Read an Excerpt
Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Team Pocket Guide
By Mary Federico, Renee Beaty The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Copyright © 2003The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-143633-5
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The Role of the Project Team Leader
The team leader (who may be a Black Belt, or someone working closely with a BB or MBB) has overall responsibility for making sure the work of the team gets done. Those responsibilities start before the team comes together, and continue after the team has disbanded.
Before
The team leader gets the team started. Tool 1-1 outlines what the team leader should do to prepare for the first meeting. For some projects, the team leader may be asked to select or recommend members of the project team. Tool 1-2 gives principles and guidelines for selecting team members.
During
The team leader keeps the team on track, acts as the primary point of contact to the rest of the organization, and works to gain stakeholder commitment to the project. (Refer to Chapters 3, 4, 5, 10, and 11 for help in these areas.)
Tools 1-3 and 1-4 give you ideas for the agenda for the first team meeting and some icebreaking ideas to get the meeting started.
After
The team leader ensures that the team's work is documented, hands the project off to the process owner, and debriefs the Project Sponsor/Champion.
Team Leader Checklist: What to Do Before the First Six Sigma Project Team Meeting
Draft preliminary charter with champion/sponsor. Include:
* Project description
* Scope
* Goals and measures (indicators)
* Expected business results
* Team members
* Support required
* Expected customer benefits
* Schedule
* If required, select team members (see Tool 1-2 for guidelines).
* Contact and welcome members to the team.
* Draft initial agenda for first meeting (see Tool 1-3 for sample).
* Send out preliminary charter and initial agenda for comment; incorporate suggestions prior to meeting.
* Establish team meeting logistics.
* Select an icebreaker for the meeting (see Tool 1-4 for samples).
* Establish a relationship and expectations with the process owner.
* Do a stakeholder analysis on those you've selected as team members.
* Begin to create a list of people outside the team whose support you'll need.
Tool 1-1.
Team Leader Guidelines: How to Select the Right Project Team Members
Key Principle
While team leaders must ensure that the work gets done, it is not their responsibility to actually do all the project work. The main reason for having a project team is that each member brings something important to the project, so the work can be divided among contributing members.
Guidelines
* Consider including a combination of people who:
• have detailed knowledge of the target process.
• have the technical skills required to complete the project.
• can help build commitment and buy-in to the project and its outcomes by virtue of being involved from the start.
* Identify the main activities of the project and ensure that you have the right people to handle them.
* Look in the workgroup of the target process and ensure those closest to the work are represented.
* Consider support groups (HR, IT, Marketing, etc.) whose buy-in you will eventually need.
* Ensure Finance is involved, even if not on the core team.
* Include members who can represent internal and external customers and suppliers.
Tool 1-2.
Sample Agenda: First Six Sigma Project Team Meeting
Tool 1-3.
Team Meeting Icebreakers
Tool 1-4.
Reality Check
One Black Belt we worked with was given the task of reducing mortgage approval process time from over a month to 24 hours. She knew the task was possible because several competitors were already approving loans within 24 hours, and other divisions of her own bank were close to meeting that goal. Before the first meeting she assembled and organized all the best practices she could find.
The team she had been assigned was made up of representatives from loan processing and underwriting, so at the first meeting, she assigned implementation of each of the best practices to an appropriate team member. The team members seemed cooperative and nobody objected to their assignment, so the Black Belt was surprised that little or no progress had been made by the time the team met again, and that the pattern continued over the next few meetings.
She decided to suspend the project for one meeting and discuss why things weren't going so well. The team members were quiet at first, but soon issues began to surface. There had been no written charter for the team, so the team members weren't sure if they were supposed to help design the new process or just do what the Black Belt told them. Some of them had never even met her, and they weren't really sure what kind of power she had in the organization. All of the team members knew that the biggest delays in the approval process came because the sales force didn't always get all the documentation up front, yet there was nobody from Sales on the team. Finally, a few members admitted that they were afraid they would be eliminating their own jobs if they improved the process.
The Black Belt asked the project sponsor to step into the meeting, and together they drafted a team charter that outlined the benefits for all in improving approval time. The sponsor was able to reassure the team that there was plenty of sales volume and that, while some jobs might change, everyone would still be needed. Representatives from Sales, Customer Service, and MIS were added to the team. The team eventually reached its goal, but more than a month was lost because the team leader didn't take the time up front to use the Team Leader Checklist: What to Do Before the First Six Sigma Project Team Meeting and the Sample Agenda: First Six Sigma Project Team Meeting.
CHAPTER 2
The Role of the Project Team Member
The team members are responsible for making sure the work of the team gets done. Those responsibilities start before the team comes together, and continue after the team has disbanded.
Before
Members come to the meeting prepared. Tool 2-1 outlines what team members should do to get ready for the first meeting.
During
The team members participate in meetings, contribute knowledge/expertise, carry out assignments, and help gain organizational commitment to the project. (Refer to Chapters 3, 4, 5, 10, and 11 for help in these areas.)
After
Members may continue to work on the process in its improved form, and may be asked to help the team leader debrief the project sponsor/champion.
Team members are selected because of the diverse skills and knowledge they bring to the task at hand. While it is important that each member clearly understands his or her role on the team, roles tend to shift and become less rigidly defined as the team progresses. The effective functioning of the team is the responsibility of every team member, not just the team leader or Black Belt.
Team Member Checklist: What to Do Before the First Six Sigma Project Team Meeting
* If you hear about a project in your area, and want to get involv
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Excerpted from Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Team Pocket Guide by Mary Federico. Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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