A good project has only one improvement goal

In the previous article , I promised to explain the 10 points of a good project. In this blog you will find an explanation of point five: There is only one improvement goal…:

There is only one improvement goal!

Lord Kelvin has said, “To measure is to know. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” We want to improve something in a project, and so if we want to be sure we have made a difference we will have to be able to measure it*.

We also want to focus as much as possible(see point three of a good project) so we choose the most important problem for the customer to improve. Probably the customer values more, there are usually multiple Critical to Quality (CTQ) points. Consider, for example, quality, price, delivery time and safety. However, we choose only one CTQ to keep the scope small(see point four of a good project). This is the most important of the CTQs for the client or the CTQ that needs the most improvement. This is the “Primary Metric” or the project Y.

Of course, the other CTQs that we do not choose to improve should not be allowed to deteriorate because of the project either. We want to keep these at least the same and can sometimes change along for the better by improving the primary CTQ. We call these “Secudairy Metrics.” These keep your project honest. You could otherwise eliminate the customer service department to reduce the number of customer complaints….

*) If your Measurement System Analysis (MSA) shows that you do not have a good measurement system, you will need to improve it or develop another one before you can move forward with your project. Learn more about Measurement System Analysis (MSA) here.

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