Plan Do Check Adjust (PDCA)

Plan

Planning = a process of anticipating and decision-making, and assigning responsibility for tasks

WHAT

  • What is the activity?

WHY

  • Purpose or Intent? Intent guides as the situation changes
  • Desired outcome?
  • Target group of people?
  • What goal or objective does the activity support?

WHO

  • Who is participating in the activity?
  • Availability? Capacity? Commitment?
  • How many people to be accommodated?
  • Communicate details to who? How early? How often?
  • Information and invitations sent to members?
  • Who presides at this event?
  • Key people (experts, etc.) needed?

WHEN

  • When is the activity? Date? & Time?
  • Date conflicts? Near major holiday? Other activities?
  • How much time available before START?

WHERE

  • Where will the activity happen?
  • Permissions needed for the space?
  • Venue booking reservations needed?
  • Where will people meet before START?

HOW

  • What did we decide to change from our last activity?
  • Identified success measures?
    • Desired specific measures we seek to achieve?
    • Success criteria?
  • Backwards plan from the END back to the START
    • Visualize the activity (a testable prediction or hypothesis)
    • Essential task assignments?
    • Dependencies of one task on another?
    • Sequence actions
  • Options? Courses of action?
    • Comparison of each option/course of action
    • Decide which way to do the activity
  • Criticality?
    • Rehearsals needed? Small scale pilot test?
    • Any weaknesses in the planning?
    • Confidence to be gained?
    • Skill drills needed?
    • If automatic, fast responses needed

Constraints / Limits

  • Budget?
  • Time limits?
  • Organizational policy limits?
  • Eligibility requirements (age, skills)?
  • A resource with capacity limits?
  • Supports goals/objectives?
  • Tradeoffs?

Bounding Assumptions

Be Prepared

  • Prerequisite Skills needed?
    • Training needed? How far in advance?
  • Resources needed?
    • Who assigned for each?
    • Lead time to get resources?
    • Contracts required?
    • Porta-potties, dumpsters?
  • Fees
    • License fees?
  • Equipment needed?
    • Who will buy it? Who already has it?
    • Who will bring each item?
    • Binoculars?
    • Knives, axes, saws?
    • Shovels
    • Food prep
    • Pots, pans, cooking utensils, forks, knives, spoons
    • Water container, bladder, canteen
    • Audio visual needs?
  • Consumable Supplies needed?
    • Water? How much? How transported?
    • Fire related: Firewood or charcoal? Fire starter?
    • Food?
      • How much? How many people served food?
      • Who assigned to purchase which food?
      • How transported?
      • Cooling required?
  • Sanitation?
    • Hand cleaning? Alcohol wipes? Soap?
    • Toilet paper
    • Personal Toiletries
  • Presentation
    • AV equip, flipcharts / stands / markers / notepaper/ pencils / copies of all exercises / Blue tape
  • Will weather impact the activity?
    • If yes, what is the forecast?
    • Weather related clothing needed?
  • Visibility
    • Will it be day or night?
    • Portable lights needed?
  • Communication / Coordination plan
    • Cell coverage sufficient?
    • Phone numbers with each group?
    • All kept informed of changes
  • Travel required?
    • Vehicles needed?
    • Who has this type?
    • Who assigned?
    • Routes? Maps? GPS?
    • Communication between vehicles? Radio? Signals?
    • Reconnoiter actual location?
    • Any changes to plans based on seeing the actual location?
    • Planned stop points (breaks for fuel, restrooms)
  • Lodging needed?
    • Tents, bedding, ground cloth, stakes, rain fly
    • Motel/Hotel?
    • Designated Loading/Unloading Area needed?
  • Clean Up Plan
    • Clean up plan?
    • How to leave the site better than you found it?
    • Who assigned clean up?
    • Rotation schedule?
  • Risks and Mitigating Actions
    • Risks/hazards identified?
    • Handling actions to reduce probability and impact? Triggers?
    • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
    • Probable adverse events?
    • Root cause? Handling actions address root cause?
    • Medical physicals required?
    • Liability issues?
    • Safety brief?
    • Emergency Procedures?
    • Emergency contact information for each person?
    • First-aid kit available?
    • Obstacles?
    • Workarounds?

Do

  • Get set
    • Leader arrive early
    • Participants show up
    • How will you deal with early and late participant arrivals?
    • Set up tasks
  • Leader briefs planned actions to the group
    • Current situation
    • Review purpose / intent
    • Give direction or context for the activity
    • Explain process to participants
    • Review assignments
    • Assign someone to take pictures
    • Priority of work
    • Describe rules, boundaries
    • Check for understanding
    • Check everyone understands objectives
    • Coordinating instructions
  • Inspections (critical gear)
    • Equipment, weather clothing, personal protective equipment (PPE)
    • Food, water, food prep equipment
    • Safety brief
  • Go
    • Engage, Get it done, Have fun, Run activities
    • Respond to unfolding interaction with the environment
      • Assigned prep tasks done?
      • Expected vehicles arrived?
      • Make assignments
      • Outside information?
      • Apply previous experience
      • Contingency / backup plan in case of no-shows, etc.
      • Issue management
      • Degree of flexibility built-in?

Check

  • WHEN
    • Immediately after activity
    • Timeliness helps learning process / improvement / progression
    • Closed loop, feedback to participants
  • Evaluate actual against plan
    • Review purpose/intent
    • Gauged effectiveness?
    • Met success measures?
    • Achieved the desired outcome?
    • Closer to or further from goals/objectives?
    • Before-and-after comparison / Plan versus actual
  • Facilitate lessons learned reflection (Agile retrospective)
    1. What went well?
      • Key events
      • How well did backplanning predict what actually happened?
      • Knowledge or skill gained?
    2. What didn't go so well?
      • Any surprising results emerged?
    3. What can we do better next time?
      • NOT a lecture, NOT to embarrass anyone, NOT a gripe session
  • Report to stakeholders
    • Assignment of report to who?
    • Who attended? Impact to participants? Pictures?
    • Thank you notes to volunteers?

Adjust

  • What 1 thing will we do differently next time?
  • Adopt, Adapt, Abandon (Pivot)
  • Disposal of leftover food, materials, supplies
  • Submit any receipts
  • File any accident reports
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