Dashboards, as they relate to Six Sigma, are brief summaries that illustrate the health of a process or operation at a glance. Just like your vehicle’s dashboard, the viewer can quickly determine if the indicated values are within the target operating range. The indicators displayed on a dashboard are fed by a detailed scorecard summary.
A dashboard should not be confused with the more detailed scorecard. A typical scorecard will present all the critical measures of daily operations and is the mechanism that drives the dashboard. Both tools play a viable role in our process measurement and the resulting reports. They inherently have a degree of overlap, but they are not the same tool.
Dashboards that are loaded with all the reports from a scorecard can become too cumbersome for senior management and client use. A scorecard presented as a dashboard is likely to display too much information and make quick review difficult. Dashboards are more commonly internal management tools, while the dashboard reporting tool is frequently shared with the external client. More often than not, it’s a version of a dashboard that senior management and our clients prefer to see during their high-level reviews of the operation.
During the course of a Six Sigma project, the team will identify the few critical root causes that influence the goal (y) of the project. In the analysis and improvement stages, the team gains a clear view of the drivers known to influence goal performance. Finally, in the control stage it is possible to measure the success of the implemented changes. These key influence drivers are the critical process measurements that will be monitored through the effective scorecard and then integrated into the dashboard. A vital component in our Six Sigma process is the identification of critical measures and the established means to capture and report them on the scorecard. Once the correct measurements are in place, a dashboard can be added with little effort and will report process successes and/or problems to management and customers.
Dashboards function as early warning systems by representing real-time measurement of critical drivers. The real-time nature of the scorecard tool will enhance the process manager’s ability to monitor process performance and intervene quickly if necessary. The detailed nature of the scorecard will make it easier for you to identify which areas to focus your attention on first. Dashboards allow for rapid response to process-related failures if they are properly designed and frequently monitored. Process owners often use their scorecard as a guiding light for the implementation of focused and successful process adjustments as the operating environment evolves after the conclusion of the Six Sigma project. They can then use the dashboard to report the overall progress and health of the business to their internal or external customer.
