Six Sigma Project SelectionHow Organizations Choose the Most Important Projects

Six Sigma Project Selection – How Organizations Choose the Most Important Six Sigma Projects.

The iSixSigma Magazine benchmarking study of project selection sought to characterize how companies identify, prioritize and approve projects in their Six Sigma programs. While many of the results are not unexpected, the data reinforces the importance of a well-defined and well-constructed project selection process. Companies in any stage of deployment prioritize Six Sigma projects that have high financial savings. A committed leadership engenders employee participation in the Six Sigma program. The existence of formal project selection processes, process documentation and rigorous requirements for project approval are all elements of a highly successful program.

89 Percent of respondents who indicate financial savings is of high or very high importance when prioritizing potential Six Sigma projects

76.4 Percent of respondents whose organizations require a formal approval prior to moving forward with a Six Sigma project

44.6 Percent of respondents whose organization always presents a business case prior to project approval

50.8 Percent of respondents whose company frequently or always uses a project prioritization process

19.9 Percent of respondents who say employees are the primary source of project ideas

40.8 Percent of respondents who indicate having a known solution is of high or very high importance in prioritizing projects

50.1 Percent of respondents from highly unsuccessful Six Sigma programs who say “gut feel” is of high or very high importance in prioritizing projects

0 Number of highly successful Six Sigma programs that do not have an approval process in their business

75.1 Percent of respondents who rate their Six Sigma initiative as highly or somewhat successful

78.3 Percent of respondents whose senior management is very or somewhat committed to Six Sigma

998 Number of survey respondents

Critical findings of this exclusive benchmarking research include:

FINDING 1: Companies select Six Sigma projects and realize significant financial savings.

FINDING 2: Business leaders and employees represent leading sources of process improvement project ideas.

FINDING 3: Companies employ more robust project selection processes as they become more experienced with Six Sigma.

FINDING 4: Companies with a higher ratio of Black Belts to employees more frequently document and communicate their project selection processes.

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