When you have just been trained project delivery can feel daunting, but most successful projects are less dramatic than you might fear. While organisations using Lean Six Sigma can deliver large-scale benefits, these benefits are often delivered through a series of small improvement projects. Many of the most effective projects begin by addressing relatively simple business problems well. Common examples include reducing customer waiting times, improving service levels, shortening lead times, reducing errors, increasing productivity and improving satisfaction.

In concrete terms, a first project might:

• Reduce the time it takes to onboard a new employee.
• Improve the accuracy of customer orders.
• Reduce delays in responding to customer enquiries.
• Streamline an approval or purchasing process.
• Reduce defects in a production environment.
• Improve the speed and quality of service delivery.

Here is the part the some training under-emphasises: successful implementation is rarely about the tools alone. One of the most overlooked aspects of improvement is gaining acceptance from the people affected by the change. A technically perfect solution will often fail if employees do not understand it, support it or see value in adopting it. Whatever the size of the change, combine the technical method with clear communication, stakeholder engagement and change management, and remember the goal is to improve performance, not to run a project for its own sake.

Top Tips

• Expect your first win to be modest and specific; that is exactly right.
• Work on the people side of the change as deliberately as the technical fix.
• Engage stakeholders early rather than presenting a finished solution.
• Explain why the change helps customers, colleagues or the organisation.
• Never assume a better process will be adopted on its own.

A key factor that separates successful projects from those that stall: investing time in selecting and defining the project before beginning to apply the tools. Many organisations train people thoroughly but then leave them to choose unsuitable projects. Successful projects address meaningful problems aligned to business priorities, with clear objectives, measurable benefits, and active stakeholder support. Projects that are poorly defined, lack sponsorship, or try to do too much at once rarely deliver results.

A useful way to choose is to consider project complexit alongside business impact:

• Low complexity / low impact: a local improvement or quick win.
• Low complexity / high impact: an ideal Yellow or Green Belt project.
• High complexity / low impact: challenge whether the effort is justified.
• High complexity / high impact: a Green Belt, Black Belt or cross-functional project.

Before getting started, check the basics: is the problem clearly defined; does solving it support business objectives; can the benefits be measured; is the scope realistic; are the right stakeholders engaged; do you have access to the data; is there leadership support? A common mistake is choosing a problem that is too big. DMAIC is most effective when it breaks a bigger problem into bite-sized chunks and solves them in succession. Two further ingredients matter enormously: a sponsor who is supportive and available to review each phase, make business decisions and clear roadblocks, and a coach who can guide your use of DMAIC and its tools.

Top Tips

• Select the right project before selecting the tools.
• Start with a manageable scope; many projects fail by trying to do too much.
• Expect the scope to evolve slightly as you learn through DMAIC.
• Match the project’s complexity to the experience of whoever is leading it.
• Engage stakeholders and process owners early to shape the problem and the solution.

Delivering a change is not the same as delivering value, and as the person leading the work, you will be expected to demonstrate the impact of your efforts. Lean Six Sigma is ultimately a means to an end: while reducing waste and streamlining processes are important things to do, the real purpose is to help your organisation achieve its objectives. Counting completed projects or training hours reflects activity, not success.

A common way to measure projects benefit is through time savings, but saving 100 hours only matters if that capacity is redeployed, used to improve service, support growth or reduce cost. Many organisations distinguish two kinds of benefit:

• Green Dollars: benefits that improve capacity, productivity or efficiency but may not immediately appear on the profit and loss account.
• Blue Dollars: benefits that result in measurable financial savings that directly hit the bottom line.

Both matter, but track them separately so expectations stay realistic, and remember that benefits do not have to be financial: customer satisfaction, risk reduction and compliance count too. Define the benefit at the start, review it throughout DMAIC rather than only at the end, and involve Sponsors, Process Owners and Finance stakeholders to validate the numbers and protect the gains after closure.

Top Tips

• Define how benefits will be measured before you start.
• Distinguish efficiency gains (Green Dollars) from realised savings (Blue Dollars).
• Translate time saved into a real outcome: capacity, service or cost.
• Review projected benefits throughout the project, not just at the end.
• Bring Finance stakeholders in early to agree how benefits are calculated and reported.

DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) provides the structured methodology for delivering Lean Six Sigma projects. In practice, it keeps work structured and sequential, ensuring you do not skip steps or jump ahead. And as seen, it is better when a large problem is broken down into chunks that can be addressed one at a time. Define and scope tightly, Measure to understand what is really happening, Analyse to find the cause, Improve by testing a targeted solution, then Control so the gain holds.

For the full definition of each phase and the thinking behind it, see What is Lean Six Sigma?.