hess Corporation		Who started the summit and what was the reason for doing so? The Hess Global Business Improvement group, which all the MBB Deployment Managers report to, came up with the concept in 2005. It was part of our communication plan to broaden and deepen the Lean Six Sigma Deployment. Our overall deployment at Hess is not a mandate...it's based on pull from the business units, so we need to let them know who we are and how we can help them.
		How has the event changed since then? The first Summit was global and we invited everyone from every location. It was too big and the agenda could not satisfy everyone. Breaking it down to Regional Summits and one small Global Summit was a better option for us.
	"Our overall deployment at Hess is not a mandate...it's based on pull from the business units, so we need to let them know who we are and how we can help them."	So the company has more than one summit? Yes, each local deployment holds a "Regional Summit" once a year (individual or combined like we did this year). Then we hold an annual high-level "Global Summit" with Sponsors, Executive Champions, MBBs, BBs and a few others from each local deployment.
		Who attends the regional summits? All Sponsors, Champions, Belts and Lean Practitioners in the local deployment business areas. The number of attendees depends on the size of the local deployment...our Refining deployment is small so we combined it with the larger Marketing and Corporate deployment and held it at a mutually convenient location. This year we had 125 participants combined – 95 from Marketing and Corporate, and 30 from Refining.
		What type of topics do you feature during these events? Our leadership team presents on the Vision and Strategy of Process Excellence at Hess. Our core team and the MBB Deployment Managers speak on topics such as deployment status and metrics, and how Hess compares to industry benchmarks. We also spotlight certain projects and present rewards and recognition. And we have outside partners facilitate interactive learning sessions.
	"The agenda should be based on the voice of customer - what do they want to get out of it?"	It sounds like a full agenda. What do you think attendees get out of the event? People who come to the summit experience top-level support, information sharing, communication, learning, recognition...and FUN!
		How many people does it take to plan each event? For a regional summit of 125 participants we had a core team of four people.
		What advice would you give to anyone considering a summit or similar event? Use your process thinking and MBB skills to create a plan and follow it. And communicate, communicate, communicate. The agenda should be based on the voice of customer - what do they want to get out of it? Also, make it fun and interesting...sitting all day listening to someone else talk is boring. Break it up with fun "learning moments" and provide plenty of networking breaks. And don't cheap out on the food....the most popular feedback we get are comments regarding the breakfast, lunch and continuous snacks!
		Cindy Bivians, a BMG Certified Master Black Belt, has worked for Hess Corporation for more than 18 years and has been part of its Process Excellence core team since initial launch in 2004. She can be reached at cbivians@hess.com.