Project Management Articles

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Thursday, 5th June 2008 @ 9:35 PM

This is one of the main reasons that Lean Six Sigma training has become an important factor of all Lean implementation projects. Here are some popular Lean Six Sigma training options or methods that businesses can use to achieve the desired results. Classroom Training Classroom training is just like attending a school or college lecture - with the only difference that candidates do not have to pass exams to get to the next grade. Candidates may apply for Six Sigma certific... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Thursday, 5th June 2008 @ 9:25 PM

Introduction - key technologies The Internet as a tool has helped in process improvement efforts, the Lean way. Lean techniques rely on process cycle efficiency (PCE) as a measure of process execution speed. PCE is calculated as amount of value added time from total elapsed time. A Lean process will have a PCE of 25 or more. Improving PCE means a reduction in non-value added activities and their removal from the process. PCE=Value Added Time/Total Elapsed Time Techno... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Thursday, 5th June 2008 @ 8:55 PM

A well-drafted charter is often the deciding factor for the success or failure of the project. However, there are some other areas of consideration critical to the success of a Six Sigma project. Does The Project Detract From Value Being Given To Customers? With the existing set of processes, the company may be giving value to the customer. It may be based on the feedback of the customers, suppliers, company employees and other sources. The new project will be focusing on re... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Thursday, 5th June 2008 @ 8:40 PM

The deciding factor for the success of Six Sigma is to have the right people for the right projects. Human resource (HR) professionals are capable of finding the right people. HR can be involved with the Six Sigma projects for varied reasons. By familiarizing them with Six Sigma and giving them basic knowledge on various methods and tools, HR can contribute largely to Six Sigma projects. HR can assist in creating job descriptions for candidates before they become a part of the team. Along... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Thursday, 5th June 2008 @ 8:33 PM

To achieve sustained and tangible growth, it is crucial for companies to embrace Lean Six Sigma for manufacturing. Six Sigma is a philosophy of doing business by focusing to eliminate defects, reducing waste and increasing speed. Six Sigma tools are used to improve processes in all the departments like Sales, Marketing, Production, Administration, and so on. It helps to give a quality performance by understanding customer requirements and improvement in products and process, using interna... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Thursday, 5th June 2008 @ 8:20 PM

Many companies are searching for a system that would enable them to achieve this goal. They are even seen to be combining systems like Total Quality Management, Total Quality Control and Six Sigma. One combination, which has promising results, is that of Project Management with Six Sigma. There are various stages in project management where Six Sigma tools can be coordinated: Setting Goals The Six Sigma methodology of DMAIC provides a systematic and disciplined process for s... more...

Business » Project Management | By Cheow Yu Yuan @ Monday, 2nd June 2008 @ 12:35 AM

A successful corporate event is very important for your company. When it leaves a memorable experience for your guests, it can help to increase your company goodwill and branding. Therefore, it is very common to see corporations investing their money to hold annual events to help boost up their branding awareness. So, suppose you have been chosen to organize your company's corporate event. What are some of the things that you need to do in order to plan out a successful corporate eve... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Saturday, 31st May 2008 @ 10:38 AM

What businesses need to remember is that even though Six Sigma is theoretically foolproof, its eventual success depends on many other factors such as how it is deployed and the type of organizational culture. The thing that complicates the matter even more is that it takes quite a long time to achieve the desired results. This is the main reason as to why businesses should conduct Six Sigma project appraisals on a regular basis. Periodic appraisals help businesses to ensure that t... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Saturday, 31st May 2008 @ 10:27 AM

They are also trying hard to get the best possible performance out of their existing business processes so as to achieve maximum productivity at all times and also to stay ahead in the race. Efforts are also being made to create competencies that make it easier for businesses to tackle critical business challenges such as VOC (voice of customer) and ROI projections (return on investments). Easier said than done, all these challenges often require a lot more than just the machinery... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Saturday, 31st May 2008 @ 10:16 AM

These software systems were non-existent at the time when Six Sigma was used for the first time in the late seventies by Motorola Corporation, but now they have become an inseparable part of each and every Six Sigma quality improvement project. This is mainly because business processes have become more complex over the years, generating mountains of raw statistical data that is virtually impossible to compile and analyze manually. This is why it has become necessary for businesses to inv... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Saturday, 31st May 2008 @ 9:58 AM

However, businesses still need to use caution, because what is also true is that not all innovative techniques deliver the desired results - and that some may even result in gross failures and redundancies. This is applicable even to some of the most effective techniques such as Six Sigma that aims at improving quality and reducing costs by limiting the number of defects occurring in a given business process. Understanding Six Sigma Redundancies Six Sigma may have a high s... more...

Business » Project Management | By Randy McGowan @ Saturday, 31st May 2008 @ 1:37 AM

Effectively managing change through a change control process is critical to the success of any project. For example let's say you have identified a feature that needs to be added to a software program for a customer. If that customer asks that the feature be changed, what impact will that have on your schedule, budget and how will it impact other development efforts? Changes can come from many sources both internal and external and when this is repeated multiple times across a proje... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 26th May 2008 @ 8:42 PM

The Foundation of Six Sigma Project Charters Although you may find some of the content of Six Sigma Project Charters to be similar, the key ingredients vary considerably - and to be more precise, it varies from company to company. Some of these areas that help in forming the core of the Project Charter consist of the following aspects: -Project Goals: Just as the name suggests, this aspect contains the objectives that are planned and defined by measuring the effectiveness o... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 26th May 2008 @ 8:39 PM

Improvement in the quality of products and services is the key to attain the above-mentioned objectives. Some of these quality improvement techniques used by companies include the Six Sigma methodology and Total Quality Control techniques. Although most of these quality improvement strategies do have their share of advantages, one methodology that offers perhaps most of the benefits with a win-win situation is Six Sigma. How Six Sigma Helps In Project Management It is no w... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 26th May 2008 @ 8:32 PM

Another alarming fact is that it is not only employees who are unaware of such complications, but also upper management. Therefore, it becomes very important to implement Six Sigma training in lower management, which includes employees as well as upper management. Besides, if Six Sigma training is not imparted, it could result in redundancies and delays in the implementations. Therefore, it is essential to know the importance of the Six Sigma training at both the lower and the upper mana... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 26th May 2008 @ 8:11 PM

That's because the Lean manufacturing process basically involves speedy operations. Therefore, once this Lean process is combined with Six Sigma, it means that elimination of the defects in order to bring about overall quality improvement in the products and services will be faster than before, thereby allowing Six Sigma analysts to see immediate results. Therefore, in order to implement Lean Six Sigma in an organization, it is important that the employees are trained with respect t... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 26th May 2008 @ 7:50 PM

However, the Lean Six Sigma strategy is characterized by the fact that it uses both, the Six Sigma strategy as well as the Lean Manufacturing methodology. In this case, the Lean methodology mainly aims at quickness and efficiency of the work done, whereas the Six Sigma strategy mainly focuses on elimination of defects and improving the quality of the products. Therefore, once both these methodologies are combined you have strategy that not only provides you with the best quality products... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Sunday, 25th May 2008 @ 7:31 PM

At the came time, SOA also takes care that both of these factors that are responsible for better productivity are available within the organization itself. However, one aspect that business must not miss out on is that by advocating SOA alone, nothing can be achieved. This means that simply a standalone technique is not going to do any good to the company. Therefore, it is important that SOA is combined with an improvement tool so that the company can get the maximum benefits. The Six Si... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Sunday, 25th May 2008 @ 7:17 PM

In most IT companies, Six Sigma is being implemented in the core processes such as product development and maintenance. Six Sigma helps by eliminating errors during the product development process, which in turn drastically reduces the probability that the product will not find favor with client needs and requirements. Many IT companies that have successfully deployed Six Sigma are reaping the associated benefits that come in the form of reduced product redevelopment costs and a drastic ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Sunday, 25th May 2008 @ 6:41 PM

However, while adopting the Six Sigma methodology, it is important to take some precautions when it comes to ensuring the success of the implementation. It is important for organizations to adopt only those projects that are handled by a qualified Six Sigma implementation team. By using a specialized Six Sigma implementation team, companies can be assured that the implementation is heading the right way. If the company is not successful in choosing the right implementation team, the Six... more...