Owner Builder Lessons for the Project Management Industry

Owner builder residential construction projects offer a terrific point of comparison from which businesses can learn volumes about effective (or ineffective) project management strategies and techniques. Owner builders are individuals who wish to save a lot of money by eliminating the costs of hiring a general contractor. Therefore, owner builders manage the construction of their own homes. They don’t necessarily have to do any of the labor themselves to be official owner builders. But, owner builders must oversee the planning and construction. Because owner builders are often inexperienced in many aspects of residential construction, let alone project management,... Read more »

The Philosophy Of Six Sigma

Six Sigma is not just any other program; it is a way of running a business. It is a way of carrying out the activities at near perfect levels, and focuses on elimination of defects and tackling variations. It aims at achieving customer satisfaction leading to customer delight. Process or product improvement and development of new products - if needed - are a few ways improving businesses. Six Sigma can be considered to be a measure, a philosophy, and a target. Implementing Methodologies Six Sigma is a management... Read more »

7 Reasons Why Six Sigma Benchmarking Efforts Fail

Six Sigma Benchmarking projects are structured and systematic, concentrating on superior performance at the end of the project. The success of each benchmarking project is dependent on the participation of all the parties involved. The involvement and the commitment of senior management are necessary for projects to achieve their objectives. Six Sigma project efforts are bound to fail if teams do not understand the areas of concern for internal processes, or management does not support them properly. Various reasons why the benchmarking efforts of some companies fail are listed below. 1. Lack of understanding: The key factor for Six Sigma benchmarking failures is the lack of understanding... Read more »

Guidelines For Six Sigma Healthcare Project Selection

Customer satisfaction (i.e. the satisfaction of the patients) is of utmost relevance to any healthcare organization. It is not restricted to giving proper treatment, but involves other services such as billing systems, availability of rooms and so on. It becomes imperative to select a Six Sigma project that would bring about substantial improvements in critical services. Prioritizing Activities Potential Six Sigma projects for healthcare organizations may be related to the workflow of the registration and billing systems, the clinical procedures of medication administration or Intensive Care Unit procedures. All these activities are relevant - but all of them cannot be improved simultaneously. Prioritizing and selecting areas that need immediate... Read more »

Aligning Six Sigma And Healthcare

Technological developments are happening at a brisk pace, overtaking existing systems and educational developments. The ever-increasing demand in this sector has had negative impact, leading to overcrowding of hospitals and customer complaints. Main Objectives The Six Sigma methodology aligned with the healthcare sector is a very good option to bring about process improvements with quick results. Improvements are required in common areas such as cost management, service provision and quality of clinical services in healthcare organizations. The major objectives of quality healthcare relate to safety of patients, quality services for patient happiness... Read more »

Six Sigma: Phases Of Benchmarking

The focus should be on your company, compared with the standards or achievements of other similar companies. They are external references on which to base your evaluations of your own achievements. Benchmarking can be called comparing your own performances to those of the best practices in top-level companies. It involves an evaluation of how those companies have achieved results - and on the basis of this information, setting the targets for your own company. Benchmarking is not limited to mere goal setting. It involves concentrating on the superior performance. Benchmarking projects are like any other project - it is essential to have a systematic and... Read more »

Process Improvement Teams For Six Sigma Success

The Six Sigma Team The Six Sigma process improvement team is formed by selecting members from selected processes of the organization. They have a clear set of goals and targets defined. Each member is trained and is well-versed on organizational objectives. They have mutual trust and each member knows that they can influence the team agenda positively. The team is put together by a team leader and process owner. The members may be directly or indirectly involved with the process. Members may be built by the senior management but... Read more »

Merging Six Sigma And The Balanced Scorecard

These activities of Six Sigma projects are aligned to organizational objectives. Properly developed strategies, which are built up by listening to the voice of the customer, are better constructed to suit customer requirements. The Balanced Scorecard Explained The Balanced Score Card is another tool that helps organizations to focus on various aspects of the business while providing a complete appraisal of the progress of the organization. Employees can concentrate on improving the performance of their area of work without... Read more »

Six Sigma Team Recognition And Rewards

The Advantages of Rewards In Six Sigma architecture, having a rewards and recognition policy in place is equally important. In bringing about changes in the system smoothly, rewards and recognition can play a very important role. If employees feel that their initiatives are being recognized, they will come forward with suggestions for improvement. If a person working on a particular process has some problems, and if they feel encouraged to make suggestions, they will be interested in taking a change further. They would feel that the change is for the better and that... Read more »

The Six Sigma Cycle of Change

The most effective way to sustain change is by repeating it from successful experiences. Successful Black Belt and Green Belt projects will help drive change in the company’s culture. Change is not an overnight process. It happens when you drive results through Six Sigma projects. When the Six Sigma project shows results, everyone involved in the project or related to the project will realize Six Sigma as a disciplined problem-solving technique which is data driven in decision making. When you start experiencing... Read more »