Page 95 - Six Sigma Demystified

DemYs mYsTiFieD / Romero & Kemp / 000-0 / Chapter 3

76 six sigma DemystifieD

tIP: Critical-­path­ and/or­ program­ evaluation­ and­ review­ techniques­ (PERT)­
analyses­are­used­to­develop­the­completion­date.

The project schedule generally is in the form of a Gantt chart detailing the
activities and milestones associated with the project. The Gantt chart should
clearly identify tasks, their precedents, and their required resources. It should
allow the project leader to manage the project’s critical path.
Each stage of the DMAIC methodology is broken down into activities and
milestones. The define stage is broken down into its activities, as are measure,
analyze, improve, and control. Milestones are established at the conclusion of
each stage that highlight the opportunity to communicate project status to the
sponsor and stakeholders. Figure 4.5 shows the DMAIC schedule for the exam-
ple order processing efficiency project.

Project Status Report

The project status report should be provided on a weekly or biweekly basis and
at the conclusion of each DMAIC stage milestone. Weekly reports can be pro-
vided to the team and its sponsor; milestone reports additionally can be circu-
lated to other stakeholders. As mentioned previously, this communication helps
to build buy- in, which is critical for project success.
In addition to an updated project schedule and a verbal description of prog-
ress, status reports should include the following sections:

• Action items. Issues assigned to specific team members for completion by
a stated date.

Figure 4.5 Example project schedule for the order processing efficiency project developed in
green Belt xL/mindgenius software.