Page 267 - The Handbook for Quality Management a Complete Guide to Operational Excellence
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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-
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                                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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