Lean Six Sigma

Project Definition Worksheet

Project Number (from your project tracking tool) :

Project Title (50 words or less) :

Local Champion Name :

High Medium Low
Assignment Priority :

Assignment :

Black or Green Belt Name :

Finance Rep Name :

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 Project Definition Worksheet
Step Element Actual
What is the specific problem (project idea) affecting the success of your
business?
Who is the internal or external customer most affected by this problem?
Describe the Business Problem

Identify the Critical To Customer (CTX) category (Quality, Delivery or

Cost) associated with this problem.
Name the business metric associated with this problem (existing
management performance indicator)?
Where is the problem occurring (geographic or process location)?
When was the problem first observed (specify month/year)?
How Much? What is the extent or magnitude of the problem as
measured by your business metric?
How do you know this is a problem? What target is not being met?

Write the Problem Statement in sentence format using the template

<What><Where><When><How Much><How do you know>.

What is the output product or service delivered to the customer related

to the business problem?
Scope Business Problem

Name the business process delivering the product or service. Think in

terms of a process that can be mapped.
Are there more than two high-level business processes involved? If
yes, the problem is likely too broad and a scoping session using scoping
tools should be executed.
Develop a high level (macro) Process Map of the above business
process. This typically includes 5 to 7 major steps of a process.
Name the product or service features (i.e., measureable
characteristics) that may need to be fixed to improve the business
problem. If more than 2 features are identified, the scope of the project
may be too broad.
What is wrong with the features named above (i.e., what is the defect
on this measureable characteristic that does not meet some
requirement)?
& Objective Statement

Name the Primary Metric(s) that measure the identified defect(s). The
Primary Metric should measure performance directly from the process.
It will be the yardstick for tracking success of the project.
Estimate the Baseline performance level of this Primary Metric.

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 Process Metrics & Objective Statement
Project Definition Worksheet
Step Element Actual

Can you estimate the Entitlement and/or Benchmark (best short term
observed historical performance) of this Primary Metric? Yes or no? If
so, what is the entitlement and/or benchmark performance level?

Name any Consequential Metrics which measure potential negative

consequences of successfully improving the Primary Metric.

Identify which sources of data (reports, collection sheets, inspection

points, etc) are available to measure the metrics above.
Write a S.M.A.R.T. Objective Statement as follows: "Improve {primary
metric} from {baseline level} to {target level (70% toward entitlement)} by
{timeframe MM/YYYY}.
Who is the Finance Representative assigned to value the financial
impact of this Six Sigma project?
Financial Metric

Identify any potential cost centers that will be impacted by reducing this
defect.
List the Financial Metric(s) that will be used to track the improvement
of the primary metric in dollars.
Complete the Original Forecast (80% confidence) with the Financial
Representative.
Comment on application or extension of this project across other areas
or locations of the organization.
Does the project scope / complexity require a Black Belt or a Green
Assignment

Belt? Specify name.

Team

Identify the Process Owner (person with primary responsibility for

ongoing operation of impacted process).
Identify the project team members (typically 3-6 people who have a
broad level of expertise or process knowledge).
Project Launch

Identify the project approval team (people required to approve the

project before it can be started) if required in organization's project
guidelines.
Obtain the necessary approval signatures to launch the project.
Are there other process initiatives (in work) that would be affected by
this project? If yes, what are they?

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No portion may be copied, rebroadcast, reproduced, redistributed, or rewritten without permission.

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Process Map
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No portion may be copied, rebroadcast, reproduced, redistributed, or rewritten without permission.