Project Management Articles

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Sunday, 13th January 2008 @ 12:06 PM

Gathering, Classifying And Analyzing Data In order to make the most appropriate changes, Six Sigma professionals first gather huge amounts of data related to the business process selected for improvement. The collected data is then sorted out and classified based on the overall value that a particular dataset contributes to the business process. A dataset is simply a part of the collected data relating to a specific sub-process of the given business process. This type of classific... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Sunday, 13th January 2008 @ 12:03 PM

This is why every organization that aspires to achieve Six Sigma quality levels should devise effective plans and strategies that will help in achieving the shortest possible project cycle times. Identifying And Eliminating Factors That Result In Long Cycle Times The actual factors that lead to long cycle times may differ from organization to organization, but when you look at statistical data, you can easily see that most projects get extended when: -There is not enough r... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Sunday, 13th January 2008 @ 12:03 PM

The concept of using Six Sigma in the public school system may not have received much publicity in the media, but it is something that is slowly but definitely catching up in educational institutions all across the country. How To Implement Six Sigma In The Public School System Implementing in the public school system may look easy at first due to the absence of complex business processes, but in reality the task is quite difficult as most of the implementations target the human ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Sunday, 13th January 2008 @ 12:02 PM

The type of coaching provided to employees may differ from organization to organization, but the most common type is Green Belt coaching that caters to employees at the lower level of the organizational hierarchy. These employees may not be a part of the organization's decision-making machinery, but since they are the people who actually carry out Six Sigma implementations, it becomes necessary for the management to provide the proper coaching to them before actually starting the implementa... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 9th January 2008 @ 3:23 PM

The problem is that today's CIOs (Chief Information Officer) and CTOs (Chief Technical Officer), who are mostly delegated the task of managing the implementations, fail to understand the importance and benefits of Lean Six Sigma. Thinking that the implementations will be an unnecessary drag on the organization, they often try their best to convince the top management to postpone or forego the implementations altogether. They do not even realize that such a conservative approach can easily j... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 9th January 2008 @ 3:22 PM

In today's competitive environment, market segmentation is the latest buzzword and is being touted as the next big thing in corporate management, especially marketing and sales. Lean Six Sigma would have failed just like any other quality improvement methodology, but it survived the test of time because it was quick to adapt to the challenges of market segmentation. Scope And Importance Of Market Segmentation Market segmentation is basically a management concept that is utili... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 9th January 2008 @ 3:19 PM

Using Six Sigma Metrics The exact Six Sigma tools and techniques employed may differ from organization to organization depending on specific project requirements, but the basic concept or methodology that is used in most implementation projects is Six Sigma metrics. These metrics are quite effective because they help in selecting the most effective solution for a given problem. The metrics are also used for analyzing the effects that different variables have on the outcome of a suggested ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 9th January 2008 @ 1:05 PM

Over the past few years, the ITIL has helped many IT companies to form long-lasting and fruitful working relationships with their customers through the use of highly effective tools such as Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs). Both these tools are quite effective, but the problem is that they deliver the desired results only when they are properly implemented. The inability to use the tools in the prescribed manner can render them completely useless - and in t... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 8th January 2008 @ 1:28 PM

Contact centers have benefited so much by implementing Six Sigma that now it is impossible for them even to think that they can manage their operations without it even for a single day. Why Six Sigma Is Better Than Other Quality Initiatives Six Sigma may have been originally devised as a quality improvement tool for use in the manufacturing sector, but that has not stopped it from making its way to the services industry such as contact centers. It is different because it makes use... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 8th January 2008 @ 1:26 PM

To overcome business continuity challenges, a business will be required to formulate emergency or disaster management plans, also referred to as business continuity. Further, businesses also need to ensure that the plans prove effective, for which they can use the highly effective concepts and methodologies of Six Sigma. Six Sigma can certainly help in devising the most effective contingency plans because it follows a statistical approach for solving problems rather than using gut feelin... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 8th January 2008 @ 1:26 PM

High-end services such as web marketing have acquired great significance in recent years due to the substantial increase in online trade. The overall value of online trade deals has become so large that every online company now wants to grab a piece of the pie. This is why more and more companies are opting for professional web marketing services that help in achieving the above stated objective. Attracting Eyeballs Through Effective Web Marketing Web marketing can be defined as a... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 8th January 2008 @ 1:24 PM

Although Six Sigma concepts and methodologies make use of foolproof statistical tools and techniques, the importance of existing work culture and the support and cooperation of employees cannot be undermined - because ultimately it is the employees and the implementation teams who have to work together in order to make the project implementation a success. No doubt, it is top management that is held responsible if anything goes wrong, but if you look closely you will realize that the top... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Friday, 4th January 2008 @ 12:29 PM

Introduction To The IDOV Variant These designs are used for developing completely new product or business processes to meet consumer requirements and specifications or to achieve elite Six Sigma quality levels. IDOV is just one methodology - there are other methodologies as well, like DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) but they are quite different from each other. DMAIC is used mainly for optimizing any existing business process or product. The Four IDOV Phases<... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Friday, 4th January 2008 @ 12:26 PM

Training Difficulty Level Depending On The Position Held It is said that any organization that is thinking about starting a Six Sigma initiative will have to get their employees trained for the purpose. This is one of the most crucial factors for the success of implementation. Every employee will receive a benefit out of this training, from senior management to middle-level employees. The types of training however, differ significantly depending upon the position held by trainees. For ins... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Friday, 4th January 2008 @ 12:25 PM

On the surface, any training program will look the same because it uses the same statistical tools that have worked before and all the methodologies have same objectives (i.e. focus on the defect reduction and quality improvement). While the tools and techniques may be old, the approach to deploy them always varies depending upon the situation. So then let's see what exactly Six Sigma Training is: Nature Of The Training Six Sigma is a strategic approach that works acros... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Friday, 4th January 2008 @ 11:39 AM

Analysis of a failed project will definitely help the team to know about the lack of commitment as well as attention by senior management, and towards the business and cultural investment that were required for accomplishing and sustaining the new levels of performance. It is here that the assessment will be needed when reworking a failed project, because it will reveal the exact nature of flaws. Assessing The Various Deployment Stages Of Six Sigma One of the most important things ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 2nd January 2008 @ 8:37 PM

Six Sigma concepts and methodologies certainly help in reducing defects and increasing efficiencies, but that does not mean that we can overlook the need for maintaining operational excellence throughout the Six Sigma implementation process and beyond. Explained below are some of the methods and strategies that you can employ for maintaining operational excellence across all the functional departments where Six Sigma projects are being executed. Solve Day-To-Day Problems F... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Friday, 28th December 2007 @ 1:33 PM

Employees often do not lend their full cooperation and support because they are of the opinion that they will lose their jobs after Lean Six Sigma is finally implemented. Some employees may also think that they may be asked to work more or shoulder multiple responsibilities; as such, they often resist the changes being suggested. Such confusion reduces employee morale, something that needs to be addressed as soon as possible if the implementation is to be completed within the stipulated ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Friday, 28th December 2007 @ 1:26 PM

Segregating a single process into two different tasks is necessary because both the tasks are quite different from each other. If responsibility were not allocated properly, it would become quite impossible to identify the root cause of a given problem if something were to go wrong during the implementation. How To Work With Process Owners Process owners are generally current leaders or managers, but depending on the immediate needs, an organization can hire Six Sigma experts fr... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Friday, 28th December 2007 @ 1:24 PM

It is true that Six Sigma is based on scientific theories, but you should not forget that a lot more depends on the employees who are entrusted with the task of implementing Six Sigma. You need to realize that Six Sigma project implementations require regular communications between the implementation team, middle and top management, as well as other stakeholders associated with the project; and as such, you need to develop effective communication strategies that will help in carrying out the imp... more...