Six Sigma – Introduction to Analyze Phase
The Six Sigma philosophy believes in statistical facts. There is no room for error and therefore there is no room for guessing or judgement. Therefore the few inputs that were guessed for being the critical ones in the earlier stages of define and measure now need to be confirmed with statistical analysis. The purpose of […]
The Use of Enterprise Resource Planning Applications in Finance and HRM
The Importance of ERP Software In previous articles on Finance and Human Resource Management, we discussed how the finance and HRM functions have evolved to become important support functions in organizations and not just appendages to the core processes of the organization. For instance, in earlier decades when manufacturing was predominant, finance and HRM were […]
Different Growth Strategies for Firms Aiming to Become Market Leaders
All firms aim to become market leaders and be the dominant player in their chosen niche and space. Towards this, they actualize some strategies aimed at seizing the market and grab market share. However, not all firms succeed, and hence, the so-called “Holy Grail” (the quest for perfection and mastery) eludes most firms. For instance, […]
Decision Support Systems Introduction, Categorization and Development
When it comes to good decision making, relying too heavily on automatic decisions stemming from perception or depending too much on conventions when information is bombarded on to us from all sides can be dangerous. Sometimes, you fail to either notice or seek out crucial information that supports decision making. This may be because of […]
Six Sigma Project Team Members
The actual work done in a Six Sigma project is done by the members involved. The Project Lead, Finance Certifier, Project Coach are all planning and enabling the team members to work in some way. Since the Project Team is usually a heterogeneous mix of people from different departments, there is no uniformity in the […]
As we have seen, Six Sigma is an elaborate methodology. It requires time to learn and even more time to successfully implement. However, as we have also seen that there is a golden pot at the end of the rainbow. Countless organizations have transformed their operations based on their Six Sigma capabilities. Nowadays, having processes that are Six Sigma efficient are a pre-requisite to survive the competition.
However, many feel that the formalities involved in closing a Six Sigma project are numerous and worthless. If you have a narrow horizon than this opinion may be correct. If you just consider one project at a time then the efforts may seem unnecessary and a waste of resources. However, in most organizations Six Sigma is a philosophy and a way of life and hence as we shall see the closing formalities do add value to the subsequent projects.
Here are a few good reasons why one should spend time on writing detailed documentation about the project:
Positive Lessons: Each project brings along with itself some new lessons. There are many positive lessons like the application of newer technology, discovering the drivers of a certain kind of process and so on. Documenting these positive lessons and preserving them in the knowledge library of the organization helps leverage them at a later date.
Negative Lessons: There are many issues and challenges faced during the project as well. Countless times projects get delayed because of unexpected hurdles. Over the period of time, by trial and error project teams realise that some things work and others don’t in certain situations. Such knowledge is experience based and cannot be found in text books or any other literature.
Six Sigma projects have multiple stakeholders. At the end of the project, it is essential that everyone feels that their needs have been successfully met by the project team. There should never be a scenario wherein one group feels that they have got the raw end of the deal. This is the reason closing Six Sigma projects requires discussions with a wide variety of stakeholders and ultimately a large number of signoffs are required.
Documenting both positive and negative lessons makes things a lot easier for the forthcoming generations of project teams. They do not have to reinvent the wheel. Rather when they face a similar problem, they can just look up the solution that your team may have spent time in discovering and start working from there.
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Step 3B: Choosing the Correct Control Chart (Continuous Data)
February 12, 2025
Step 3A: Choosing the Correct Control Chart (Discrete Data)
February 12, 2025
