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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications
Applied Lean Six Sigma
Black Belt
Professional Development | Consulting | IT Staffing | IT Outsourcing | IT Deployments
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• Three Purposes:
1. Helps more accurately and specifically define
and organize the scope of the total project
2. To help with assigning responsibilities,
resource allocation, monitoring the project,
and controlling the project
3. Allows you to double check all the
deliverables’ specifics with the stakeholders
and make sure there is nothing missing or
overlapping63Source: Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process
and Pitfills by Micah Mathis, PMP
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• WBS helps to:
– Assign responsibilities, allocate resources,
monitor and control the project
– Makes deliverables more precise and concrete
so that the project team knows exactly what
needs to be accomplished within each
deliverable
64
These items are contained in the Lean
Six Sigma Project Charter
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• Information & inputs needed to create a
WBS:
1. Project Scope Statement
2. Project Scope Management Plan
3. Organizational Process Assets
4. Approved Change Requests
5. Work Breakdown Structure Templates
6. Decomposition (PMBOK Guide)
65Source: Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process
and Pitfills by Micah Mathis, PMP
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Project Management
• The Black Belt is responsible for creating,
regularly updating and communicating the
following:
1. Work Breakdown Structure
• In Lean Six Sigma (Project Charter)
2. Risk Analysis
3. Communication Plan
4. Stakeholder Analysis
5. Project Schedule
6. Others? 66
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• Steps to creating a WBS:
1. With the project team and key stakeholders
set up the first two levels
First Level: Project Title
Second Level: Deliverables for the Project
Adhere to the 100% rule: - capture 100% of all the
deliverables for the project including internal, external
and interim.
67Source: Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process
and Pitfills by Micah Mathis, PMP
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• Steps to creating a WBS (cont’d):
2. Launch Decomposition –
• breaking down deliverables to successively smaller
chunks of work (called work packages) to be
completed both realistically and within a given time
frame by the team
3. Review work packages for duplications,
omissions and overlaps –
• breaking down deliverables to successively smaller
chunks of work to be completed both realistically
and within a given time frame by the team68Source: Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process
and Pitfills by Micah Mathis, PMP
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• Five Common Pitfalls to creating a WBS
1. Level of Work Package Detail
• When deciding how specific and detailed to make
your work packages, be careful not to get too
detailed.
2. Deliverables Not Activities or Tasks
• The WBS should contain a list of broken down
deliverables – what the customer/stakeholder will
get when the project is complete.
• In Lean Six Sigma deliverables are not solutions!
69Source: Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process
and Pitfills by Micah Mathis, PMP
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• Five Common Pitfalls to creating a WBS
3. WBS is not a Plan or Schedule
• Cannot be used as a replacement for a project plan
or schedule it is simply a breakdown of deliverables
4. WBS Updates Require Change Control
• Is a formal document, any changes to it require the
use of the project change control process
• This is an important step to control scope creep
70Source: Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process
and Pitfills by Micah Mathis, PMP
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
• Five Common Pitfalls to creating a WBS
5. WBS is not an Organizational Hierarchy
• Two very different documents
• Organizational Hierarchy shows things like chain of
command and lines of communication
• WBS is restricted simply to a project and shows
only the deliverables and scope of that project
71Source: Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process
and Pitfills by Micah Mathis, PMP
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72
• The project schedule, charter and risk
analysis are critical to ensure that the
project scope does not creep
Observations & Lessons
Learned
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International Society for
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Project Communication
& Leadership
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International Society for
Six Sigma Certifications Project Communication &
Leadership
• Section Objectives:
– Discuss Communication and Leadership
Responsibilities
– Review Essential Leadership Skills for
Improvement Teams
74
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75
Communication Facts
• Project leader and team members spend
the majority of their time communicating
• Utilize– Feedback
– Active listening
– Effective listening
– Observe non-verbal behavior
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76
Essential Skills of
Communication
• See and ensure that communication is a two-
way process
• Construct clear, concise messages in the
interest of the receiver
• Manage nonverbal behaviors
• Listen actively
• Create a climate of open communication
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77
Barriers to Communication
• Semantic barriers:
– multiple word meanings
• Language barriers
• Physical barriers:
– distance between individuals
• Personal barriers:
– psychological barriers
– skill level barriers
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78
Things to remember…..
• Communication is a two-way process with
both people providing feedback to clarify
the message is understood
• The communication climate in the
organization and your team is a key factor
to success
• The basis of open communication is trust
• Your effectiveness as a team leader
falls on your ability to communicate
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79
Leadership
• Project leader and team members spend
the majority of their time communicating
• Effective leadership involved many
different skills:– delegation
– assigning tasks
– assessing performance
– others????
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80
Essential Skills of
Leadership
• Maintain and/or enhance team member
self-esteem
• Focus on behavior
• Encourage team member participation
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81
Essential Skills of
Leadership
• Helping to maintain or enhance a team
member’s self-esteem
– Spend time with the team member
– Give positive, specific reinforcement as soon
as possible after a job well done
– Seek team members ideas or opinions
– Give team members challenging or
responsible assignments
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82
Essential Skills of
Leadership
• Focus on Behavior
– It is important to distinguish between
behavior and attitude because inferences
can be wrong
– What can been seen and described
objectively allows team leaders to deal with
team members on the basis of facts rather
than opinions
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Six Sigma Certifications
83
Essential Skills of
Leadership
• Encourage Team Member Participation
– Participation is a powerful motivating force
that can improve team member performance
– Participation relates to team members’
higher-level needs for self-esteem and self-
actualization
– Remember team member participation is a
relative term to the degree by which the team
leader encourages participation
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84
Black Belt Responsibilities
• Serve as the contact point for
communication between the team and the
rest of the organization
• Keep the official team records
• Help the team resolve its problems
• Keep the team moving forward and on
track
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85
Black Belt Responsibilities
(cont’d)
• Lead by example
• Remain neutral to the process to be
improved and facilitate the team through
the Lean Six Sigma methodology
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Characteristics Six Sigma Black Belt Team Members
Common Goal Assess commitment Sign Team Charter
Trust Integrity/ Don’t Manipulate Sacrifice
Open Communications Escalation Policy Provide Status
Understand Methodology Make sure that everyone is trained Use the right tools
Clear Roles & Responsibilities Choose the right Project Manager Follow Team Charter
Self Monitoring Milestones & Toll Gates Choose the right team
leaders
Roles & Responsibilities
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Stakeholder AnalysisStakeholder Analysis – Commitment Level Assessment Commitment
Stakeholder Analysis Weak Medium Strong Perform
Rev?
TOPIC - Project Charter Approval
Sponsor
Process Owner
Process Experts
Customers
Manager of Impacted Organization
User Community
IT Resources
Other domains of influence
Point Key: Weak = 0, Medium = 1, Strong = 2, Performance Review = 3
Team Leadership
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Six Sigma Certifications
Questions