Selecting Six Sigma Projects That Matter

Headnote

A PROCESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS NECESSARY FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS.

The quality of Six Sigma projects differentiates successful Six Sigma campaigns from average ones. During the first year of a Six Sigma deployment, the number of possible projects often exceeds the number of Green and Black Belts available to handle them. But in following years, the projects' quality and impact on the business diminish, unless management establishes a more strategic way of choosing projects.

Most Six Sigma deployments go through three phases: demonstrating potential for success, strategic process improvement and transformation. Organizations that maintain a high level of business impact throughout their Six Sigma initiatives also experience three phases in their project selection that mimic the effort's overall journey:

Phase 1: Opportunistic project selection.

Phase 2: Linking to strategic imperatives.

Phase 3: Using a process management system.

Opportunistic Project Selection

When launching a new Six Sigma initiative, the first goal is to create excitement by demonstrating potential for success. It is critical the first wave shows how much can be achieved if things are done correctly. Fortunately, it is usually easy to find areas ripe for improvement. See Table 1 (p. 14) for some examples.

During this phase the management team usually brainstorms project ideas based on current problems adversely affecting the business. This pragmatic approach to project selection tends to result in a shotgun pattern-projects scattered across the organization that may or may not clearly link to strategic objectives. This approach also often results in overwhelmingly large projects. Furthermore, key process areas are often missed entirely, limiting the organization's immediate Six Sigma application to certain areas.

Despite these limitations, most of these projects do deliver value to the business and show Six Sigma can make an impact. The problem is that although this approach may work for the first several months, it is not sustainable for the long term. If...