Lean Process Improvement Charter
This activity uses the following information provided in Module #2 in D2L to create a Project Charter for your process improvement project:
- Web Page: Project Charters: What They Are & How to Use Them
- Video: Project Charter
- eBook Chapter 3: A Guide to Six Sigma and Process Improvement for Practitioners and Students
Use your approved process improvement project idea to create a charter for a project to improve the process. The charter template is attached to the assignment dropbox and includes the template in the first tab and two examples in the subsequent tabs. You should complete each section of the charter, as indicated below.
- Process /Project Title – provide a descriptive project title.
- Problem Statement– complete this section to explain the problem in the process you have selected. The problem statement should answer the questions indicated in the template. Delete the template box questions and provide your narrative that provides the necessary content to describe the problem.
- Business Case & Benefits – complete this section to explain how the project will benefit the business. Delete the template box questions and provide your narrative that provides the necessary content to describe the business benefits.
- Goal Statement – Complete the template as indicated. You need to provide some existing measurements and quantify the improvement you hope to make by a specific date. You need to choose a performance metric for your process to measure process success. For example, if you analyze a customer service process, you will most likely want to improve the service time.If you do not have a current state actual measurement of the metric, make up a reasonable and logical value.
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Timeline – Complete this section with estimated dates of when you will complete each phase. These five phases will form the core of your project plan in the next assignment.
- The define phase includes your process identification, “as-is” process map, and your SIPOC document.
- The measure phase includes your work to measure the existing process to document the current state
- The analysis phase is where you analyze your process for improvement opportunities. This phase will include work such as your lean waste analysis.
- The improvement phase is where you brainstorm and select your improvement recommendations. In this phase, you will create your “future-state” process map with process improvement recommendations. You typically would also implement the recommendations. However, we will not worry about implementation in this project.
- The control phase is where you typically measure the newly improved process to determine whether your improvement led to metric improvement. We will not be executing this phase either, but go ahead and estimate a date for completing this phase.
- Scope – First/Last and In/Out – Complete this section by defining the first and last steps of the process you are improving. This section is intended to delineate your process, so all team members are aware of what is being included in the scope. List any part of the process that is out of scope, such as changing suppliers or any other constraint.
- Team Members – Use your name as the Team Lead. Your title should be Project Manager. The % of time should indicate what percentage of time you will spend on this project concerning your other tasks for your MBA courses. Typically, this metric shows how much effort each team member will put into the project weekly when working on multiple projects simultaneously. You can list the course professor as the sponsor dedicated to 10% of his/her time. You can leave the individual team members blank, use real names, or invent names.
Be sure to complete all of the sections of the charter document except for the Budget box.
Grading Rubric: Total: 4 points
Exemplary
(4 points) |
Proficient
(3 points) |
Marginal
(2 points) |
Needs Improvement
(1 point) |
Unacceptable
(0 points) |
|
Charter | The submitted charter fulfills all of the following requirements:
· The problem statement is descriptive of the problem to solve. The reader can determine the objective. All template questions were addressed. · The business value is descriptive. The reader can determine the value. · The goal statement is concise and includes all of the following: improvement direction, what is being improved, baseline, goal level, and target date. · All four components of the Scope section are complete and are logical. · The document has a descriptive title and is error-free from punctuation or grammatical errors, or the errors are minor and do not detract from the purpose of the document. · All required sections of the charter template are completed. |
The submitted charter is less clear concerning one or two of the assignment requirements but still achieves the intended purpose. | The submitted charter is incomplete concerning two or more of the assignment requirements. | The submitted charter does not convey the necessary information to fulfill the project learning objective. | No submission |
Example: Please don’t use same wording. Thanks!
- Over the course of the past few years, social media has evolved into a tool that is increasingly significant for companies of all kinds. Businesses have the opportunity to connect with a greater number of potential customers than ever before by establishing and maintaining a presence on social media platforms. In addition, social media may be utilized to cultivate relationships with already established clients and develop a brand identity that strikes an emotional chord with the demographic being targeted.
- The term “marketing” can be applied in a variety of contexts, including the use of social media. The usage of social media platforms to produce and distribute information is one of the most widespread practices. This content may be presented in the form of blog entries, infographics, videos, or anything else that is both interesting and educational. Businesses have the ability to increase the number of visitors to their website as well as create trust with their audience if they share material of a high quality.
- Campaigning on social media platforms is yet another method of utilizing social media in marketing. These campaigns can be utilized to advertise limited-time discounts, direct traffic to a specific landing page, or raise awareness of the business. Tracking the results of a social media marketing campaign is essential in order to gain insight into what aspects of the campaign are successful and which need improvement.
- Last but not least, one can also connect with influential people through the usage of social media. People who have a large number of followers on social media and who are willing to help promote your brand are referred to as influencers. You may expand your reach on social media and build the presence of your brand by establishing connections with people who have a lot of influence in your industry and working with them to create content.
- In general, social media is a potent tool that can be applied to help your marketing efforts in a variety of various ways, each of which has its own unique set of benefits. You may reach a larger audience, build trust with your customers, and enhance brand awareness if you create and share material of a high quality, conduct social media campaigns, and connect with influencers.
The define phase
The define phase will include the process identification, “as-is” process map, and your SIPOC document. This is the first stage in which you will identify the current state of your process. You will also be able to capture metrics for your existing process and conduct an analysis of what’s working and what’s not.
The measure phase
In this stage you will work to measure the existing process to document its current state and identify any improvements that can be made. You may want to consider improving how you take care of customers or how you handle inventory—there are lots of options!
The analysis phase
This is where you analyze your process for improvement opportunities. In this phase, we’ll look at where waste could be reduced by using lean tools such as lean waste analysis or streamlining flow processes through kanban boards. We’ll also look at ways in which we can improve our customer service experience by identifying ways we can provide better support without increasing costs or resources.
The improvement phase
In this stage we’ll brainstorm and select our improvement recommendations based on our findings from previous phases in this project plan. We’ll create an “as-is” process map with recommendations in mind so that we can implement these changes as quickly as possible while
references
Shah, K. W., Ong, P. J., Chua, M. H., Toh, S. H. G., Lee, J. J. C., Soo, X. Y. D., … & Zhu, Q. (2022). Application of Phase Change Materials in Building Components and the use of Nanotechnology for its improvement. Energy and Buildings, 112018.