Page 74 - Six Sigma Demystified

Chapter 3 f o c u s i n g t h e d e p loy m e n t 55

• Offer complete, mutually exclusive choices. When choices are offered, the
list must be complete (all options provided) and mutually exclusive (one
choice cannot conflict with another).
• Ask unbiased questions by presenting all (and only) relevant information.
Including irrelevant, inflammatory, one- sided, or subjective information
will bias the response.
• Quantify response measures. Use a common scale for the question re-
sponses, such as the Likert scale, which provides a convenient and familiar
indication of the strength of opinion (for example, strongly disagree, dis-
agree, agree, or strongly agree).
• Order questions in a logical and unbiased way. The survey flow should
prevent confusion as to the target of the question. Don’t jump around by
asking about different topics, because this confuses respondents.

Site visits to business clients also can show how products are used or service
received. In visiting your customers, their customers, and so on, you experience
the expressed and latent customer demands that otherwise may be hidden. You
even may understand how to solve customer problems, as Jack Welch had
suggested.
Competitor analyses are also useful in business- level projects because of the
competition’s inherent influence on sales and profitability. Again, the focus is
on the customer as you seek to understand market niches that you currently fill
and wish to remain competitive in or new niches that you can take advantage
of to increase revenues. Measuring your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses,
as well as your own strengths and weaknesses, allows you to generate a credible
plan of attack.

It’s not unusual to find certain issues that can be addressed rather quickly,
whereas others may require more detailed strategies. Immediate action repre-
sents quick payback for the effort and often can sustain (through improved
profitability and morale) the larger effort necessary to achieve further improve-
ments along the path to Six Sigma.

Project Selection

Six Sigma projects are the means by which improvements are realized in a Six
Sigma deployment. These improvements are achieved in the areas of quality,
cost, or schedule to address the needs of customers, employees, and sharehold-