If it was easy to improve business results, results would
always improve. Obviously, this is not the case. Business leaders understand
the power and usefulness of managing the improvement of key business results
through projects and process improvement teams. That is why business leaders
use project managers to address the toughest process improvement issues they
face.
It only makes sense, then, for project managers to be
trained in how to improve processes through improving key performance metrics.
And there is no better approach to process improvement than the application of
Six Sigma tools and methods. It is a discipline that focuses on these very
issues—process improvement driven by key measure improvement. Moreover, the
disciplines of project management (PM) and Six Sigma are not only similar, they
are complementary.
The similarities between project management and Six Sigma
include:
·
Use of projects as the avenue for improvement.
·
Utilization of established project management
techniques to effectively manage a project and project teams.
·
Necessity of actively involved and proactive
project sponsors or champions to help ensure project success.
·
Life cycle and phases.
·
Need for a well-trained project facilitator to
lead the effort.
Six Sigma adds additional dimensions to project management:
·
Powerful set of process improvement steps and
tools.
·
Statistical and process thinking, to understand
and improve results.
·
Understanding of variation, to reduce knee-jerk
reactions.
·
Quantitative analysis, to base decisions on facts
and data.
Key metrics, if established correctly, reflect the
capability of underlying processes. To improve any key metric, then, it only
makes sense to improve the underlying process. As the quality guru Edwards
Deming once said, “If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you
don’t know what you’re doing.” A strategy that focuses on the key metrics that
describe the process is an effective way to improve
results. And a fact-based and logical approach addressing the root causes of
problems must be applied by project teams.
DMAIC—Road Map to Improving Results
The Six Sigma road map to improving business
results is DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control), a proven set
of steps that can be applied to any process in any industry. The five DMAIC steps are easy to understand,
make total sense, and match up well with the established project phases.
Step One—Define
As does any project, the Six Sigma define step requires
extensive planning and scoping to ensure that the project is set up correctly.
The project manager develops the project charter, ensures proper sponsorship
for the project, and acquires appropriate cross-functional team members.
Timelines are established, proper training on the DMAIC steps is given to all
stakeholders, and ground rules are developed. Additionally, key measures are
agreed upon that link the project to the business unit’s strategy. The key
measures must show sustained improvement to ensure project success. High-level
process maps are also developed by the team to help with scoping the project
and consistent process understanding.
Step Two—Measure
·
Specific data that is needed but is not available
·
Available data that is not accurate or not
believable
·
Current measurements that are not helpful
·
Available data that is too much or too little
Many teams skip this important step, a classic mistake with
lasting consequences. In the measure step, the team develops a data-collection
plan to ensure the accuracy of the measurement system. Process decisions must
be based on sound and accurate data; not on guesses, estimates, or anecdotal
comparisons. Data is stratified in various ways (by product, region, customer,
shift, and so on) to help scope the project. An example of such data is shown
in figure 3, a box plot stratifying data by region.
Step Three—Analyze
Once the team has gathered the data and made the charts, they begin to look for clues to the improvement path through the key metrics. Various statistical tools can be used to stratify the data to reveal the important information and logical next steps. Process analysis can uncover bottlenecks and constraints, while root-cause analysis can hone in on the key measure drivers. Figure 4 shows a scatter plot, a tool that can help the team visualise relationships between variables or measures.
Note that the team has not made any changes or
recommendations to the process yet. Another common mistake teams often make is
to jump right to the improve step, trying to solve the problem without truly
understanding its underlying processes and root causes. Going through the DMAIC
steps in order is vital to project success and to seeing quantitatively if the
key measure under study is improving. Utilizing the DMAIC steps correctly
actually speeds up a project because the team now has a path to follow.
Step Four—Improve
The improve step verifies and validates recommendations and
demonstrates, with data and charts, sustained improvement before final process
changes are implemented. A process can be extremely complicated. Without proper
testing and validation, there is no way to ensure that the final recommendation
actually does make a sustained difference. Figure 5 shows evidence of
breakthrough and sustained improvement in a key metric, the goal of every Six
Sigma project.
Step Five—Control
Once improvements have been verified, the new process must
be implemented and then handed off to the ultimate process owners. As in the
closure phase of project management, in the DMAIC control step, the team closes
down the project and hands off the final recommendations to those closest to
the process. This step requires training the recipient organization on the data
collection plan and how to maintain and interpret the key metric charts. A
reaction and audit plan must be put in place to ensure that the improvements
are maintained over the long term and that the results do not drift back to
previous levels.
The essence of control is to maintain long-term gains.
Without proper and effective efforts made at this step, organisations can
easily work on the same problem over and over again because of the tendency for
things to go back to the way they were before project initiation.
Conclusion
Improving business results is important in every organization.
Project managers are often the change agents charged with leading the
improvement efforts. Understanding and incorporating the Six Sigma DMAIC steps
into every project can help project managers not only be more effective but can
lead to breakthrough results. Attaining a Six Sigma Green Belt certification is
the best approach for project managers who want to demonstrate that they are
ready to accept the challenge of improving their organization’s business
results.
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