1.
Six Sigma Project Roadmap for
Green Belts
Job Aid created by
Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, fkiQuality
fpulgarvidal@fkiquality.com
7/18/2013 Copyright fkiQualityLLC 2012 1

2.
The Need for a SSGB Route Map
• Many companies and programs teach six sigma but fail to
coach.
• As a result, potential green belts do not complete a project,
fail to practice the theory and do not become certified.
• This route map aims to provide direction one basic deliverable
at a time.
• These 10 deliverables are the bare minimum to learn to use
six sigma at the green belt level.
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3.
SSGB Project Route Map
•Quantified
objective
•Team
identified
•Signed by
sponsor
1
Project
Charter
•What you
observed
•End to end
•With issues
mapped
2 Current
Process
Map
•Duration
•Errors
•Cost
•8 Wastes
3 Current
Perfor-
mance
•Ask 5-why’s
•Deliver quick
wins
4
Fishbone
Potential root
causes
quantified
5
Scatter-
diagram
•Future
process map
•Roles
defined
•Forms &
tools
6
Counter-
measures
•Updated
solution
•SOP
7
Pilot
•KPI’s
•Targets
8
Future
metrics
•Communicat
ion plan
•Training
plan
9 Sustain
the
solution
Dollarize new
performance
10
Financial
impact
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Define Measure Analyze
Improve Control
Continuously
Improve

4.
DMAIC Route map
• DMAIC is a route of discovery and improvement
• From an annoyance to a real business problem - Define
• From a worthwhile problem to a deep understanding of why it
is happening – Measure and Analyze
• From understanding to finding a countermeasure
• From a tested countermeasure to a higher standard of work -
Improve
• From a new standard to an established practice - Control
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5.
DMAIC Route map - Define
• Aim to solve a problem for which you do not know the
solution
• If you know the solution already, go and implement it:
– Apply project management
– Use organizational change management
– Six sigma is not the method of choice
• Still, you will benefit from using these six sigma tools:
– Standards (SOP) to define the new procedures, targets, roles,
forms/tools and technology
– Metrics for key variables (KPI’s) and targets
– Control system to know how to respond to performance changes
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6.
Define – Project Charter
• Every problem impacts a customer – get them to express how
they feel about outcomes – the customer pain
• Go see the process and ask those in charge of it what is not
working – the process pain
• “Size the prize”: quantify, dollarize the opportunity – the
business pain
• Assess how much of the opportunity you can address in this
project:
– Greenbelts seek a realistic goal for 90 days
– Blackbelts seek to fix the process end-to-end
• The scope is based on the goal
• The team is based on the scope – ensure complete coverage
and adequate sponsorship
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7.
Business Case: Opportunity Statement (High Level Problem Statement):
Goal Statement: Project Scope:
Project Plan: Team:
Task/Phase Start Date End Date Actual End Name: Role: Commitment (%):
SigmaXL Copyright © 2006 - 2010
Defect Definition:
Process Start Point:
Process End Point:
Expected Savings/Benefits: In Scope:
Out of Scope:
ProjectCharterTemplate
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8.
Define – SIPOC Diagram
• The way to understand the problem starts with identifying the
process where things seem to go wrong (SIPOC)
• Schedule a workshop with team members representing the
process end-to-end
• Identify the outcome of the process – when is it done-done?
• List the main tasks needed to produce the outcome:
– Do not go into details or special cases
– No more than 7 tasks
• What are the outputs produced by each task? Who uses these
outputs?
• What inputs are needed by each task?
• Which task or organization supplies the inputs?
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9.
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SIPOC Template
Process/Project Name:
Date:
Prepared By:
Notes:
Suppliers Process Customers
Provider
Input
Description
Input
Requirements
(optional)
Output
Description
Output
Requirements
(optional) Recipient of Output
SigmaXL Copyright © 2006 - 2010
Inputs Outputs
See High
Level
Process
Steps Below
Step 1
Start Boundary:
Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
End Boundary:

10.
DMAIC Route map - Measure
• Create a detailed process map to place failures in context
• Measure or estimate by how much things go wrong – update
charter
• Find out what more you must know to fully describe the
problem (key indicators)
• Plan to measure key indicators: how, where, when, who will
help you
• Collect data as per the plan above
• Focus on the most damaging failures (Pareto)
• Determine whether the process is predictable (is in control)
• Assess whether the process does what it needs to do well (is
capable)7/18/2013 Copyright fkiQualityLLC 2012 10

11.
Measure – Swimlane Diagram
• Create a detailed process map (from SIPOC to swimlane)
• Highlight the tasks where things go wrong
• Describe what goes wrong
• Measure or estimate by how much – update charter
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12.
Swimlane Diagram Sample
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Source: edrawsoft.com

13.
Measure – Data Collection Plan
• Select key performance indicators to measure how serious is
the problem:
– Select output measures that customers care about: critical-to-quality
metrics (CTQ)
– Select process measures that directly impact the CTQs
– Select input measures that feed directly into critical process steps
• Plan to measure key indicators: how, where, when, who will
help you
• Collect data as per this plan
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14.
Data Collection Plan Template
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Project Name:
Date:
Prepared By:
Notes:
Measurement/Metric Operational Definition
Data Source
and Location
Who Will Collect the
Data?
When Will Data
be Collected?
How Will Data
be Collected?
Is the Measurement
System Capable?
Graphical and/or Statistical
Tools to be Used
SigmaXL Copyright © 2006 - 2012

15.
Measure – Pareto Diagram
• Confusion at the start of a project makes all problem signals
seem important
• Use to sort the most damaging problems
• Use to scope the project and use resources wisely
• Look at data from multiple angles (by location, by product
type, by client category, …) to create Paretos of the tallest bars
• Use to select problems for further analysis with fishbone and
statistical methods
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16.
Pareto Diagram Sample
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Source: vertex42.com
Problems using weekly report

17.
Measure – Control Chart
• Determine whether the process has predictable outputs –
that is, whether it is in a state of control or not
• Create control charts for the CTQs
• Use rules to find special cause variation or common cause
variation
• Special cause variation makes a process instable and the
project team must seek a way to deal with it right away
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18.
Control Chart Sample
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19.
DMAIC Route map - Analyze
• Identify the most damaging issue (from Pareto)
• What you have measured so far are outcomes: what caused them?
• Suggest relationships between outcomes, process and inputs
(fishbone diagram)
• Measure process indicators that result in bad outcomes
• Measure the inputs which could cause the process to falter
• Follow the numbers to confirm relationships between outcomes,
process and inputs
• Run a workshop for above tasks:
– Process maps – where things go wrong?
– Measures – how badly things get?
– Fishbone –why did the issue happen? And organize your ideas
– Pareto – confirm with data
• Share findings with sponsor and/or champion and ask for support
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20.
DMAIC Route map - Improve
• Identify in the fishbone things to change right away (quick
wins): your team knows how to fix it, you have the authority
to fix it, no technology is needed
• Have a workshop (kaizen event):
– Fishbone – how will we fix the issue? And organize your
ideas
– Countermeasures – organize all components: procedures,
forms/files, measurements, associate training
– Try it – observe what went right or wrong
– Fail-proof – how to make it impossible to err again? And
update countermeasure
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21.
DMAIC Route map - Control
• Establish measurement discipline: what to measure (metrics
for output, process, input), who will do it, how often, what to
report, to whom
• Define corrective action when execution fails – PDCA
• Document countermeasure, metrics and corrective action in a
new standard
• Share with sponsor/champion and get support to deploy new
standard to the target community
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22.
Get Your Winning Attitude
• Not knowing what really happens breeds wild theories – first
explanations are mostly incorrect, listen to:
http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/01/24/how-to-get-doctors-to-
wash-their-hands-visual-edition/
• You think a report tells the whole story? – go see what’s
happening and be surprised
• Try multiple times – plan a change, do it, measure the impact,
learn from it
• Do not work alone – activate your sponsor and team
• Better training or more communication alone are fake
solutions – instead, fail-proof your proposed solution
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23.
Coaching Session Guidelines
• Your coach or a willing colleague should challenge you weekly
with these questions.
• Content:
– What have you done since last meeting?
– What are you going to do this week?
– Which obstacles could stop you?
• Support:
– What can your coach do?
– What can your champion do?
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