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Project Doomed to Fail

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  • February 28, 2006 at 3:58 pm #42551

    Mo
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    I am currently working on my first project, and I feel that I am set up to fail.  It’s already dragged on for 3 months and I still have not made it to my measure tollgate.  The project is around cost reduction for the printing and mailing of regulatory documents, however the process itself is already very streamlined and I am having trouble isolating where the defects are.  I fear that the project was tee’d up b/c they wanted to get funding for other projects piggy-backed on mine.
    Does anyone have any suggestions on how to cut this project short, and move on?  I will not recognize the savings that the group wants, but this will linger on forever if I don’t cut the cord. 

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    February 28, 2006 at 4:44 pm #134404

    BTDT
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Mo:First thing I want you to do is to read this article on the GRPI model as one of the tools of change management.https://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c011022a.aspI want to know how the rest of the group sees this project.When you have finished the GRPI, post your replies to this message, I will get an email alert and I can reply.Cheers, BTDT

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    February 28, 2006 at 6:21 pm #134412

    AB
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Mo
    I often find that the basic discipline and rigor of project management are either ignored or forgotten amidst all the frenzy surrounding a six sigma project. My advice is:
    – Stick to the basics
    – Have a project schedule
    – Have a communication plan including weekly/bi-weekly status meetings and a description of how issues will be logged and resolved.
    – Maintain an issues log. Log all issues that prevent progress and escalate them systematically to your sponsor and press for a resolution.
    There is no subsitute for good project management regardless of what methodology you use and it seems you need to beef that side up. If you follow the rigor and discipline I described, success is not guaranteed but one thing is for sure – you’ll either succeed or fail fast…
    Good luck
    AB

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    February 28, 2006 at 9:08 pm #134424

    OLD
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Mo:
     
    “Streamlined” doesn’t necessarily mean void of variation, efficient, cost effective, beyond improvement, and/or defect free. Review your project charter:

    What is the Business Case?
    What is the Opportunity?
    What is the Goal Statement?
    What is the Scope?
    AB has some good advice about going back to the basics of project management. That advice is especially valuable assuming (in the first place) that it is a project worth pursuing?
     
    Maybe the reason you have not progressed beyond the Measure tollgate is that you have not yet finished the Define stage? Maybe this is a “set-up” but not in the way you imply. What if it is more of a strategic project used as a lead-in to get to the dollars represented in the piggyback projects?
     
    Sometimes we have to endure deviations from an ideal to get to the dollars…..
     Good Luck!  OLD

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    March 9, 2006 at 12:34 pm #134821

    Deanb
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Mo,
    Usually a “first project” will be a relatively low-hanging-fruit initiative where significant “probable cause” was identified during project selection. When a problem is not known to exist at all, and instead must be completely discovered, then we are talking about a study, not a project, where sometimes no problem of any consequence is found, but perhaps useful knowledge is found. Studies can be useful in larger integrated projects where all the parts need to be better understood. Could this be what you really were assigned to do? If so, defining your project as a study can help you restate your benchmark objectives so they are relevant and doable.
     
     
     
     

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    March 9, 2006 at 1:10 pm #134825

    Prakash Sharma
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    I recently completed a six sigma project on track and am a certified Master Black Belt.
    You can reach me at [email protected] and i can guide you

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    March 9, 2006 at 1:40 pm #134827

    Gil Evangelist
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Mo, I would suggest that you compile the data, walk through the current state and interview those individuals that perform these tasks everyday. Any notable improvement to the process may lead to other activities once identified. It is human nature to say that everything is okay but, without actually walking the course, you may never know. Once you have gathered all of the data and completed the Value Stream you may find a specific process that can use a Kaizen Blast.
    Good luck
       

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    March 9, 2006 at 5:07 pm #134841

    Ronald
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Like a bandaid, just yank if off fast. Don’t recommend, just demand and don’t do anything else on it.

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    March 9, 2006 at 5:07 pm #134842

    Ronald
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Like a bandaid, just yank if off fast. Don’t recommend, just demand and don’t do anything else on it.

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