Loving the PDCA Cycle
Love may be a strong word for a continuous improvement tool, but in this case, it is warranted. So what do I really love about the PDCA cycle? Well, PDCA stands for PLAN, DO, CHECK, ACT and what I love about it is that requires project leaders and project teams to dial-in their actions by taking a second look at their work and then refining their project results.
It works like this; of course, every project starts with a set of project goals but once you have the goals, the first step is to PLAN your project. This project could be a small-scale project or a large-scale project. The project details may find themselves in a timeline, meeting notes, action plan summaries or other project planning tools. Every project starts with some level of planning.
Then the team needs to methodically implement their defined action steps, in other words the team needs to DO the steps that were defined in the planning step of the project. Now at this point in the PDCA cycle, the PLAN and DO steps are complete. Everything was planned and implemented.
However, according to the PDCA cycle, the project isn’t considered complete just yet.
The team now needs to CHECK the project. What does this entail? Well, it entails measuring the success of the project. Did it meet all the project goals? And what about your customers? Are they all thrilled with the results? These customers could be internal customers or external customers. Is the Operator happy? Is the Quality Manger smiling? Is the Finance Manger satisfied with the project costs and the on-going operating costs? And is your end-customer thrilled?
Lastly, the final step in the PDCA cycle is to ACT. I love this last step most of all. Why? Because it assumes that your project isn’t going to be perfect at first pass. Final adjustments and fine tuning will need to be done before waving the checkered flag and popping the champagne cork.
Let’s look at the PDCA cycle again in a new light. First, we PLAN, then we DO, then we CHECK, then we ACT. Note that DO and ACT are pretty much the same word. Essentially synonyms. What are the benefits to planning, doing, checking, and then acting a second time? The benefits of the PDCA cycle include:
- It prevents project teams from walking away prematurely. Goals need to be achieved and customers satisfied with the results.
- It prevents analysis-paralysis because the project team realizes that their first pass doesn’t need to be perfect. They can get a 2nd shot at perfection.
- It establishes more employee buy-in because employees come to realize that any initial project shortcomings will be addressed during the second wave of actions. As such, resistance to change dissolves.
- Because project teams are given the opportunity to refine their project, this step supports a continuous improvement culture.
- The project will deliver better long-term results because a refined project is always better than a project that is abandoned with opportunity still left on the table.
- The CHECK step requires soliciting the “Voice of the Customer” and hence internal and external customers will be thrilled with the final results.
- The project team will be more successful, and morale will increase.
Use the PDCA cycle in your business and get better results. Project refinement should be an action item baked into your timelines before the final completion step. When you use the PDCA cycle, you will get better results and you will establish a solid platform to launch your next continuous improvement project.
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