Looking for Six Sigma Black Belt projects in Customer Service

K

khurramsb

Hi there,

I am not sure, if I should be using this thread or some other to post this topic. Please let me know if it is otherwise. Also I see that most of the threads are old or have not been responded to.

I am currently enrolled for a Six Sigma Black Belt course. For the same purpose we have been asked to start our projects.

Having a background in IT Call Centers/ Contact Centers, Help Desk / Service Desk and Customer Services, I wanted to choose a theme which would be some what relative and relevant to my experience. My problem is that I always have issues starting and doing something the first time around and require assistance to get through it the first time.

I tried looking up for case studies or projects similar to my background but to no avail. I was hoping to see completed projects with the data set that was used to produce charts or run statistics.

I know most of you would only be able to help only when I have a topic / Theme in mind. Frankly speaking, I don't. That is the reason I am seeking help from BB or MBB from a similar industry.

I would really appreciate if someone from here could help me with my Project. Please do not be rude as I am sure everyone has gone through a similar experience.

KSB
 
K

khurramsb

Re: Looking for Sx Sgma Back Belt projects in Customer Service

Yes I did. I was kind of looking for step by step instructions along with data and how to produce the charts and do statistics. I am not sure if I am able to get across my message clearly.

KSB
 
K

khurramsb

Re: Looking for Six Sgma Back Belt projects in Customer Service

Is there anyone out there who can help me with this project.
Moderators, Can you please bump up my request so more people can see it and maybe provide help.

KSB
 

Bev D

Heretical Statistician
Leader
Super Moderator
Re: Looking for Six Sgma Back Belt projects in Customer Service

bump

here's the rub: I hear that you are a 'literal' or 'checklist' learner. unfortunately improvemetn projects aren't 'cookbook'. while there are certainly themes and a fframework (DMAIC, 8D) within which a common set of tools can be used (5-whys, process maps, run charts) each situtaion will be have enough things that make it unique that we cannot comply with your request. we have no way of knowing what the best project for your area is, or hwo to approach it without simply doing it for you.

we can give guidance: for example, you really need to start with selecting the Problem you wish to solve. what is the largest problem in your call center? are call answerign times too long? too many dropped calls? to many repeat calls or escalations becuase the Customer can't get resolution with the first person/call?
 
K

khurramsb

Re: Looking for Six Sgma Back Belt projects in Customer Service

Bev,

Thanks for replying.
As I said earlier, it would probably be difficult to explain what my need is for the project. I just get a bit panicky starting something new and always had problems doing it the first time round. I have no problems doing it from there on, since by then I am familiar with the flow and what to look for and where.
I am not looking for a completed project and to copy and paste from there. What I am looking for is a series of steps that needs to be done to complete a project. I know what tools or techniques are covered under each phase of DMAIC - well, almost.
For example, the project I wanted to choose was customer satisfaction. By definition, that has a huge scope. So i narrowed it down to looking at Customer Churn or reduce it from lets say 20% to 5%. Now Churn in turn again can have so many reasons...naming a few . FCR (First call resolution), AHT (Average handle times), TAT(Turn around times for both tickets and call backs) etc.
I am not really sure which out of all the reasons should I pick and focus on.
Also the problem right now is that since I am not working these days, I don't have access to live data or data as per say. I was hoping to generate that through minitab but since minitab is also new, I wasn't sure how to go about doing that.
Also what to do when I have the data. which tools should I use to do what. That is where the understanding of each tool comes in - which I am currently doing.
In short what I was looking for was an easy example of each of the steps with some narration. so for example the following topics are covered under the Define Phase.


- Define the problem (Average speed of answer – ASA), (Abandonment Rate), (FCR), (TAT) <.....I am stuck here in deciding which to choose. Should I choose all or just one as the combination of these becomes the cause of churn.
- Benefit & Effort
- Problem statement
- Objective
- Project Cost
- Project Plan
- SIPOC
- Process Map or Flow Chart
- Swim lane
- VSM
- VOC, VOB, VOE, VOP etc
- CTQ Matrix
- Pareto
- Stakeholder Analysis
- RACI

Measure Phase
MSA - Lets say I choose FCR (First call resolution, what data set do I need to do an MSA .....what header..e.g agent name, agent call time, average speed of answer. what measurement system do I choose here. ACD, CRM, Call Manager etc. I hope you understand where I am going with this.

KSB
 

RoxaneB

Change Agent and Data Storyteller
Super Moderator
Re: Looking for Six Sgma Back Belt projects in Customer Service

Hello, khurramsb.

With all due respect, I don't believe you have effectively "Defined the problem." Could this be part of the issue in the slow start?

Customer satisfaction is not a problem. Neither is churn. Reducing XXX from A% to B% is also not a problem.

The EFFECT is the problem. What impact or effect is churn or any of the components of it having on customer satisfaction? THAT is the problem.

For example, "First call resolution rates have increased by X% resulting in ... <fill in the blank with the effect>."

Does the project need to be a solo project or can you work in teams? If you can work in teams, is there someone who has a project that applies to their place of employment? Not only does this reduce the stress on you by trying to define a problem, but you will also see the hands-on results of the solution(s).
 
K

khurramsb

Re: Looking for Six Sgma Back Belt projects in Customer Service

Hello RCBeyette,

Customer Satisfaction was supposedly a theme I chose for my project. I personally thought that the way we normally start our projects is by looking at the most affected areas of the business and then take a deep dive in identifying the root cause and mitigating that.

Keeping that in mind I chose Customer Churn because a loss of a customer has an impact on the business from a Monterrey, Growth and Image/Brand perspective. so for example out of a subscriber base of 200k I saw a trend of monthly churn of 5%, which in numbers is about 10k subscribers. If each subscription is worth $30/month that means that the business is loosing $300k every month and hence the selection of this project. It is sort of a business case to the Mgmt as to why this project was undertaken.

Now as per my understanding the next step is to get the Voice of the customer and see the major reasons causing them to leave or cancel the subscription. so to me a few reasons for customer dissatisfaction are

1- First Call Resolution i.e majority of the times the customer needs to call twice or more to get a resolution.
2- Tickets TAT i.e Tickets or incidents take too long to resolve - at times exceeding 14 days.

and so on and so forth. Now my next step would be to put my finger on the ones which are causing the greatest dissatisfaction and re-mediate that.

Currently as I stated the problem for me is to choose a problem area as everything for me has to be fictitious as I am not working currently. Secondly I am not sure what kind data points would I need and which tool to use for which analysis.

The project unfortunately has to be a solo project. Every one in the team comes from a different background - mostly from an engineering background and that is why were not able to offer much help.

Please let me know if my understanding of the entire thing is otherwise.

KSB
 
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