Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Define Phase: Project Charter 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following scenarios represents an appropriate use of a project charter revision?
- The team holds its first kickoff meeting and reviews deliverables
- Analyze phase data reveals the problem is in a different process than originally scoped (Correct answer)
- The Black Belt submits a weekly status report to the sponsor
- The team selects a statistical tool for the Measure phase
Correct answer: Analyze phase data reveals the problem is in a different process than originally scoped
When data reveals the project should address a different process, the charter must be revised to reflect the updated scope and re-approved by the sponsor.
Question 2: A project charter that lacks a specific project end date is most at risk for:
- Understating the financial benefits of the project
- Losing team focus and allowing the project to drag on indefinitely (Correct answer)
- Selecting an inappropriate CTQ metric
- Misidentifying the process owner
Correct answer: Losing team focus and allowing the project to drag on indefinitely
Without a defined end date, teams lose urgency and projects frequently stall, consuming resources without delivering results.
Question 3: In a Lean Six Sigma project charter, 'Critical to Quality' (CTQ) characteristics are derived from:
- Internal process capability studies conducted before the project begins
- Voice of the Customer data translated into measurable quality requirements (Correct answer)
- Financial reporting systems and cost accounting records
- The project sponsor's personal priorities for the business
Correct answer: Voice of the Customer data translated into measurable quality requirements
CTQs are customer-driven quality requirements translated from VOC data into specific, measurable process characteristics.
Question 4: When a Black Belt is assigned a project where the problem statement was written by the sponsor, the Black Belt's first responsibility is to:
- Accept the problem statement as written to respect the sponsor's authority
- Verify the problem statement with data and refine it if necessary before finalizing the charter (Correct answer)
- Rewrite the problem statement entirely without consulting the sponsor
- Skip the problem statement and move directly to defining the project goal
Correct answer: Verify the problem statement with data and refine it if necessary before finalizing the charter
The Black Belt must validate sponsor-provided problem statements with actual data to ensure they accurately reflect process reality before committing to the charter.
Question 5: Which of the following correctly describes the difference between a project charter's 'goal statement' and 'business case'?
- The goal statement describes what the team will do; the business case describes why the organization should care (Correct answer)
- The goal statement is written by the sponsor; the business case is written by the Black Belt
- The goal statement appears only in the final report; the business case is created first
- The goal statement covers financial benefits; the business case covers operational improvements
Correct answer: The goal statement describes what the team will do; the business case describes why the organization should care
The goal statement specifies the measurable improvement target, while the business case explains the financial and strategic rationale for the project.
Question 6: A team member suggests adding a technology upgrade to the project because it would help solve the problem. According to project charter discipline, the Black Belt should:
- Immediately add the technology upgrade to the project plan
- Evaluate whether it falls within charter scope; if not, log it as a separate potential project (Correct answer)
- Remove the team member from the project for deviating from the charter
- Ask the sponsor to expand the charter budget to include the upgrade
Correct answer: Evaluate whether it falls within charter scope; if not, log it as a separate potential project
Ideas outside the current charter scope should be captured and considered as separate projects rather than added ad hoc, which would constitute scope creep.
Question 7: Which of the following is the LAST step typically completed before a project charter is signed and approved?
- Collecting baseline performance data to validate the problem statement (Correct answer)
- Conducting a root cause analysis to identify improvement opportunities
- Developing a control plan to sustain future gains
- Selecting the statistical software platform for the project
Correct answer: Collecting baseline performance data to validate the problem statement
Baseline data collection validates that the problem is real and quantifies its magnitude, which is necessary before the sponsor formally approves the charter.
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Define Phase: Project Charter 5
Which of the following scenarios represents an appropriate use of a project charter revision?