What Is a Project Charter in Six Sigma and Why Does Every DMAIC Project Need One?

A project charter is the foundational document of any Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) project. It is created during the Define phase and serves as the official contract between the project team and the organization's leadership. Without a clear, agreed-upon charter, projects risk scope creep, unclear goals, and misaligned expectations.

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What It Is

A project charter is a concise, formal document that outlines the purpose, scope, objectives, team, and timeline of a project. In the DMAIC framework, it answers five critical questions before any data is collected:

• Why are we doing this project (Problem statement)
• What will we achieve (Goal statement)
• Where do we focus (Scope – in and out)
• Who is responsible (Team roles and stakeholders)
• When will it be done (Milestones and timeline)

The charter is a living document: it is reviewed and updated as the project progresses, but its core elements are locked early to prevent "moving the goalposts."

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How It Works: The Five Essential Charter Fields

While formats vary, every authoritative Six Sigma charter contains the following fields. Each field serves a specific governance purpose:

Field | Purpose | Typical Content

• Problem Statement | Describes the current pain point in measurable terms | "Customer returns increased by X% over the last Y months"
• Goal Statement | Defines the target outcome, linked to business metrics | "Reduce returns to Z% by [date]"
• Scope | Boundaries of the project | In-scope processes, products, sites; explicit out-of-scope items
• Team & Roles | Accountability structure | Sponsor, Champion, Black Belt, Green Belt, process owner, team members
• Timeline | High-level phases and deadlines | Start date, phase gates (D-M-A-I-C), target completion date

Additional fields often included: business case (financial impact), constraints, assumptions, and preliminary risk assessment.

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A Worked Illustrative Example

Example data (illustrative only) – This is a fictional example to demonstrate structure, not real factory data.

Project Title: Reduce Order Entry Errors – North America Region
Business Case: Each error costs an estimated $50 in rework labor (illustrative).
Problem Statement: Order entry error rate averaged 4.2% over the last six months, versus the 1.5% target, causing delayed shipments and customer complaints.
Goal Statement: Reduce order entry error rate from 4.2% to ≤1.5% within six months, without increasing order processing time.
Scope:

• In: Order entry process for all North America B2B orders
• Out: EDI orders, international orders, pricing discrepancies

Team:

• Sponsor: VP of Operations
• Black Belt: Lead Engineer
• Process Owner: Order Fulfillment Manager
• Team Members: 2 Data Clerks, 1 IT Analyst

Timeline: Define (2 wks) → Measure (4 wks) → Analyze (3 wks) → Improve (4 wks) → Control (3 wks). Target completion: 16 weeks.

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Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Vague problem statements – "Quality is bad" is not a charter. Use numbers and timeframes.
2. Scope that is too large – A charter covering three departments and five product lines is a program, not a project. Cut it down.
3. Missing out-of-scope items – Explicitly listing what you are not doing prevents scope creep later.
4. No sponsor sign-off – A charter without executive approval has no authority to remove barriers.
5. Static timeline – The charter should be revisited at each DMAIC gate, not filed away after the Define phase.

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Start Your Charter Today

A well-written project charter takes less than a day to draft but saves weeks of rework later. Use a structured template to ensure you capture all five essential fields correctly.

? Use the free Project Charter tool at:
https://www.6sq.com/tools/project_charter/