Six Sigma Project Project Budget
This is a practical guide to building a project budget for a six sigma project project — the approved, time-phased cost plan for the project, adapted to the realities of reducing defects and variation in a process.
What a Project Budget is
A project budget is the approved, time-phased cost plan for the project. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Project Budget. On a six sigma project project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Six Sigma Project project
Six Sigma Project projects live or die on reducing defects and variation in a process. A well-built project budget gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how six sigma project projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Cost categories
- Time-phased spend
- Contingency reserve
- Cost baseline
Six Sigma Project-specific considerations
Tailor the project budget to the risks that most often derail six sigma project projects:
- Data availability
- Root-cause complexity
- Sustaining control
Example
On a real six sigma project project, the project budget would be shaped by reducing defects and variation in a process. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — data availability, root-cause complexity, sustaining control — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.