Project Management Articles

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Thursday, 18th September 2008 @ 11:14 AM

A survey would bring out the reasons for employee behavior - high absenteeism if it exists, reduction in productivity and so on. The employee surveys in Six Sigma implementation and measurement systems help maintain the flow of Six Sigma projects. Some Six Sigma companies also include employee surveys as part of the system to measure the voice of the employees, which is just as relevant as the voice of the customer. While a few employees usually consider this unnecessary, many co... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 16th September 2008 @ 10:05 AM

In situations where disputes arise, for the Six Sigma project to be successful, a facilitators or mediator can help the Black Belt and their team. The need for a facilitator is not necessarily for dispute resolution, but may be for the purpose of support from a third party who is neutral and not involved in any way with a specific team member - or anyone from the organization. Facilitators, arbitrators and mediators have different roles but may have to undertake any or all of the roles a... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 15th September 2008 @ 6:34 PM

Causes of Excess and Obsolete Inventory One of the root causes of excess and obsolete inventory is the poor and inaccurate forecasting of the required levels. Long lead times and poor quality are high-level causes of such problems. When lot sizes are large, the lead time also increases; it may also increase if the schedules go off track, there is late delivery and processes are complicated or need a lot of rework. If there is poor demand management (i.e. when the demand and supply... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 15th September 2008 @ 5:55 PM

Breakthrough improvements are the bigger projects covering larger or major areas of the organization. The Organization Focus Continuous improvement is mostly done by Yellow Belts and White Belts, who are trained in the usage of DMAIC methodology. Breakthrough improvement projects are undertaken by the Black Belts. In any organization, there will be people who are ready to accept change with active participation - and at the same time, there will be some who will resist even small c... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 15th September 2008 @ 5:35 PM

One reason for this is that an outside perspective on the problem is sometimes better to speed up the process of change and ensure success. There are some situations as well, where management may feel that the consultant or the methodology expert has not been up to their expectations. Companies may also consider the option of hiring an internal business consultant. External Consultants or Methodology Experts Methodology experts are hired by managers who feel that they are u... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 15th September 2008 @ 5:33 PM

Kaizen aims at small improvements that involve the ongoing efforts of everyone. These small improvements over a period of time produce bigger effects than the big project approach. Six Sigma and Kaizen Kaizen is not about changing the basic system; it is aimed at optimizing the existing system. The approach promotes learning, building capabilities and improving processes through constant study to exploit improvement opportunities. The controls are maintained by following the standa... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 15th September 2008 @ 5:20 PM

The DMAIC methodology can be put to good use in the banking industry as well. Tools like QFD have been utilized to maximum benefit in this industry. Some big banks like Bank of America, Citibank, Bank of Southwest and others have achieved good results by applying the Six Sigma methodology to their various processes. Define: In banking, customer satisfaction is the most important objective to achieve. Defining processes in consultation with bank employees and upper management is th... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 15th September 2008 @ 5:14 PM

The key to ensure value flow to the customer is the understanding of customer requirements. Understanding what they need and when it is required are essential to managing a proper flow. Tools To Ensure Value Flow to the Customer The entire process flow is considered and generally, the process starts with the customer order and ends with the product reaching the customer. Various tools like 5S, constraint management, level loading and lot size reduction can be used. QFD can ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 15th September 2008 @ 4:50 PM

As business objectives are aligned to the customer requirements the projects have to be undertaken through specific selection procedures. Methodologies for Systematic Project Selection Various models and methodologies can be used for systematic DMAIC project selection at minimal risks of failure. The aim is to use the resources available, to the maximum utility. The combination usage of S-C-P Model, SWOT and VRIO analysis are some of the systematic tools helping with proje... more...

Business » Project Management | By john mce @ Monday, 8th September 2008 @ 9:35 PM

As the old saying goes if you fail to plan, you plan to fail and this is an excellent ethos for any new project manager. Careful preparation rather than jumping straight in at the deep end can save you and your team, time, money and effort. S.M.A.R.T. Is the universal acronym understood by most project managers and their teams. It is often used at the preliminary stages of a project in order to set appropriate targets for the assignment. Specific. Your goal or goals must be precis... more...