Advance Course on P.D.C.A 

The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle is both a simple, but yet powerful process that has been embraced as an excellent foundation for, and foray into, quality improvement for various entities from manufacturing to public health departments and every industry in between. 

PDCA refers to a continuous and ongoing effort to achieve measurable improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, performance, accountability, outcomes, and other indicators of quality in services or processes which achieve equity and improve the health of the community, organization, company, entity. 

Its simplicity comes from the systematic, straightforward and flexible approach that it offers. Its power is derived from its reliance on the scientific method, i.e., it involves developing, testing, and analyzing hypotheses. This foundation offers a means to become comfortable with a host of quality improvement (QI) methods and techniques and to progressively evolve into addressing more complex problems, employing additional QI tools, and migrating to system-wide approaches to QI.

Objective 

• Assist in understanding how to adjust and develop operational processes leading to higher quality and efficiency

• Shorten the time and reduce the various processes around executive decision making and management oversight 

• Provide information about the importance of continuous improvement and what it takes to become a true “Learning Organization” 

• Accountability of management to the outcome of the program and provide an accepted approach for external validation 

• Increase income from better asset management effectiveness and develop better program governance

• Promote the development of human resource capacity with the ability to meet both current and future needs

 * The history and background of PDCA 

* Understand the different steps in the PDCA (continuous improvement) cycle

o Plan

  - The “plan” process establishes objectives, targets, controls, processes and procedures for the program to deliver results in accordance with an organization’s overall policies and objectives

  - Related to business continuity, planning involves defining the business continuity management program; including identifying standards, creating a policy statement, appointing a program sponsor and steering committee, and establishing an initial program scope and risk tolerance.

  - Identify what leadership/management want to protect and recover with respect to their business continuity program; phrasing the key objectives of the business continuity program as key organizational outputs helps to position the business continuity program in management’s language, thus gaining understanding, support, and involvement from management.

o Do

 - Is where the common business continuity tasks are performed

 - Risk assessments and business impact analyses must take place

 - Developing plan documentation, which should be written in a way to enable repeatable response and recovery performance, regardless of the experience of the person leading the effort

 - Organization-wide training and validation of strategies and plans through exercises, and the initiation of program maintenance activities.

o Check

 - Monitors and reviews performance against established management system objectives and policies and reports the results to management for review

 - Ensures that management is accountable for the program and the organization’s overall business continuity capability

o Act

 - Maintains and improves the program by taking preventive and corrective actions, based on the results of management review and re-appraising the scope, business continuity policy, and objectives

- Includes updating and maintaining the corrective actions / preventative actions (CAPA) list and a post-incident review process

* Develop an appreciation that PDCA is the basic building block of a management system, focused on weaving management-level decision making into traditional program practices 

* Learn how to apply the steps to solve real world problems 

* The importance and strength of planning, communicating, situational awareness, teamwork, and leadership 

* Understand how PDCA and other forms of Continuous Improvement are vital for operational excellence and operational efficiency