How to Write a Lean Six Sigma Project Charter That Gets Approved

A Lean Six Sigma project often succeeds or stalls before the first meeting even ends, and the difference is usually the project charter. The charter is the first critical deliverable in any improvement effort, because it tells leaders what problem you want to solve, why it matters, and how you plan to approach it. When it is clear and grounded in data, approvals come faster, support is stronger, and resistance is lower.

A strong charter also protects you. It keeps your project from spiraling into endless requests and side topics, and it gives you something concrete to point to when someone says, “Can you also fix this other thing?” For anyone working toward certification or trying to apply what they learned in Lean Six Sigma training, learning to write a tight charter is one of the most practical skills you can build.

At Open Source Six Sigma, we focus on helping learners turn classroom concepts into real performance improvements. Through our SixCamp platform, we give students, professionals, and organizations a way to practice, refine, and stress-test project charters so they are ready for real sponsors, not just exam questions.

Core Elements Every Lean Six Sigma Charter Must Include

When we teach project charters in Lean Six Sigma training, we break them into a small set of essential pieces. Each one answers a question that sponsors care about.

• Business Case: Why should the organization care about this project now?  

• Problem Statement: What specific issue are you addressing?  

• Goal Statement: What will success look like, measured in clear terms?  

• Scope: What is in and out of the project boundaries?  

• Timeline: When will key milestones be reached?  

• Team and Roles: Who is involved, and how?  

• Risks and Assumptions: What might get in the way?  

• High-Level Financial Impact: Why is this worth the investment?

Each section helps leaders check for value, feasibility, and alignment with strategy. For example, a weak problem statement might say, “Our customer service is not very good.” A stronger version would say, “Customer service email response time for retail clients averages 72 hours, compared to our internal standard of 24 hours, resulting in frequent complaints and repeat contacts.” The second version is specific, measurable, and far easier to approve.

The same goes for goals. “Make customers happier” is weak. “Increase customer satisfaction survey scores for support interactions from 3.2 to at least 4.0 within six months” gives sponsors something concrete to back.

Crafting a Problem Statement Sponsors Take Seriously

Sponsors tune out vague complaints. They lean in when they see a clear, data-driven description of a problem. A solid problem statement answers who is affected, what is wrong, where it occurs, when it happens, and how big the gap really is.

Instead of “cycle time is too long,” we might write: “Order fulfillment cycle time for online orders in North America averages 10 business days from order placement to shipment, compared to the organizational target of 5 days, affecting approximately 40 percent of monthly orders.” That kind of clarity shows you did your homework.

Baseline data is your friend here. Include information such as current defect rates, average delays, backlog size, or error-related rework. Even rough but honest baseline numbers build confidence that the project is grounded in reality, not just opinion.

We also coach our learners to avoid three common traps: assigning blame, proposing solutions inside the problem statement, and using emotional language. “The warehouse team is careless and constantly delays orders” is the wrong direction. It creates defensiveness, narrows your thinking to one cause, and hurts your credibility. Stick to facts about process performance, not people.

Setting Measurable Goals That Align with the Business

Once the problem is clear, the goal statement should translate it into a SMART target: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. If the baseline fulfillment time is 10 days and the target is 5, a good goal might be, “Reduce average online order fulfillment time in North America from 10 to 6 business days within four months, while maintaining current error rates or better.”

The “relevant” part of SMART is often overlooked. Your project should link directly to organizational priorities such as:

• Improving customer satisfaction or loyalty  

• Reducing operational cost or waste  

• Improving safety or compliance performance  

• Protecting or growing revenue  

When sponsors see that your goal supports what matters to them, approval is far easier. This connection is also key for Green Belt and Black Belt certification projects, because evaluators want to see clear alignment between your charter, your analysis, and your results. In Lean Six Sigma training, we encourage learners to write goals that are both ambitious and realistic, then refine them as they collect more data.

Defining Scope, Stakeholders, and Resources for Faster Buy-In

Strong projects are as much about what you will not do as what you will do. The scope section should spell out in-scope and out-of-scope items in plain language. For example:

• In scope: Online orders shipped from the main distribution center  

• Out of scope: In-store pickup, international orders, and returns processing  

This clarity helps prevent scope creep and keeps your workload manageable.

Stakeholders and roles should also be explicit. Identify your project champion, process owner, team members, and any critical subject matter experts. Clarify who can make which decisions so you are not stuck waiting for approvals at every step.

On resources, sponsors want to know what it will take to succeed. Outline the estimated time commitment from team members, what data you need or what systems you need access to, and any key tools or support you expect. Pair that with a realistic timeline that includes phases such as Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control, with target dates for each. A grounded plan makes it easier for leaders to say yes.

Making the Business Case and Presenting Your Charter with Confidence

The business case is where you connect pain, risk, and opportunity. Focus on what happens if the problem is not solved: lost customers, higher costs, rework, compliance exposure, or bottlenecks that limit growth. Then connect your project to potential benefits, such as reduced overtime, faster delivery, or fewer customer complaints.

Your financial impact estimate does not need to be perfect. Sponsors appreciate:

• Clear logic behind your savings or revenue protection numbers  

• Conservative, not exaggerated, assumptions  

• Acknowledgment of intangible benefits such as morale or brand reputation  

When presenting to executives, keep your language short, direct, and tied to strategic outcomes. In a charter review, walk your sponsors through a simple flow: start with the pain, show the current performance, present your measurable goal, describe the scope and plan, then close with expected impact and resource needs.

We encourage learners to prepare by anticipating tough questions. Where might your assumptions be weak? What risks could delay progress? How would you adapt if data shows the problem is different from expected? Showing that you are thoughtful and flexible, without watering down the project, builds trust.

Through structured practice and feedback, such as in a guided Lean Six Sigma training environment, it becomes much easier to enter a charter meeting ready, calm, and confident instead of hoping you remembered everything.

From Charter to Real Results

A project charter is not just paperwork for a DMAIC checklist. It is the contract that connects your ideas to the organization’s priorities, and it is the foundation for every analysis, test, and control plan that follows. When the charter is clear, the project team spends less time arguing about direction and more time solving real problems.

As you progress through your project and uncover new data, it is normal to refine parts of the charter. The key is to keep changes aligned with the original business case and goals, not to let the project drift into a different problem altogether. That discipline is what turns theory from Lean Six Sigma training into sustained results in the real world.

At Open Source Six Sigma, we see every strong project charter as both a learning tool and a career asset. When you can consistently frame problems, set measurable goals, and build persuasive business cases, you are not just completing assignments, you are showing that you can lead meaningful change.

Transform Your Team With Proven Lean Six Sigma Skills

If you are ready to reduce waste, improve quality, and build a culture of continuous improvement, our Lean Six Sigma training gives your team the structured tools to do it. At Open Source Six Sigma, we provide practical, real-world content you can apply immediately to your operations. Explore our training options to choose the path that fits your goals, timeline, and budget, or contact us so we can help you map out the right next step.