Page 144 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

levels payback time and again, happy sponsors and stakeholders mean more project green lights.
Better projects mean better end customer experience, yielding a higher number of returning
customers for the parent organisation.

Improves team efficiency over time – Every process that takes place during the production of a piece
of software is documented, when using Six Sigma. Everything from the processes used, errors that
occurred and what steps were taken to resolve these errors. Documenting processes can allow a
team to become more effective. The success of a certain process will be documented, the team can
then use this as a template for future projects. A good team leader may also use Six Sigma
documentation to determine any weaknesses in their team and allow them to address these issues.
For example, they may plan sessions that focus on a specific skill. The Six Sigma documenting
process also allows teams to record how they resolved a specific issue, making a fix much simpler in
future projects. This could prevent both time and money being wasted in future projects, increasing
the efficiency of the team.

What Six Sigma’s Detractors Say
Requires specialist leadership - Whilst most methodologies require an experienced leader, Six Sigma
requires a specific type of leader in order to be most effective. Six Sigma courses are available to
those looking to lead Six Sigma based projects. Completion of these courses allows individuals to
become certified, the higher the certification of an individual the higher their skill set is. Certification
ranges from yellow belt to master black belt. The issue with this is that the highest certified
individuals are in high demand, making them hard to find and attract to your company. Another
obvious issue is pay, as these leaders are in such high demand, companies often pay more to secure
their services. On the flip side, securing one of these certified individuals can bring many advantages
to businesses, for example their decision-making and problem-solving skills can make projects run
much smoother. You get what you pay for! The Return on Investment (ROI) from Six Sigma can be
higher.
Demanding and complex process - The process of a Six Sigma project can be extremely demanding
as well as complex, and this can have a negative impact on team members. Firstly, team members
must constantly collect and analyse data in order to produce the information required for the
project to be successful. This constant data collection can put stress on team members. This process
is also extremely time-consuming. In order to ensure that gold standard data analysis is carried out,
teams must dedicate a suitable amount of time to deal with the data collected, this can extend the
length of projects, therefore again placing demand on those within the team. Data analysis under Six
Sigma considers large amounts of data at once, therefore those carrying out the data need to be
experienced with working with high volumes of data at once.

Increased production costs – As touched on already, following Six Sigma can increase the production
costs of a project. However, when looking to produce software and outcomes of higher quality, it is
often a price worth paying. Those experienced in Six Sigma projects will likely demand a higher pay
packet in comparison to the ‘average’ employee but don’t be put off by the price tag – the Project
Management as a Service market can deliver Six Sigma benefits without having to add Six Sigma
salaries to your payroll.
If you nail it, Six Sigma is the Rolls Royce of the project methodologies. Ultimately, which
methodology you choose should depend on the delivery value it will bring. The whole point of your
project is to deliver the greatest impact for your business or organisation when you transition your IT