The PDCA Cycle

Description improvement of a process or system. The PDCA Cycle was originally conceived by Walter Shewhart in 1930's, and later adopted by W. Edwards Deming. The model provides a framework for the improvement of a process or system. It can be used to guide the entire improvement project, or to develop specific projects once target improvement areas have been identified.

Use The PDCA cycle is designed to be used as a dynamic model. The completion of one turn of the cycle flows into the beginning of the next. Following in the spirit of continuous improvement, the process can always be reanalyzed and a new test of change can begin. This continual cycle of change is represented in the ramp of improvement. Using what we learn in one PDCA trial, we can begin another, more complex trial.

Plan A change or a test, aimed at improvement. In this phase, analyze what you intend to improve, looking for areas that hold opportunities for change. The first step is to choose areas that offer the most return for the effort you put in-the biggest bang for your buck. To identify these areas for change consider using a Flow chart or Pareto chart.

Do Carry out the change or test (preferably on a small scale). Implement the change you decided on in the plan phase Create Develop Establish. Install Promote

Check or Study The results. What was learned? What went wrong ? This is a crucial step in the PDCA cycle. After you have implemented the change for a short time, you must determine how well it is working. Is it really leading to improvement in the way you had hoped ? You must decide on several measures with which you can monitor the level of improvement. Run Charts can be helpful with this measurement.

Act Adopt the change, abandon it, or run through the cycle again. After planning a change, implementing and then monitoring it, you must decide whether it is worth continuing that particular change. If it consumed too much of your time, was difficult to adhere to, or even led to no improvement, you may consider aborting the change and planning a new one.

Act However, if the change led to a desirable improvement or outcome, you may consider expanding the trial to a different area, or slightly increasing your complexity. This sends you back into the Plan phase and can be the beginning.

The Student with Poor Grades Example The Student with Poor Grades Ankita is a first-year medical student who has just taken her first set of examinations and is very unhappy with the results. What is she trying to accomplish? Ankita knows that she needs to improve her studying skills in order to gain a better understanding of the material. How will she know that a change is an improvement? Ankita considers the most important measure of her study skills to be her exam grades. However, she does not want to risk another exam period just to find out that her skills are still not good. She decides that a better way to measure improvement is by taking old exams. What changes can she make that will result in improvement? Ankita thinks that she has spent too little time studying. She feels that the best way to improve her study skills is by putting in more hours.

Cycle 1 Plan: Ankita decides to add an additional thirty hours per week to her already busy schedule. She resolves that she must socialize less, get up earlier, and stay up later. At the end of the week she will take an old exam to see how she is progressing. Do: By the end of the week, Ankita finds that she was able to add only fifteen hours of studying. When she takes the exam she is dismayed to find that she does no better. Check: The fifteen extra hours of studying has made Ankita feel fatigued. In addition, she finds that her ability to concentrate during those hours is rather limited. She has not exercised all week and has not seen any of her friends. This forced isolation is discouraging her. Act: Ankita knows that there must be another way. She needs to design a better, more efficient way to study that will allow her time to exercise and socialize.

Cycle 2 Plan: Ankita contacts all her medical school friends who she knows are doing well yet still have time for outside lives. Many of these friends have similar advice that Ankita thinks she can use. Based on her findings, she decides to always attend lectures, to rewrite her class notes in a format she can understand and based on what the professor has emphasized, and to use the assigned text only as a reference. Do: Ankita returns to her original schedule of studying. However, instead of spending a majority of her time poring over the text, she rewrites and studies her notes. She goes to the text only when she does not understand her notes. When Ankita takes one of the old exams, she finds that she has done better, but she still sees room for improvement. Check: Ankita now realizes that she had been spending too much time reading unimportant information in the required text. She knows that her new approach works much better, yet she still feels that she needs more studying time. She is unsure what to do, because she doesn't want to take away from her social and physically active life. Act: Ankita decides to continue with her new studying approach while attempting to find time in her busy day to study more.

Cycle 3 Plan: In her search for more time to study, Ankita realizes that there are many places that she can combine exercising and socializing with studying. First, she decides to study her rewritten notes while she is exercising on the Stairmaster. Next, she intends to spend part of her socializing time studying with her friends. Do: Ankita's friends are excited about studying together, and their sessions turn into a fun and helpful use of everyone's time. Ankita has found that she enjoys studying while she exercises. In fact, she discovers that she remains on the Stairmaster longer when she's reading over her notes. When Ankita takes her exams this week, she is happy to find that her grades are significantly higher. Check: Ankita now knows that studying does not mean being locked up in her room reading hundreds of pages of text. She realizes that she can gain a lot by studying in different environments while focusing on the most important points. Act: Ankita chooses to continue with the changes she has made in her studying habits. What Ankita initially thought would be an improvement turned out to only discourage her further.

By using the PDCA cycle, Ankita was able to see that her initial change did not work and that she had to find one that would better suit her. With perseverance and the willingness to learn, Ankita was able to turn a negative outcome into a positive improvement experience.