Notes from 52nd International STC Conference
Seattle, Washington, May 8-12, 2005

The New Six Sigma

Jen Linton, Sr. Project Manager
JoAnn Hackos, PhD, President
Comtech Services, Inc.

Session Description: This presentation explained how the Six Sigma methodology can be applied to technical communication and how the methodology can be applied to the Information Process Maturity Model Assessments performed by JoAnn Hackos.

• DMAIC: define, measure, analyze, improve, control
• Manufacturing:
   
• Goal: reduce the number of defects for a product to 3.4 out of 1M (6 standard deviations)
• Basis: rigorous statistics-based evaluation
• Business:
   
• Goal: improve business processes, enhance employee skills, better support customer needs, provide quality deliverables to the customers
• Basis: customer requirements and industry best practices
• Cable project (manufacturing)
   
• The requirement was to replace easily damaged cables in medical devices
• Goal: improve quality and reduce replacement costs
• File conversion project (business)
   
• The requirement was to migrate files from one web server to another.
• Goal: measure conversion to improve efficiency, accessibility, and usability
• Misconceptions about Six Sigma:
   
• Only applies in a manufacturing environment
• Too complicated; takes PhD in statistics
• Can go on for months with no clear gains
• Add to employee overload
• Focuses primarily on cost reduction
• Scenario: reduce documentation costs. A vice president approaches the doc development department manager demanding a cost reduction, threatening to outsource the function if it is not achieved.
• Best practice process or tools:
   
• Voice of the Customer (VOC
• Mission Statement
• Strategic Objectivesv
• Situation Analysis
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT)
• Organizational Dashboard
• Performance Drivers
• Performance Driver Analysis
• Team Charter
• Business Unit Scorecard Turnkey packages (both hard-copy and CDs) are available for chapters
• Voice of the Customer: "In order to meet my expectations, you must provide ..."
   
• Accurate info
• Readily accessible info
• Task-oriented info
• Solution-oriented info
• Mission Statement:
   
• "Who do we serve?"
• "What services do we provide?"
• "What is our unique competitive advantage?" (benchmarking study)
• Strategic Objectives: "What are the key business objectives your organization must achieve in the next 3-5 years?" Be sure they are closely connected to user needs and that they are prioritized.
• Situational Analysis: "What is happening in your environment?" from 4 perspectives:
   
• Customer
• Internal
• Suppliers
• Competitors
• SWOT Analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
• Organizational Dashboard: key metric ("what to measure"). Internal business, customer and market, financial, learning and growth.
• Information Process Maturity Model (IPMM): Eight key practices
   
• Quality assurance
• Hiring and training
• Estimating and scheduling
• Quality management
• Information design
• Planning
• Cost control
• Organizational structure
• IPMM: Level and description
   
• Level 1: ad hoc
• Level 2: rudimentary
• Level 3: organized and repeatable
• Level 4: managed and sustainable
• Level 5: optimizing
• The new Six Sigma is:
   
• ...comparable to developing a change management and communication plan
• ...an overall business improvement method.
• Quality assurance:
   
• Hiring and training
• Stretch goal: "How much?"
• Performance Drivers: "What factors cause the metric to increase or decrease?" Again, apply to internal, customer and market, financial, and learning and growth
• Performance Driver Analysis: "What needs to improve?" applied to each performance driver.
• Team Charter:
   
• Business case
• Opportunity statement
• Goal statement
• Project scope
• Project plan
• Team selection
• Business Unit Scoreboard:
   
• Strategic direction
• Strategies and objectives (vision and strategies)
• Current-year initiatives
• Performance measurement
• Key projects
• Business results
• Summary: New Six Sigma insights
   
• Align: direct link between key drivers; make sure they meet customer requirements by quantifiably improving key processes
• Mobilize: using empowered teams and a focused project management methodology, equip the organization to enable people to take action (both organization and training)
• Accelerate: Teams tend to lose their motivation to change if their efforts fail to bear results within 60 days. For more extensive growth projects, "chunk": the improvement process into 60-day increments (deliverables)
• Govern: Leadership team roles and responsibilities focused on selecting, managing, reviewing, and driving the completion of projects. Includes visible sponsorship, rigorous review of projects, and ongoing knowledge sharing and proactive communications.