PDCA (Plan Do Check Act) — Continuous Improvement

While preparing for ITIL, I learned about PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act), a four-step continuous improvement process and how this approach could help in improved quality and productivity.

The cycle is sometimes referred to as the Shewhart / Deming cycle since it originated with physicist Walter Shewhart in the 1920s. Edwards Deming modified the Shewhart cycle in the 1940s and subsequently applied it to management practices (~Wikipedia).

1️⃣ Plan: In this step, measures for success are agreed. Gap analysis is undertaken and a plan is produced to close the gap through a series of step improvements.
2️⃣ Do: In this stage, the implementation of improvements is conducted to implement any steps needed to close the gaps identified in the Plan phase for further improvement.
3️⃣ Check: Check is more accurately described as Monitoring, Measuring and Reviewing. The results of the implemented improvements are compared with the measures for success identified in the Plan phase.
4️⃣ Act: Improvements will be implemented in this step. The improvements that have been identified are fully implemented.

The PDCA is a Continuous Service Improvement (CSI) process and the first image depicts the process.

On the contrary, the second image frequently garners attention on social media, where humor tends to overshadow factual information. However, on a more earnest note, significant positive transformations can occur when subjected to a continuous improvement process.

#pdca #projectmanagement #deming #shewhart #csi #humor