Six Sigma and Lean Project Management Training Course

Course overview

Projects lose time and money in ways that rarely appear on a status report: documents stuck in approval queues, deliverables reworked three times, plans written in more detail than anyone will read. This course treats those losses as process problems to be measured and removed, with the define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) cycle as its spine.

The two method families are taught as complements. Lean supplies the flow perspective: value stream mapping, pull-based task management, 5S, and kaizen events that fix a bounded problem in days. Six Sigma supplies the statistical discipline: defining defects, calculating defects per million opportunities (DPMO), and reading control charts so nobody overreacts to one bad data point. Participants finish able to pick the right tool for a problem and defend the choice with data.

From the factory floor to the project office

Lean grew out of the Toyota Production System, where Taiichi Ohno cataloged seven wastes that drain effort without adding value. Six Sigma began at Motorola in the 1980s and spread widely after General Electric made it central to company operations. Both were born in manufacturing, yet their core questions apply to any process a project runs repeatedly: where does work sit idle, and which few causes drive most of the variation.

Translating the methods honestly is the hard part, and it is where this course spends its energy. Ohno's overproduction becomes the fifty-page report nobody requested; inventory becomes half-finished deliverables; motion becomes the hunt for the current version of a file. Teams that translate well usually pair the methods with disciplined measurement, which is why many follow up with Developing Performance Metrics for Office Efficiency.

Course objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Assess project problems for fit with Lean or Six Sigma methods.
• Map a delivery process, marking value-adding and wasteful steps.
• Classify inefficiencies against Taiichi Ohno's seven wastes.
• Run a DMAIC cycle on a project problem, charter to control plan.
• Facilitate root cause analysis and verify findings against data.
• Chart defect data on a Pareto to target the vital few causes.
• Read a control chart for common-cause versus special-cause signals.
• Design project measures with owners and agreed definitions.
• Diagnose resistance to change and lead an evidence-based response.
• Scale improvement practice from one project into a portfolio.

Course outline

Unit 1: Introduction to Lean and Six Sigma

• Toyota Production System and Motorola as the two origins.
• The two propositions: waste and flow, variation and defects.
• Repeating processes that never resemble a production line.
• Documented cases of Lean Six Sigma delivery and stall causes.

Unit 2: Lean principles in project management

• Value stream mapping of a project's cycle time and wait time.
• The seven wastes in projects: waiting, rework, and handoffs.
• Flow and pull applied to tasks, limiting work in progress.
• 5S applied to shared drives, templates, and registers.

Unit 3: The Six Sigma DMAIC methodology

• Define: problem statement, charter, and a precise defect.
• Measure: data plans, sampling, and a DPMO and sigma baseline.
• Analyze: causes verified via 5 Whys and Ishikawa diagrams.
• Improve and control: piloted fixes secured by a control plan.

Unit 4: Tools and techniques for Lean Six Sigma

• Kaizen events: scoping, team assembly, and measured results.
• The 5S sequence for project environments.
• Control charts and Pareto analysis, with selection rules.
• Digital support: dashboards, ticket data, and spreadsheets.

Unit 5: Data-driven decision making in projects

• Deciding what to collect, linked to real decisions.
• Designing KPIs: operational definitions, targets, and owners.
• Using trend data for schedule, quality, and rework warnings.
• Data quality checks and what to do when systems disagree.

Unit 6: Embedding Lean Six Sigma in teams

• What sponsors and leaders must visibly do for improvement.
• Building skill: awareness, fluency, and belt-style roles.
• Diagnosing resistance and answering with quick visible wins.
• Making improvement normal via boards and recognition.

Unit 7: Sustaining Lean Six Sigma practices

• Lessons-learned reviews feeding a searchable knowledge base.
• Improvement roadmaps sequencing kaizen and DMAIC projects.
• Scaling to a portfolio: shared baselines and common metrics.
• Assessing process maturity and choosing the next investment.

How the course is delivered

Most of each session is spent working on material, not listening to it. The facilitator introduces a tool briefly, then the group applies it to a documented case study: mapping a value stream, drafting a fishbone diagram, or reading a control chart in a guided walkthrough. Worked examples carry the statistical content, and facilitated discussion ties each technique back to problems participants bring from their own projects.

Who should attend

The course suits anyone responsible for how project work gets done, not only what gets delivered.

• Project managers and team leads facing recurring delivery problems.
• Quality and process improvement professionals extending their practice into project environments.
• PMO analysts and managers responsible for delivery standards and project metrics.
• Operations managers whose departments depend on reliable project handovers.
• Executives sponsoring improvement initiatives who must judge proposals and results.

About EuroQuest International Training

Behind this course stands EuroQuest International Training, a Slovak provider headquartered in Bratislava since 2015. Its course list has passed the 1,000 mark and its alumni number above 15,000, drawn from many industries and public bodies. Teaching venues include Paris, Istanbul, London, Dubai, Geneva, Barcelona, and Vienna.

Frequently asked questions

Does the course award a Six Sigma belt?

No. Yellow, Green, and Black Belt certifications come from external certifying organizations, and EuroQuest is not affiliated with any of them. Belt levels and certification routes are explained during the course as subject matter, so participants leave knowing what pursuing a belt would involve. EuroQuest itself provides a certificate of completion.

How much statistics is involved?

Enough to use the tools, and no more. Control charts, Pareto analysis, and DPMO calculations are worked through as complete examples, so participants learn to read and interpret the outputs. No statistical software is used, and nothing beyond arithmetic and basic charts is assumed.

Is this relevant outside manufacturing?

Yes, and the course is built on that premise. Every case study concerns project and office processes: change requests, approvals, reporting cycles, procurement steps, handovers. Manufacturing history appears only to explain where the methods came from.

Related courses

Participants often pair this course with one of the following.

• Fundamentals of Project Management, for the core delivery framework beneath the improvement methods.
• Enhancing Productivity through Project Automation, a next step once wasteful manual steps have been identified.
• Optimizing Workflow and Process Management in Offices, which applies similar flow thinking to office operations.
• Critical Thinking for Project Success, for sharpening the reasoning that root cause analysis depends on.

Register for this course

Places are confirmed through the registration form on the EuroQuest site, or by writing to info@euroqst.com with your preferred venue; the team replies with dates and next steps.