For Six Sigma projects to achieve impressive bottom-line results, they must be accurately defined. Six Sigma projects that are properly defined will typically meet certain criteria: they are approved by management, have clearly defined deliverables, are easily managed and interesting to all team members, and are aligned with the organization’s mission and culture.

The Project’s Charter

A Six Sigma project becomes clearly defined within its charter, which is a document issued by senior management that provides the project manager the approval to allocate resources to the project’s activities. The project charter should include the following:

  1. A brief description of the threat presented to the organization (the need that will be addressed by the project) that was the catalyst for the project’s undertaking.
  2. A definition of the value of the product or service that will be created by this project, including specific characteristics.
  3. A clear definition of the relationship between the newly created product or service and the businesses’ need. The detailing should be sufficient enough that project planning is supported.
  4. Authorization to allocate organizational resources to the project.
  5. A problem statement which will answer the question: “Why is this project necessary and why now?” This statement will help team members identify the scope of the project as well as the major stakeholders.

Since developing a charter is the crucial first step, it has the ability to make or break the success of the project. If written correctly, it will specify all necessary resources that will ensure the project’s success. If written poorly, it will aid in reducing the team’s focus, effectiveness and motivation.

Here are a few charter sections that are vital to the success of a project:

Title

It’s important to use a properly descriptive title that allows team members to quickly view and select project documentation based on keywords and phrases. Also, if the project is successful, it may end up becoming an example for future teams, so title accordingly.

Identify Project Leader
The person leading the Six Sigma project, whether a Green Belt or a Black Belt, should always be identified from the start so that management, team members and other stakeholders know who is going to be in charge.

Project Start Date

For internal reference it is always good to make note of when the project officially begins.

Project End Date

Generally, the end date is one that is anticipated and set by the mentor or Master Black Belt. Although many businesses set their own guidelines as to how long improvement projects should take, a project’s anticipated end date should allow for current business conditions, work-load and holidays.

Cost of Poor Quality

All Six Sigma projects center on how to save the company time, money, bad press, etc. The charter should quantify the cost of poor quality the current process is creating. This initial estimate gives business leaders a sense of the project’s value and allows them to direct resources more accurately.

The Mission Statement

All projects should start with a mission statement. This statement will not only outline the specific goals of the project and team members, but also align those goals with the organization’s overall mission through the charter.

Many project managers make the mistake of assuming that developing a mission statement will be easy, but there are several hazards one should aggressively avoid, including:

  • Having an undefined or unclear mission (i.e. Create a team to organize the warehouse).
  • Having a mission that is far too broad in nature (i.e. Improve customer satisfaction).
  • The nature of the problem, and how severe it is, is not clearly defined.
  • The stated goal or mission has little or no effect on the success of the organization.
  • The mission actually overlaps other teams’ missions.
  • The goal of the project is to improve a particular process that is already scheduled to be phased out or completely revamped.
  • The mission is too large to be manageable and/or focuses on symptoms instead of root causes.
  • The project’s deliverables are undefined.

Defining a Six Sigma project gets down to the very heart of this methodology. Taking extra care when developing your charter is worth the team’s time and effort because the project’s very success depends on it.