In order to help an organization embrace quality and continuous improvement, even a small business, it is very effective to help people see how they can use simple quality tools in their daily life first, like for example the PDSA Cycle.
As Sunil Kaushik mentioned in his blog, he could travelled from India to Egypt for 14 days on a $500 budget with the help of Lean, there are many other ways to take advantage of quality thinking to save time and money. Once you start using them at home, applying them at works comes naturally.
A tool that constantly use is the PDSA cycle (Plan Do Study Act): this cycle is part of my daily life since I am very young, even though I wasn’t even aware there was a tool like this. It works like this:
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| https://www.deming.org/theman/theories/profoundknowledge |
Plan:
I use a white board with all the weekdays and three different shifts (morning, afternoon, evening) to write down the basic activities that are repetitive every week. This information is quite standard every week, that’s why to me is long term planning as it helps me organize most of my activities. I also block my Google calendar with these activities to make sure I know when I have spare time. I also make sure I consider my schedule appreciating the whole system, that is, my family’s schedules as well. Anyone at home can access my whiteboard. This reminds all of us that our family is a system, like a small business, where everyone needs to know the main responsibilities each of us have, be aware that we are all connected and that we all need to work together to make our lives easier.
Extra activities or specific tasks are booked in a check list within my cellphone with due dates, organized showing which tasks are due today, the tasks due next week and the ones that are past due. This check list help me clear my mind, to make sure I don’t miss anything. I also even have a note book next to the bed to write down tasks I remember at night, that I include in my main check list the next morning.
Do:
I try to follow my schedule very tightly in order not to move all the main activities around. In regards to the extra tasks, once I perform them, I check them out of the list to have in mind what’s really missing. Every day I review the check list to prioritize the remaining activities based on their urgency and importance, thanks to Stephen Covey time management grid. Urgency and importance are defined in my mind based on the Pareto Principle, I try to perform first the 20% of the activities that will solve 80% of my problems.
Study:
At the end of the day I ask myself if I needed to move any activities, change due dates, allocate more time or do differently in order to achieve better results next time. I share my thoughts with my husband to get alignment with him and listen to his point of view, a sort of Hoshin review to keep my feet on the ground appreciating the whole system again. Usually knowledge of variations help me in this analysis, as sometimes you just generalize facts that re not necessarily true. Knowing if the variations to schedule are due to common (system issues like a poor transportation system) or special causes (unique vents like an unexpected strike) helps you saving time in the long term.
Act:
Based on the findings in my Study step I adjust the schedule, re-assign tasks to someone else, change procedures or redefine priorities. An important thing that I have to keep in mind is to act in a positive manner. Sometimes reviewing results that didn’t meet expectations makes you feel bad about it, but it’s crucial you always take the best out of it and go on. The PDSA is a tool that intrinsically accepts that will always be things to improve, so just let it be. Understanding our psychology and the one from people we love (why we do what we do and what our motivations are) help us avoid frustration and enjoy life much more.
To wrap up, I would like to share an extra piece of knowledge. The PDSA cycle was introduced by Edwards Deming as part of his System of Profound Knowledge, to help develop a theory of knowledge when learning from day to day situations. The SoPK was first introduced in his book The New Economics in 1993. I haven’t read much about it before I learnt what it was about in a Deming Seminar, so it occurred to me it would be great to share it. If you read again the post, you will realize I actually use the SoPK every day as the main blocks are:
- Appreciation for a system
- Theory of knowledge
- Knowledge of variations
- Psychology
In my next post I will describe the SoPK. Meanwhile I hope you can start applying at least the PDSA cycle, Enjoy!
Luciana Paulise
Founder & CEO Biztorming Training & Consulting
luciana.paulise@biztorming.com.ar
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3 Comments
Elbert David · 3 October, 2015 at 4:41 am
That;s great! Executive coaching can really make such a big difference in someone's life and set them on a road that will lead them to their true potential… and when they reach it they will be amazed at what they are capable of.
amy walker professional speaker
Luciana Paulise · 9 November, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Thanks Elbert!
Joan Delaurie · 7 November, 2015 at 7:49 pm
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