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254 C o n t i n u o u s I m p r o v e m e n t e f f e c t i v e C h a n g e M a n a g e m e n t 255
• Insufficient resources. Stakeholder groups need to understand that
the project is sufficiently funded.
• Midstream change in direction or scope. Changes in project scope or
direction provide a potential for a loss of buy-in. Changes must be
properly communicated to stakeholder groups to prevent this
reduction in buy-in.
The following chapters will show how these issues are addressed
through the use of project charters, sponsored by management and exe-
cuted by cross-functional stakeholder teams.
Project Deployment
Design and improvement projects will address one or more key areas:
cost, schedule, or quality. Projects may be developed by senior leaders for
deployment at the business level (a top-down approach), or devel oped
with process owners at an operational level (bottoms-up approach). In
either case, projects should be directly linked to the strategic goals of the
orga nization. GE CEO Jack Welch considered the best projects those that
solved customers’ problems.
Projects are effectively owned by their sponsor. The sponsor, being a
leader in the organization, works with the team leader to set the scope,
objective, and deliverables of the project. The sponsor ensures that
resources are available for the project members, and builds buy-in for
the project at upper levels of man agement as needed. Each of these
issues is documented in the project charter, which serves as a contract
between the sponsor and the project team. The structure of the project
and its charter keep the project focused. The project has a planned con-
clusion date with known deliverables, as well as buy-in from top man-
j
agement. Together, these requirements ensure pro ect success.
Selecting Projects
Projects designed to improve processes should be limited to processes that
are important. Important processes impact such things as product cost,
deliv ery schedules, and product features, things that customers notice.
Customers cannot help you identify these processes because they aren’t
familiar with your internal operations. However, customers can help you
identify what’s impor tant to them; you must then relate this to your pro-
cesses. Furthermore, pro ects should be undertaken only when success is
j
feasible. Feasibility is determined by considering the scope and cost of a
project and the support it is likely to receive from the process owner.
The well-known Pareto principle refers to the observation that a small per-
centage of processes cause a large percentage of the problems. The Pareto
principle is useful in narrow ing a list of choices to those few projects that
offer the greatest potential.
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