The Six Sigma Matrix (#64)

One of the most important tools in a Lean Six Sigma Practitioner’s toolbox is the Payoff Matrix. When completing your Lean Six Sigma Projects, it is important to understand how to arrange the potential improvements based on their level of importance, what benefits they would bring, and what kind of resources they would need to be implemented. The Payoff Matrix is used during the Improve Phase of your project.

Check out this example below:

First things first; you need to write out a complete list of possible improvements. The requirement of these improvements is that they need to be ready to go straight into action to alleviate the root cause of the problems you discovered in your Analyze Phase. These “actionable items” are problems that have real tangible solutions.

Your list of improvements should be similar to the example below.

Your next step is to draw the outline of your Payoff Matrix. Doing so on something large, like a whiteboard or a flip chart, will keep the entire group engaged in the process.

If you complete your Payoff Matrix on a white board, you need to draw out a large rectangle. If completing on a flip chart, you do not need to draw an outline.

Use a blue marker to create four sections on the flip chart/ rectangle. Then take a red marker to create four sections in each of the original sections. (See Below)

Now you need to draw your axis lines. Your X axis should reflect the amount of your resources and your Y axis should reflect the amount of benefit. See example below:

When your Payoff Matrix is created you can begin to Prioritize your list of improvements. Place each of your improvements on the Payoff Matrix based on their level of potential benefits and amount of resources. Check out the example below.

Now that you have populated your Payoff Matrix with your list of improvements, what does it mean?

The Payoff Matrix is split into four major sections.

1.      Quick Win

2.      Filler Improvements

3.      Do We Have the Time and Money

4.      Kill It

The “Quick Win” section includes the improvements that are relatively simple to carry out and would have a comparatively high benefit. These improvements should have the highest priority when carrying out your Lean Six Sigma Project.

The “Filler Improvements” section includes the improvements that would have a low effect on their own but a relatively high effect if completed as a group.

The “Do we have the Time and Money” section includes the highest costing improvements; whether that cost be time or money. A lot of consideration needs to go into this section to determine what risk would be involved and whether that is worth the resources used/reward gained.

The “Kill It” section includes improvements that are high cost low benefit. You can save these improvements for a later project or get rid of them all together.

Check out this example below:

Let us know in the comments if this article has been helpful!

About Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc.

We are Certified as an Accredited Training Organization with the International Association of Six Sigma Certification (IASSC)

“The IASSC Accredited Training Organization (ATO) designation validates Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. has demonstrated adequate management systems, courseware with a high degree of correlation to the subject matter contained in the IASSC Bodies of Knowledge, delivery schema consistent with such content and highly qualified instructors.”

We Provide Public Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Training Courses in 34 Cities across the globe.

Our Training Centers are located in: Albuquerque, New Mexico | Anchorage, Alaska | Atlanta, Georgia | Austin, Texas | Boston, Massachusetts | Calgary, Canada | Charlotte, North Carolina | Chicago, Illinois | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cleveland, Ohio | Columbus, Ohio | Dallas, Texas | Denver, Colorado | Detroit, Michigan | Dubai, UAE | El Paso, Texas | Fort Smith, Arkansas | Honolulu, Hawaii | Houston, Texas | Indianapolis, Indiana | Jacksonville, Florida | Kansas City, Missouri | Las Vegas, Nevada | London, England | Los Angeles, California | Louisville, Kentucky | Memphis, Tennessee | Mexico City, Mexico | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Montreal, Canada | Nashville, Tennessee | New Orleans, Louisiana | New York City, New York | Northwest Arkansas | Orlando, Florida | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Phoenix, Arizona | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Portland, Oregon | Raleigh, North Carolina | Salt Lake City, Utah | San Diego, California | Seattle, Washington | St. Louis, Missouri | Tampa, Florida | Toronto, Canada | Vancouver, Canada | Washington, DC

We Provide Onsite Lean Six Sigma Certification Training. Some of the training's we provide are: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Lean Six Sigma Champions Training and Lean Certifications for Healthcare, Finance, I.T, Manufacturing, Processing, Logistics, Retail Sales and Government.

SSDSI will come to your site to train for your choice of the Lean Six Sigma Certification Levels. Onsite training is more cost effective than open enrollment training when training larger groups of team members.

Benefits of Onsite Training:

The Training is focused on Your Opportunities

SSDSI uses your opportunities in class (vs. generic examples)

You will get the experience of a seasoned Lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belt who will help mentor you while completing your Lean and Six Sigma Project

You can train up to 20 employees for one fixed cost (this cost includes course ware and the instructors travel & lodging)

Our courses are full of games, simulations, and active learning to help the adult learner

SSDSI can customize the training to meet your company’s particular training needs

Call Kevin Clay at 214-731-3176 or email at kclay@sixsigmadsi.com for more information