Use a Charter to Define Your Project or Kaizen Event

Posted by on Dec 11, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

The charter is one of the most important documents in conducting a lean six sigma project or kaizen event.  It serves as a blueprint and forces you to think about what you want and how you want to do it.  A clear and succinct charter increases the likelihood that the goals will be reached and ensures that the team knows exactly what to do.  It will also allow you and the team to determine whether the goal has been achieved.
The charter should include the following key elements:
  1. What is the project or event about? (subject)
  2. What are the factors that impact the subject? (background)
  3. What specific improvements do you want to achieve? (targets)
  4. What are the specific limits of the project or event? (boundaries)
  5. What are the start and end dates for each of the phases of the project or event? (timeline)
  6. Within the boundaries, how big and complex is the process, and how much work will it take to achieve the targets? (scope)

Another benefit of the charter is that it serves as a contract between the team and sponsor or problem owner.  You and the team agree to work on the project or event and the sponsor / owner agrees to provide the necessary resources.

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