1. Lean Six Sigma Kick-Off Meeting Template
Name
Month Year
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2. Agenda Typical first meeting agenda items include:
Team building (30 – 60 min)
Lean Six Sigma overview (5 – 10 min)
Project charter review / approval (30-60 min)
Action items (5 min)
Team meeting schedule (5 min)
To show a sense of accomplishing goals and keep the team focused on the agenda consider writing it out on a whiteboard and checking off the items as you work through them in the meeting. 
Team building
LSS overview
Charter
Action items
Meeting schedule   ☐ ☐

3. Team Building – Trust Builder Exercises
Personal stories
Purse / wallet sharing
Smartphone app sharing
Personal Stories
Time Required: 2-5 min / person
Facilitation: Have team members share a personal story about an event that changed their personal or work life. 
Wallet / Purse Sharing
Time Required: 2-3 min / person
Facilitation: Have each individual share what’s in their wallet or purse and the story it tells about who they are (i.e. interests, hobbies, etc.).
Smart Phone Sharing
Facilitation: Have each person share what’s on his or her smart phone (i.e. apps, pictures, videos) that tells something about who they are and what they are interested in.
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4. Approaches for Problem Solving
Lean Six Sigma (4-6 months)
Solution is unknown
Team effort required
Kaizen (1-5 days)
Can use LSS as framework
Possible solution is known
Group effort required
Just-do-it
Solution is known
Individual or few people involved
High Complexity & Uncertainty
Problems typically fall into one of three categories when looking through the lean and Six Sigma lens.
Easy problems with known solutions are the least complex and have almost no uncertainty, we just simply implement a solution and move on; many times we have a potential solution in mind, but need to involve others to get buy-in and build on one another’s ideas-this is where Kaizen is helpful; finally, there are some cases where we have no idea what the solution might be-for this lean Six Sigma is a good fit.
Low Complexity & Uncertainty

5. Lean Six Sigma Simplify Perfect Lean Six Sigma Current State VSM
Future State VSM
Lean and Six Sigma originally started and two separate methodologies, but recently the two have come together to form a robust problem solving method. Lean focuses on simplifying, while Six Sigma centers on perfecting, usually after simplification has taken place.
There is no rule that you must do both, but generally you should apply lean first and then Six Sigma. If you were to do Six Sigma first you run the risk of perfecting a process that you might later eliminate through simplification.
It’s also helpful to understand what your goal is and whether lean and/or Six Sigma is the right approach. If you are trying to improve flow, then lean is probably the right approach; if you want to reduce variation or shift the process average closer to a desire metric, then six Sigma may be the best fit.
Simplify
Perfect
Lean Six Sigma

6. What is DMAIC? Measure Improve Define Problem definition Metrics
Business case
Measure
Baseline data
Current state process
Analyze
Root causes
Data analysis
Why is current state?
Improve
Testing solutions
Future state process
Data collection
Control
Control plans
Financial benefits
Reward team
Measure
Improve
The power of six sigma is the use of the DMAIC process in which we define a problem, measure a baseline, analyze causes to the problem, implement improvement ideas that are then compared to the baseline data collected in the measure phase, before finishing by putting control mechanisms in place to sustain the improvements once the team has disbanded.

7. Define – What is the problem. How will it be measured
Define – What is the problem? How will it be measured? What is the business case?
Objectives
Tools
Problem and goal definition
Voice of customer (VOC)
Voice of business (VOB)
Team formation
Project contract or charter
SIPOC diagram
Macro process flow
The define phase is all about making sure we have a clearly stated problem statement. We also use this phase to confirm both customer and business requirements or needs of the project.

8. Measure - What does the current process look like and how well is it performing?
Objectives
Tools
Understanding of current state
Collect baseline data
Determine stability of process
Micro process flow
Value stream map
Trend chart
Control chart
Measurement system analysis
The primary focus during the measure phase is establishing a baseline to measure against in the improve phase.

9. Analyze – What are the top causes to the problem?
Objectives
Tools
Identify causes to problem
Waste analysis
Data analysis
7 basic quality tools
DOWNTIME analysis
In analyze we use the data from the measure phase to understand why the current state exists. We also look for causes to problems we are trying to solve.

10. Improve – How can causes be minimized / eliminated
Improve – How can causes be minimized / eliminated? Have improvements worked?
Objectives
Tools
Test and implement solutions
Collect data
Create future state process flow and/or value stream map
Process flow
Value stream map
Trend chart
Control chart
In the improve phase we come up with improvement ideas, test the ideas, and measure the results against the baseline data collected in the measure phase. If the improvements are significant, we go on to the control phase. If the improvements are not significant we might circle back to analyze and/or start work on modifying or creating new solution ideas.

11. Control – How can improvements be sustained?
Objectives
Tools
Establish control mechanism(s)
Report results
Reward and recognize team
Communicate results to organization
Control plans
Error proofing
Financial calculations
Control charts
Project report
Most improvement projects fail to sustain their efforts because they leave nothing behind to sustain the improvement. This is what the control phase centers on-putting systems in place to maintain the improvements. These mechanisms are typically SOP’s, new process flows, revised training procedures, error proofing devices, etc.

12. Project Charter
Spend most of your time here; don’t rush this activity!
Focus in on 4 key areas in this order:
Problem statement – What are we trying to fix, improve, etc.?
Primary metric – What metric best measures the problem?
COPQ / Biz case – Why is the project important from a financial perspective? How much $$ is the project estimated to be worth?
Vision of success / Goals – What is our goal for the project that is needed to meet the COPQ goal (i.e. 50% reduction in primary metric)?

13. Team Meeting Schedule Some best practices to consider:
Same time, day, location
“Set-it-and-forget-it” with an Outlook recurring meeting!
Every 2 weeks
This keeps the meetings from being too disruptive to team member’s “normal” job duties, and allows time to complete action items
2 hours / meeting
This allows enough time for a productive session

14. Action Items
What is the most important action I can do before the next meeting?
Rules of thumb
1 action item per team member max
SMART action items
Ask your team members what could they work on to help the project succeed, and of those potential actions which ONE is the most impactful.
SMART is an action that is Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and / or Realistic, and Time bound.

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You should always have something in your “back pocket” ready to go just in case your team finishes the planned meeting agenda early. Typical back pocket items will come from the next meeting’s agenda so always be thinking, “what’s next?”, and use those items to fill your back pocket.
“Back Pocket”
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16. Back Pocket Considerations
SIPOC
Macro process flow
Baseline data collection plan
Micro process flow
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Variance Reduction International, Inc. Contact Info
VRI has LSS professionals located around the world to help you succeed. Contact us if you need help with LSS projects, deployment, training, etc.
Need help?
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18. Who is VRI? http://www.variancereduction.com
We can customize a program to fit your needs!
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19. © 2013 Variance Reduction International, Inc. (VRI)
Our Global Reach
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20. Scott Thor Bio Associate with Variance Reduction International, Inc.
UC Irvine Lean and Six Sigma Instructor
Certified MBB, ASQ certified BB, quality engineer, and manager of quality / OE
20 yrs. experience working within multiple industries (IT, mfg., energy, automotive, and construction)
Doctorate in management, MBA, BS Industrial Technology
Bakersfield, CA

21. © 2013 Variance Reduction International, Inc. (VRI)
VRI Clients
© 2013 Variance Reduction International, Inc. (VRI)

22. © 2013 Variance Reduction International, Inc. (VRI)
VRI Clients
© 2013 Variance Reduction International, Inc. (VRI)