Introduction To Six Sigma

In the define step of DMAIC, the team is formed, a charter is created, customers are defined and a high level map of processes under scrutiny is created.

Once the team is formed the critical first step is to review or create the charter. It is the collection of documents that defines the work of the team and must include:

• The business case which defines why the project should be done in relation to the organization’s business objectives.
• The problem statement which defines the problem or set of problems to be solved. These should be measurable facets to the problem.
• The scope which defines not only the areas for focus but an explicit statement of areas to be avoided.
• Tools and objectives which define what the team should strive to achieve.
• Milestones which will define the key points along the path to the final goals.
• Roles and responsibilities of the team and its membership.

Also in the define phase the team should identify the relevant requirements of internal and external customers. This must be done before the next steps otherwise your team is playing ready-fire-aim.

Finally there should be an effort to draw a visual map of the processes under review. Don’t worry about whether circles near this or rectangles that. Just use boxes and lines to define the flow of activity.