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DQResponsesweek5.docxJenny Turner
Jul 7, 2020Jul 7 at 5:05pm
Identify one of the goals of Six Sigma shown in Table 13-1 of the text and provide an example of a project you have been involved with where the method could have helped the project outcome. Comment if your organization uses Six Sigma and, if so, the influence it has had on the results of projects and the overall business.
One of Six Sigma goals is to reduce rework by developing guidelines to understand requirements better and minimize scope changes. My organization is concerned more with the transactional Six Sigma processes. According to Kerzner (2005), "manufacturing Six Sigma processes utilize machines to produce products, whereas transactional Six Sigma processes utilize people and/or computers to produce services" (p. 208). Many processes are conducted to provide services to the customer through the use of computers and people. In the past, there were a few processes that were worked by two different teams within my department that tended to overlap. If one team worked their process early on in the week by the time the second team started their procedure, most of the records were already previously correct and vice versa. This caused duplicate research to be conducted on the same accounts only to determine that they were already correct. The two teams' dual efforts went on for far longer than it should have, as the Six Sigma process was not being utilized to improve processes at that time. If the Six Sigma had been used, a quicker and more efficient alternative could have been established years before it was ever evaluated. Although my organization does not use the Six Sigma process, it uses similar methods to improve the business. For example, once it was realized that improvements were needed to reduce rework, these procedures were able to be assessed to discover an effective solution. By examining the two processes and reviewing the current procedures, it could easily be seen they were almost exactly the same, aside from a few key details. Once the requirements of each process were realized, and the scope was minimized, the two procedures were able to be combined into one that eliminated the two teams' duel efforts. The project took it a step further to see how the now single procedure could be further improved by running the process through an automated system, resulting in a drastic decrease in the volume. Instead of two teams working about 2000 records apiece and many duplicated, the one team was only required to work about 200 records each week.
Reference: Kerzner, H. (2005). Using the Project Management Maturity Model: Strategic planning for project management (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
Jul 7, 2020Jul 7 at 9:17pm
Six sigma methodology was developed primarily to reduce defects in manufacturing projects but its value is apparent in most industries with process oriented businesses. Six sigma teams gather data information throughout the organization and make recommendations to the PMO on six sigma projects. Six sigma is an approach to continuous process improvement and achieving customer satisfaction (Kerzner, 2005, pg. 210). The Benefits of Six Sigma include better understanding of changing customer requirements, improvement of quality and delivery, reduction of waste, reduction of cost, development of robust products and processes, continuous improvement, and enhancement of competitive position (Anbari, 2002).
One of the five goals of six sigma listed in table 13-1 has to do with understanding and meeting customer requirements through defect prevention and reduction. I feel that as a philosophy, Six Sigma strives for perfection in achieving effectiveness and efficiency in meeting customer and business requirements through proactive and prevention based, instead of reactive and detection based approach. I was involved in a project to replace industrial valves on the older drinking water pipelines. My role was to ensure that the water quality, post valve replacement, was as good or better than before. All of my customers were the engineers within the company and the past projects of this nature had experienced delays caused by our legacy testing processes. Our project team developed and implemented new sample processing methods of bacterial detection during this project so that results could be provided in 30% less amount of time. This allowed the pipelines to become operational quicker than in the past thereby reducing the contractor cost. This was achieved because we understood requirements of engineers through improvements in checklist and timelines. We could improve our processes further using the Six Sigma method of creating a consistent repeatable process for continuously improving our testing methodologies in the future and reduce the time further.
Our organization utilizes transactional six sigma processes in construction projects such that we are continuously improving water treatment processes to provide high quality water to the public. This continuous improvement requires application of Measure, Analyze aspects of the Six Sigma methodology. It has resulted in us being rated as one of the best wholesalers of drinking water in the country.
References:
Anbari, F. T. (2002). Six sigma method and its applications in project management. Project Management Institute. Retrieved from https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/six-sigma-method-applications-pm-8515
Kerzner, H. (2005). Using the Project Management Maturity Model: Strategic planning for project management (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
WednesdayJul 8 at 7:53am
Earned Value
Fleming and Koppelman (2009) describe Earned Value Management (EVM) as providing stakeholders with the full truth. They state that the choice to utilize EVM must be fully supported by management and the stakeholders at all levels, as EVM performance data can be available to all parties with a vested interest in the project. The authors list ten requirements of using EVM, the first of which states that "EVM requires that the project be fully understood, defined, and scoped to include 100 percent of the project effort" (Fleming & Koppelman, 2009, p. 23).
The first requirement of ensuring that the project is fully understood by all involved is crucial in any project. When people working on the project are not 100% clear to their task, then time is wasted by the need for constant clarification. Once the project tasks are precise, and all understand what 100% competition equates to, you have a solid foundation to measure from. The second requirement listed, "EVM requires that the defined scope be decomposed, broken down into significant management tasks selected as points of management control, then planned and scheduled down to the detailed work package level (Fleming & Koppelman, 2009, p. 22). Breaking the project down into manageable tasks makes tracking progress more manageable and shares the responsibility of oversight to the line managers and first-line supervisors.
The use of both of these measures would have helped the last project of revamping the emergency department's process flow goes much smoother. The first requirement of ensuring that everyone is on the same page would have been the most appropriate place to start. In any organization, there are those individuals who are more prone to have an aversion to change. In the case of the current organization, it is riddled with them at every level. A clear directive concerning defining responsibilities and duties for the new standards of operation was not given. Instead, it was left to the first-line supervisors; in several cases, there was an unwillingness to change. The second requirement of breaking the process down by major management tasks was managed much better. Still, again, the metrics of what constituted full completion of all goals were not communicated. The project was considered a wash, as the department was able to scrape by in their last outside evaluation barely.
Reference
Fleming, Q., & Koppelman, J. (2009). The two most useful earned value metrics: The CPI and the TCPI. Cost Engineering, 51(3), 22-25. (Document ID: 1681065491). Retrieved from ProQuest.
ThursdayJul 9 at 12:15pm
Fleming and Koppelman (2009) describe Earned Value Management (EVM) as providing stakeholders with the full truth. They state that the choice to utilize EVM must be fully supported by management and the stakeholders at all levels, as EVM performance data can be available to all parties that have a vested interest in the project. The authors list 10 requirements of using EVM, the first of which states that, “EVM requires that the project be fully understood, defined, and scoped to include 100 percent of the project effort” (Fleming & Koppelman, 2009).
The first requirement of ensuring that a project is fully understood by the entire team is absolutely crucial in any project. When the individuals involved in a project are not 100% clear to their task, the timeline can be disrupted with confusion and uncertainty. Once the project tasks are clear and the team understands what 100% competition equates to, there is a solid foundation to measure from. The second requirement listed, “ EVM requires that the defined scope be decomposed, broken down into major management tasks, which are selected as points of management control, then planned and scheduled down to the detailed work package level” (Fleming & Koppelman, 2009). By breaking the project down into management tasks, it makes the process of tracking progress more manageable and shares the responsibility of oversight among the management team.
The use of both of these measures would have helped the rollout of the system enhancements in my last roll run a lot smoother. The most appropriate place to start would have been ensuring that the entire project management team is on the same page and that lines of communication are open. Unfortunately, some individuals are not always willing to adapt to change but being transparent and communicating change is crucial. The project I was involved in made it difficult to communicate change, delegation of tasks, and the timeline of the testing and roll out schedules. Instead, these aspects were left to the interpretation of the management team. Breaking down the processes throughout the project and giving individuals and teams different tasks would have also helped my team to measure the metrics of the progression of the system enhancements. A more structured process and set of procedures could have been set in place as well as a clear communication of goals and objectives. In the end, the project ran over the scheduled amount of time given and well over budget. I believe that if these small improvements were implemented, the system enhancement roll out would have been beneficial to the employees and clients involved.
Fleming, Q. & Koppelman, J. (2009). The two most useful earned value metrics: The CPI and the TCPI . Cost Engineering, 51(3), 22-25. (Document ID: 1681065491). Retrieved from Proquest.
