Six Sigma project selection

Six Sigma success is not an accident. Implementing Six Sigma in any organization requires significant commitment and effort from the organization’s leaders, managers, and other staff; however, its overall success depends greatly on the cumulative successes of the individual projects.

For this reason an organization must use a disciplined approach to identify and select the Six Sigma projects that will make a difference. The selection process includes the following activities:

1. Identify who needs to be involved in the selection of Six Sigma projects.

2. Link the projects to the organization’s strategic issues.

3. Develop specific selection criteria against which all potential projects will be assessed.

4. Determine a selection decision process.

IDENTIFY DECISION MAKERS

Who needs to be part of the project selection process? The key issue here is ensuring executive-level support for the Six Sigma projects selected.

It follows, then, that executives are part of the discussions in identifying potential projects. Decision makers should include the Six Sigma advisory board members, as well as other key players, such as Master Black Belts and Black Belts.

Their role is to help the executive team define the scope of the Six Sigma projects and to offer their experience in determining the feasibility and manageability of the projects under consideration.

LINK PROJECTS TO STRATEGIC ISSUES

All Six Sigma projects must have strategic relevance and be linked to core business issues. This starts with executives identifying the top business issues the organizationis facing relative to competitive pressures.

Chances are the current business issues relate to either the execution of the business strategy or core internal processes that are ineffectively executed and have a negative impact on theorganization and its customers.

DEVELOP SELECTION CRITERIA

After determining that a project has strategic relevance, the next step is to develop additional criteria by which the project will be judged and ultimately accepted as a Six Sigma project.

Below are several suggested criteria that have proven successful.There may be additional criteria specific to a company’s requirements:

• Manageable scope — Six Sigma projects must have clearly definedboundaries and deliverables. They should be specific enough in scope so that a Six Sigma team can complete the project in the allotted time, which is usually 4 to 6 months.

• Ongoing process issue — Projects should address an ongoing process issue through which value is gained if resolved; avoid selecting projects related to problematic recent incidents that would not qualify as being a process.

• Measurable outcomes — Projects under consideration should have preliminary measurable outcomes associated with them. As for identifying potential measurable outcomes, consider the following examples: potential to reduce operational costs, increase product or service quality, secure new customers, increase percentage of customers retained, increase customer service scores or rankings, and increase accuracy or timeliness of a given process.

A project selection matrix is used to assist in choosing appropriate projects against pre-established criteria.

DETERMINE THE SELECTION DECISION PROCESS

Even after the selection criteria are established and the potential projects are compared against the criteria, selection of the final projects can be quite subjective; for example, recent changes in marketplace conditions or internal political influences.

The project selection group needs to be clear about how the final decisions will be made. Some executive groups are effective at reaching consensus; others may rely on the CEO or one or two other powerful individuals to make key decisions.

Some groups may even seek to obtain additional buy-in from the functional or business line managers who would be affected by the projects. Regardless of exactly how the project selection decisions are made, it is important to plan ahead regarding howthe final selection decisions will be made.

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