The RASCI Matrix and DMAIC

A well developed Six Sigma program has always called for a properly defined project charter. The project charter itself is a great tool that addresses many different aspects of an improvement initiative such as the executive sponsor(s), related metrics, milestones, team members, and so on. But many project charters lack what tend to be an important piece of the puzzle: the rightful assignment of roles and responsibilities of each person involved with the project. Similarly, a well developed Six Sigma planning stage asks for a detailed DMAIC breakdown (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control), which nicely sets the tone for the entire project approach.

The RASCI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Supportive, Consulted, Informed) serves the continuous improvement practitioner as a cross-reference tool that links the roles and responsibilities of involved personnel with the DMAIC steps. One can even utilize a previously developed WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) to list the specific activities in each stage of the DMAIC approach.

The figure below depicts an example of a RASCI matrix.

Once the project's and project manager's names are entered at the top of the matrix, the CI practitioner lists all individual activities (that again, may come from a WBS previously developed) within each of the DMAIC stages. To the right of the matrix, each person's name as well as his/her role in the project are entered (note: this is not necessarily the person's position or title, but his/her role within the project). 

For each activity listed under the DMAIC stages, the facilitator should enter the words Responsible, Accountable, Supportive, Consulted, or Informed, according to each of the roles taken.

The tool itself, of course, is just a tool if not used properly or if not followed up on. The Six Sigma practitioner should always refer back to the RASCI matrix when in doubt about each team member's accountability. The team itself should always consult the RASCI matrix to speed up the decision making process, and along the same lines the team should always be aware of those who need to be consulted and/or informed of critical tasks.

eZsigma Group has extensive expertise in DMAIC deployment and we would welcome our readers to discuss what fits best in your organization's journey with process excellence. Call today to set up a meeting with our team of professionals.

9 Steps to Effectively Creating Project Charters

A project charter is a document that describes, authorizes, and defines any given process improvement initiative. It is widely used within the project management community as well as within the quality management field, often for Six Sigma implementation programs. Project charters can be of great value when someone needs information about the project, at review meetings, and to formally address changes needed to the scope and/or objectives of the project - needless to say, a great and necessary tool for quality practitioners seeking documentation and formalization of the project's detailed information. But how do we go about creating a project charter that is rich in information and easy to be used throughout the duration of the initiative? In this post, we offer 9 steps to creating an effective project charter. These steps should cover the basics of any process improvement initiative, however the list below is not by any means all inclusive. The quality professional will certainly need other pertinent information depending on specific requirements such as legislation, market conditions, sine qua non conditions within a contract and so on.

1. Sponsor/champion: who is sponsoring this project? Will he/she be available for conflict resolution and to act as the spokesperson at the leadership level? The sponsor should be involved from the very beginning, i.e. the sponsor should help the team to write the project charter.

2. Project title: what will the team call this project and will it be easily thought of as the initiative it truly represents?   

3. Business case: questions related to this field should sound like: "why are we doing this?", "how does this project relate to our organization's strategy?", and "what is the impact on our various stakeholders once this initiative has been successfully completed?". In a world where ROI (Return On Investment) is used as justification for basically everything, it is vital that your project charter is crystal clear about the business case it supports.

4. Scope: what are the boundaries of the business opportunity? What are the team's responsibilities and liabilities? What is not within the defined scope? Which parts of the process are included and which ones are not? Where does the process start and end? Having a clear scope description helps the team and the organization to avoid frustration on non-expected outcomes.

5. Goals: the old SMART way of setting your goals is still valid. SMART goals will provide the team with specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely metrics. Ideally, these metrics would be mathematically linked to the organization's strategic objectives (check our post on KPIs deployment - September, 2013: 

Ten Steps to the Proper Set Up of KPIs

6. Problem statement: the problem statement might not be the most accurate one at first, but that's OK. It is only after some data collection and validation that the project team will surely address the issue at its root level, based on facts and data. However, organizations often have known problems that need to be addressed through improvement initiatives. One way or the other, a clearly defined problem statement will help the team to focus on the task at hand.

7. Start/end dates and milestones: when does the project start and when does it end? And when should we expect to achieve the expected milestones? Here we emphasize the importance of celebrating these milestones' achievements - this will energize the team and the organization to move forward.

8. People involved: a solid improvement process project should have, at a minimum, a project sponsor, a project manager/leader, a scribe, facilitators, and team members. More sophisticated projects may also have a formal steering committee and the involvement of external stakeholders such as the community or a local legislator.

9. Signature and dates to help with formalization and accountability.

eZsigma's professionals constantly use project charters for the planning and deployment of improvement process initiatives. We are Canada's leading firm in the consulting, training, and certification of Lean and Six Sigma. Contact us to discuss your organization's needs.