Today is Wednesday, so this post is on outstanding performance.
Continuous improvement is a hallmark of all high performing individuals, teams and organizations. In this post, I want to show you how you can use a well known process – Plan, Do, Check, Act -- used in many organizational improvement efforts to improve your personal results and performance.
- Plan – decide what you want to improve and how you are going to do it.
- Do – carry out your plan, implement your ideas.
- Check – check to see if your plan resulted in the improvements you wanted to make.
- Act – If your completed plan resulted in the improvement you expected, incorporate the changes into your daily routine. If your completed plan did not result in the improvement you expected, develop and implement a new plan.
This simple four step process has been used for years by organizations interested in improving their work processes.
It works just as well for individuals. Here’s an example. Say you want to improve your time management. Here’s how you might apply the model.
Plan
Choose a goal – something like responding to all e mail correspondence within two days of receiving it.
Develop a plan – you might choose to create folders for all of your important contacts and tasks, with the idea of organizing your e mail in box a little better.
Do
Create the folders. Begin using them to file your e mails.
Check
After a week or two, review your e mail correspondence. Were you able to meet your goal?
Act
If yes, continue to use your e mail folder system. Choose another area that you can improve, repeat the plan, do, check, act process.
If no, develop a new plan. Put it into play. Check to see if you accomplished your goal.
The PDCA process is simple, but surprisingly effective. It will assist you in improving your performance and becoming the star you are meant to be. Try it!
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. Check out my other blog: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a small business.
I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open. Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.
Comment Preview