Tools, techniques, principles, and methodologies are means used by Continuous Improvement practitioners to help teams and organizations to become better. Methodologies are very powerful to provide guidance and ensuring that people speak the same language. Even more, the methodologies used as part of the Lean Six Sigma tools box originated in the scientific method, therefore these methodologies have been tested over time and they have been applied in any context, department, situation, or process.
The P.D.C.A and all its different variances are simple, practical, and extremely powerful. Let’s take a deeper dive in under to better understand what this methodology is about.
PDCA (plan–do–check–act or plan–do–check–adjust) is an iterative design and management method used in business for the control and continuous improvement of processes and products. It is also known as the Deming circle/cycle/wheel, the Shewhart cycle, the control circle/cycle, or plan–do–study–act (PDSA).
Another version of this PDCA cycle is OPDCA. The added “O” stands for observation or as some versions say: “Observe the current condition.” This emphasis on observation and current condition has currency with the literature on lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System. The PDCA cycle, with Ishikawa’s changes, can be traced back to S. Mizuno of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1959.
Plan
- Establish objectives and processes required to deliver the desired results.
Do
- Carry out the objectives from the previous step.
Check
- During the check phase, the data and results gathered from the do phase are evaluated. Data is compared to the expected outcomes to see many similarities and differences. The testing process is also evaluated to see if there were any changes from the original test created during the planning phase.
Example: Gap analysis
Act
- Also called “Adjust”, this act phase is where a process is improved. Records from the “do” and “check” phases help identify issues with the process. These issues may include problems, non-conformities, opportunities for improvement, inefficiencies, and other issues that result in outcomes that are evidently less-than-optimal. Root causes of such issues are investigated, found, and eliminated by modifying the process. Risk is re-evaluated. At the end of the actions in this phase, the process has better instructions, standards, or goals. Planning for the next cycle can proceed with a better baseline. Work in the next do phase should not create a recurrence of the identified issues; if it does, then the action was not effective.
- Examples
- Key Reflection Questions (included in participant guide)
- What problems do you and your team face on a regular basis?
- What improvement ideas do you think could help solve those problems?
- What activities could you help you verify if your improvement ideas are improving or fixing the problem?