Define Phase: Project Chartering and Voice of the Customer
What the exam tests
Define tests whether you can turn a vague complaint into a chartered, scoped project. Expect problem and goal statements, business case, scope, VOC, CTQ trees, SIPOC, and stakeholder analysis.
Core rules
- A problem statement states the gap: what, where, when, magnitude, and business impact. It contains no cause and no solution.
- A goal statement is SMART and mirrors the problem metric: metric, baseline, target, deadline, and constraint.
- Scope has explicit in-scope and out-of-scope boundaries, plus the process start and stop points.
- VOC is raw customer input; CTQs are translated, measurable requirements. A CTQ tree moves from need to requirement to specification.
- SIPOC provides a high-level view of Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers before detailed mapping.
Worked example
Original: 'Invoice quality is poor and customers are complaining.' Rewrite: 'From January to March 2025, the invoice error rate on the Line 3 billing process was 8.2% against a 2.0% target, producing 1,240 rework hours and $86,000 in credits.' The reasoning: the rewrite names the metric, baseline, target, period, location, and impact, and it omits poor and complaining, which are not measurable. A matching goal: 'Reduce the invoice error rate to 2.0% or less by 30 September 2025 without adding headcount.'
Traps
Embedding a solution such as 'install a scanner' in the problem statement; setting a goal without a baseline; drawing a detailed flowchart when SIPOC is the required level; and recording VOC quotes as CTQs without translation.