Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
Implementing
new ideas in a controlled way
Also known as the PDCA Cycle, or Deming Cycle
(Premium Members Only)
Something needs to change: Something's
wrong, and needs to be fixed, and you've worked hard to
create a credible vision of where you want it to be in future.
But are you 100% sure that you're right? And are you absolutely
certain that your solution will work perfectly, in every
way?
Where the consequences of getting things
wrong are significant, it often makes sense to run a well-crafted
pilot project. That way if the pilot doesn't deliver the
results you expected, you get the chance to fix and improve
things before you fully commit your reputation and resources.
So how do you make sure that you get this
right, not just this time but every time? The solution is
to have a process that you follow when you need to make
a change or solve a problem; A process that will ensure
you plan, test and incorporate feedback before you commit
to implementation.
A popular tool for doing just this is
the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. This is often referred to as
the Deming Cycle or the Deming Wheel after its exponent,
W Edwards Deming.
Deming is best known as a pioneer of the
quality management approach and for introducing statistical
process control techniques for manufacturing to the Japanese,
who used them with great success. He believed that a key
source of production quality lay in having clearly defined,
repeatable processes. And so the PDCA Cycle as an approach
to change and problem solving is very much at the heart
of Deming’s quality-driven philosophy.
The four phases in the Plan-Do-Check-Act
Cycle involve:
- Plan: Identifying and analyzing
the problem;
- Do: Developing and testing a
potential solution;
- Check: Measuring how effective
the test solution was, and analyzing whether it could
be improved in any way; and
- Act: Implementing the improved
solution fully.
These are shown in Figure 1 below.
There can be any number of iterations
of the “Do” and “Check” phases, as the solution is refined,
retested, re-refined and retested again.
How to Use the Tool
The PDCA Cycle encourages you to be methodical
in your approach to problem solving and implementing solutions.
Follow the steps below every time to ensure you get the
highest quality solution possible.
Step 1: Plan
First, identify exactly what your problem is. You may find
it useful to use tools like Drill
Down, Cause
and Effect Diagrams, and the 5
Whys to help you really get to the root of it. Once
you’ve done this, it may be appropriate for you to map
the process that is at the root of the problem
Next, draw together any other information
you need that will help you start sketching out solutions.
Step 2: Do
This phase involves several activities:
- Generate possible solutions;
- Select the best of these solutions,
perhaps using techniques like Impact
Analysis to scrutinize them; and
- Implement a pilot project on a small
scale basis, with a small group, or in a limited geographical
area, or using some other trial design appropriate to
the nature of your problem, product or initiative.
Our section on Practical
Creativity includes several tools that can help you
generate ideas and solutions. Our section on Decision
Making includes a number of tools that will help you
to choose in a scientific and dispassionate way between
the various potential solutions you generate.
| Note:
The phrase “Plan Do Check Act” or PDCA is easy to
remember, but it’s important you are quite clear exactly
what “Do” means. “”Do” means “Try” or “Test”. It does
not mean “Implement fully.” Full implementation happens
in the “Act” phase. |
Step 3: Check
In this phase, you measure how effective the pilot solution
has been, and gather together any learnings from it that
could make it even better.
Depending on the success of the pilot,
the number of areas for improvement you have identified,
and the scope of the whole initiative, you may decide to
repeat the “Do” and “Check” phases, incorporating your additional
improvements.
Once you are finally satisfied that the
costs would outweigh the benefits of repeating the Do-Check
sub-cycle any more, you can move on to the final phase.
Step 4: Act
Now you implement your solution fully. However, your use
of the PDCA Cycle doesn’t necessarily stop there. If you
are using the PDCA or Deming Wheel as part of a continuous
improvement initiative, you need to loop back to the Plan
Phase (Step 1), and seek out further areas for improvement.
When to use the Deming Cycle
The Deming Cycle provides a useful, controlled problem solving
process. It is particularly effective for:
- Helping implement Kaizen
or Continuous Improvement approaches, when the cycle is
repeated again and again as new areas for improvement
are sought and solved.
- Identifying new solutions and improvement
to processes that are repeated frequently. In this situation,
you will benefit from extra improvements built in to the
process many times over once it is implemented.
- Exploring a range of possible new
solutions to problems, and trying them out and improving
them in a controlled way before selecting one for full
implementation.
- Avoiding the large scale wastage of
resources that comes with full scale implementation of
a mediocre or poor solution.
Clearly, use of a Deming Cycle approach
is slower and more measured than a straightforward "gung
ho" implementation. In true emergency situations, this
means that it may not be appropriate (however, it's easy
for people to think that situations are more of an emergency
than, in reality, they really are...)
| Note:
PDCA is closely related to the Spiral Development
Approach which is popular in certain areas of software
development, especially where the overall system develops
incrementally. Spiral Development repeats loops of
the PDCA cycle, as developers identify functionality
needed, develop it, test it, implement it, and then
go back to identify another sub-system of functionality. |
Key points:
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle provides
a simple but effective approach for problem solving and
managing change, ensuring that ideas are appropriately tested
before committing to full implementation. It can be used
in all sorts of environments from new product development
through to marketing, or even politics.
It begins with a Planning phase in which
the problem is clearly identified and understood. Potential
solutions are then generated and tested on a small scale
in the “Do” phase, and the outcome of this testing is evaluated
during the Check phase. “Do” and “Check” phases can be iterated
as many times as is necessary before the full, polished
solution is implemented in the “Act” phase.
The next tour article explains
the Action Priority Matrix - a great technique for making
the most of the opportunities open to you. To read this,
click 'Next article' below.
(All
articles are also available to members in printable format)
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