Assignment Playbook
From boardroom problem to executive summary report.
A Six Sigma assignment lives in two places: the room where the team argues over the data, and the platform where the artefacts are written down. This is what each phase looks like in both — side by side, no jargon, no skipped steps.
Before you open LeanProjax
Six Sigma starts in a room, not a tab. Get the basics right before logging in.
Real life · outside the platform
- Spot the pain — SLA misses, customer complaints, cost variance hitting the leadership dashboard.
- Secure an executive sponsor and budget.
- Pick a process owner and assemble a cross-functional team.
- Agree the rough scope in a kickoff meeting.
On the platform
Nothing in the platform yet — the work starts in the room.
Define
Name the problem in words everyone agrees on, then anchor it to a measurable customer need.
Real life · outside the platform
- Run stakeholder interviews to capture pain in their own words.
- Design and field a quick customer survey.
- Write a one-page problem statement everyone can agree on.
On the platform
- (Optional) Start in the Opportunities hopper — capture the idea, score it by impact × effort, and promote the accepted winner straight into a chartered assignment.
- Create the Assignment with a title and one-line objective.
- Fill in the Charter — problem, business case, scope, team.
- Capture Voice-of-Customer statements.
- Translate them into measurable Critical-to-Quality requirements.
- CTQ Tree
- Stakeholder Analysis
- RACI
- Kano Model
Measure
Get the baseline numbers — honest, current, and trustworthy enough to argue from.
Real life · outside the platform
- Walk the actual process — talk to the people doing it.
- Define the operational measure for each CTQ.
- Collect baseline data — at least 30 observations where possible.
- Check the measurement system itself (Gauge R&R) before trusting the numbers.
On the platform
- Add Processes under the assignment with their spec limits.
- Import historical measurements (XLSX template provided).
- Run a Run Chart to confirm stability before deeper analysis.
- Process Map
- Run Chart
- Gauge R&R
- Capability Sixpack
- Data Collection Plan
Analyze
Find the vital few causes that drive most of the variation, with data not opinions.
Real life · outside the platform
- Workshop the root cause with the team — whiteboards, sticky notes, brutal honesty.
- Test your hypotheses with data, not opinions.
- Identify the vital few causes driving most of the variation.
On the platform
- Map the process end-to-end with SIPOC.
- Layer the value stream on top with VSM.
- Brainstorm causes into a Fishbone (6M).
- Score failure modes in FMEA — RPN sorts the priority list.
- Hypothesis Test
- Box Plot
- ANOVA
- Scatter / Regression
- 5 Whys
Improve
Generate, pick, and pilot the fix that actually moves the metric.
Real life · outside the platform
- Generate candidate solutions with the team.
- Pilot the best option on a contained slice.
- Measure the pilot results vs. baseline.
On the platform
- Author Recommendations — title, description, expected impact.
- Score solutions in the Solution Selection Matrix (weighted criteria).
- Plan the pilot with the Piloting Plan tool.
- Solution Selection
- PICK Matrix
- Cost / Benefit
- Poka-Yoke
- Piloting Plan
Control
Hand the process back with the guardrails to keep the gains from drifting away.
Real life · outside the platform
- Hand the process back to its owner with a clear plan.
- Set up monitoring so regression is caught early.
- Run a 30/60/90 day audit to confirm the gains held.
On the platform
- Lock in the Control Plan — what to measure, how often, who acts.
- Document the new way of working in an SOP.
- Author the Response Plan — what to do when signals trip.
- Record the DMAIC tollgate sign-offs on the Plan tab — and, if your workspace requires it, clear them before the project can be marked complete.
- After close, switch on Sustainment monitoring: log periodic readings so a drift past the ±3σ band flips the project to “at risk” early — not at the next audit.
- Control Plan
- SOP / Work Instruction
- Response Plan
- Audit Checklist
- SPC Charts
Tell the story
A great DMAIC project that nobody hears about leaves no trace. Brief, package, share.
Real life · outside the platform
- Brief the sponsor 1:1 before the executive readout.
- Send the PDF ahead of any large meeting so people can pre-read.
On the platform
- Pin the tools, charts and shadowing sessions that tell the story.
- Generate the Executive Summary Report (landscape Letter PDF, 8-section deck).
- Download or share the PDF — same artefact every stakeholder gets.
Prove the ROI & replicate
One project is a win; a program is a number leadership can bank. Book the savings, roll them up across the portfolio, and reuse what worked.
Real life · outside the platform
- Get finance to sign off on the savings — hard, soft, and cost-avoidance.
- Brief the steering committee on the whole portfolio, not just this project.
- Spot where the same fix could apply to another team or site.
On the platform
- Record savings in the Benefits ledger — Proposed → Finance-approved → Realized, with an auditable Reverse if a figure was ever wrong.
- Watch them roll up on the Portfolio scorecard — realized vs. in-flight savings and project status across the whole workspace.
- Save the project as a Template and search the Replication library so the next team starts from a proven blueprint instead of a blank page.
Ready to run your first assignment?
The pilot is free. Spin up a workspace, open an assignment, and walk this journey with your own data — the platform writes the report for you when you reach the end.
Or read the field manual first — it’s the deep reference behind every step above.