New Lean Six Sigma Project Charter And Measurements

A new lean six sigma project charter and measurements  is the topic one Master Black Belt (MBB) encountered this week.

They had been assigned to lead an improvement team at one of their manufacturing sites that has had a historically consistent problem with quality and on-time delivery.  A lot of remote work has been performed to help this site, and it always looks good at the wrap up of each effort, but the site management always drifts back to the way it was before the fix.  They told me that they have confirmed through the workforce that the leadership directs the workforce to return to what they were doing before and to ignore the corporate suggestions.

New Lean Six Sigma Project Charter And Measurements

What should they do when they initiate this lean Six Sigma roadmap undertaking so that the improvement may be long lasting?

 

 

We talked about it for awhile, because there is no answer to this problem that is applicable at every location.  Here are some of the ideas that we came up with about this lean six sigma project charter and measurements initiation.

• Sit down with the top leadership and explain your role and what you have heard.  Explain that you are here to avoid that and ask why they think that the solutions do not last and the workforce believes they are asked to maintain the poor practices.  Keep it one-on-one so that there is no need to save face or avoid topics that others might hear.
• Meet with the executives that manager the on-site leadership.  Ask them for their view of the issues and share what you have learned.  Ask them what they can do to make you successful.  Possibly have them brief the site management on your charter to drive change.
• If there is a corporate expectation to reduce staffing or remove leadership, find out early and do not hide it from the team.  Be open, let it me known that there may be staffing changes, and ask anyone who has plans to go in the near future or would like to consider a new job to talk with you separately to see if there is a fit that helps the company and the employee.
• Ask what key performance measurement (KPI) is to be improved through the effort. This project metric is to then be tracked from a 30,000-foot-level point of view.  Process improvement will be a transition of the 30,000-foot-level chart to an enhanced performance level.

All of the prior discussions dealt with the potential negatives and positioning yourself as the leader in relation to the effort’s lean six sigma project charter and measurements start-up

There is one positive behavior relative to this lean six sigma project charter and measurements initiation.

• Kick off the team effort with a Mission Vision and Value Proposition (MV&VP) discussion.  Lead the team through a discussion of what they would create for the corporate and the site MV&VP and then compare it to the existing versions.  Ask the team how they are doing to support those statements and then use this to explain why the team was formed and how you all are going to take the site closer to the MV&VP condition. Again, ask what key performance measurement (KPI) that is to be improved through the effort.

Now there are other things to do, but as a MBB or Black Belt (BB) you may be asked to go into a tough situation as an outsider with an expectation that you will change the behaviors.  My friend that called me did exactly what I did when I was put into a similar situation.  Call people you trust, get advice and deal with the human or soft issues right away, especially before you arrive to lead the team.

Good luck.