Lean Six Sigma Problem Statement and Project Charter – Part 1

Lean Six Sigma project success depends upon communication so that there are no misunderstandings. The project charter communicates the objective of the project and its scope, while periodic report-outs provide an ongoing means for effective project-status communications.

The define phase of a Lean Six Sigma Define Measure Analyze Improve Control (DMAIC) roadmap’s execution provides a project chart and problem statement, where the referenced DMAIC roadmap has a true integration of Lean and Six Sigma tools:

- For long-lasting success of a Lean Six Sigma deployment, projects need to have alignment with improvement needs for its high-level business functional performance map performance metric improvement needs and business financial goals. Constraints and assumptions should be included.

- The problem statement should contain two to three sentences and needs to focus on the symptoms as opposed to possible solutions. Customer and business impact information should be included along with current baseline information and a cost of doing nothing different (CODND) estimate (I prefer this over a Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) statement, which has limitations.
Example: Companies are dissatisfied with the customer service call wait time in our ABC office. Our service records show an estimated median wait time of 100 seconds with 80% of wait times between 50-375 seconds. Note: This example illustrates how a 30,000-foot-level operational metric within an IEE enterprise can pull project creation.

- Stakeholders need to agree to the usefulness of the project and its problem statement.

- Finance should work closely with the project leader and champion to create a cost benefit analysis for the project. This could include loss avoidance, expense reduction, revenue enhancements, reduced costs, or other CODND benefits.

- The scope of the project needs to be sized correctly and documented in a project charter format. The details on this charter should be updated as the project proceeds through the overall IEE execution roadmap.

- Projects should be large enough to justify the investment of resources but small enough to ensure problem understanding and development of sustainable solutions. The scope should accurately define the bounds of the project so that project creep, a major cause for missed deadlines, is avoided.
Example: Reduce the hold time of calls at the ABC office with the intention of leveraging success to other call centers.

This list is continued in Part 2.

For more information see:

- Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume III Improvement Project Execution: A Management and Black Belt Guide for Going Beyond Lean Six Sigma and the Balanced Scorecard, Forrest W. Breyfogle III, Bridgeway Books, 2008.

- Lean Six Sigma Project Execution Guide: The Integrated Enterprise Excellence (IEE) Process Improvement Project Roadmap, Forrest W. Breyfogle III, Citius Publishing, 2010.