Six Sigma Project Risk Register
This is a practical guide to building a risk register for a six sigma project project — the living log of risks with scores, owners and responses, adapted to the realities of reducing defects and variation in a process.
What a Risk Register is
A risk register is the living log of risks with scores, owners and responses. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Risk Register. 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 risk register 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
- Risk description and category
- Probability and impact
- Risk score
- Owner
- Response and trigger
Six Sigma Project-specific considerations
Tailor the risk register 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 risk register 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.