Statistical software is widely used in practice to conduct various statistical tests and to generate various graphs and charts. In our Six Sigma courses we use Minitab, which has been under continuous development since 1972 and is one of the most widely used statistics packages. There are many other fine products on the market as […]
Category Archives: Project Management
The Golden Platinum Rule You have heard it say, “Treat others as you would want to be treated”. However, in project management, we replace this Golden rule with the Platinum rule. It says, “Treat others as they want to be treated”. Organizational theories teach us that we are all different. Theory X and Y, for […]
In Six Sigma we collect and analyze data in order to look for patterns that will help us understand the behavior of a process and where to focus our improvement efforts. Prior to collecting the data, we need to think about how we want to analyze the data. If we fail to collect the detail […]
Correlation is the measure of the linear association between two independent variables. For example, we might find that the square footage of a home and its sales price are highly correlated. A larger home would have a higher sales price, and a smaller home would have a lower sales price. This is an example of […]
Data analysis is growing by leaps and bounds. More and more, business analysts, project managers, and Six Sigma practitioners have access to more data. The key is how to derive useful information from the raw data. That is where data analytics comes in. TRUISM! Raw data is not fit for human consumption, but the information […]
One of the many keys to success when implementing Six Sigma is to select projects that will return the most benefit to the customers of the organization, the employees who work in the organization, and the owners of the organization. The best projects are those that simultaneously benefit all three stakeholder groups in a positive […]
There are a number of different ways to think about how to improve a process that delivers a product to a customer. One way is to break the process down into a list of steps or activities that are required to complete the process, and then analyze each step to determine whether or not it […]
Six Sigma is a customer focused, fact and data driven approach to improving the output of a business process. It is critical that we listen carefully to what customers want and need before we try to design or make improvements to a process to meet their wants and needs. Many business process improvement initiatives focus […]
Nothing warms a PM’s heart more than motivated volunteers. That’s what I call stakeholders who do not have “power to impose”, but have lots of “interest to take action”. They want to be involved, be in the loop, and make a difference. The PM, then, must: Channel that enthusiasm quickly and constructively. Otherwise, the Builders […]
In the PMBOK’ s Power-Interest grid, the stakeholder with “Power to impose”, but without “Interest to take action” is called the “Knight”. As long as the project it moving well, and his interests are being preserved, the Knights are content and passive. Knights are neither friends nor foes. They are busy in court playing […]