What is a PDCA cycle?

You can use a PDCA cycle in order to identify problems, ways to rectify them, and implement solutions. Therefore, it covers the entire cycle of troubleshooting a business issue. In this way, it’s useful for responding to customer issues.

You break the cycle down into four parts:

1. Plan: Identifying the problem and creating a plan for it;
2. Do: Creating a pilot project to test a solution;
3. Check: Analysing the results of the pilot project;
4. Act: Implementing the solution.

The PDCA cycle was invented by the physicist Walter A. Shewhart, and the slight variations that are available on it. Such as the PDSA – invented by W. Edwards Deming. Deming replaces ‘check’ with ‘study’ in order to emphasise the need to collect and analyse data – with ‘study’ being possibly more accurate than ‘check’ in the English language.

Regardless of how you choose to describe the cycle, it’s still a strong methodology based on the scientific method. The scientific method is about proposing a change (a hypothesis), implementing the change, measuring results, and then acting accordingly based on those results. So, in the case of PDCA, any actions are taken on the basis of analysing the outcomes of this first.

You might also want to check your pilot project with external stakeholders during the ‘do’ stage as well. That way, you can gain greater insight on complex projects or those which might possibly be sensitive or controversial. Therefore, the ‘do’ stage might involve focus groups or other interviews – perhaps in the form of a requirement analysis.

How to use the PDCA loop system to your advantage

A PDCA is a loop. This means that once you’ve implemented the solution, you can use feedback on that solution in order to further update your product or system. With the third ‘check’ stage, you might find that you need to go back to the second or first stage in order to solve the problem – such as if the pilot project doesn’t meet the needs of its users effectively enough. Since PDCA is a loop rather than a process with a final conclusion, this means that you can return to any points in the cycle.

Even if your solution is successful, you might need to return to some of the earlier stages if future issues with your product emerge. This might be to changing market needs, for example.

Using a PDCA cycle for professional development

While a PDCA cycle is effective in helping you to develop your products or systems, it’s also helpful as a tool to help improve employee performance (as part of an employee performance plan). That’s because the four stages of planning, doing, checking, and acting can also apply to your employees as well. It’s also a good tool for change management, which can apply to many aspects of your business. Let’s examine how it applies in the case of employee professional development, with some examples:

1. Plan: Identify weaknesses and areas where an employee is being held back professionally;
2. Do: Create a course of action for improving these areas, such as via training courses, project management, or time management tools;
3. Check: Analyse the employee’s performance in response to these changes;
4. Act: If this is working well for the employee and they’re showing improvement, continue with the course of action.

If you find that some solutions are working better than others, you might want to revisit the ‘do’ stage with the employee so that you can perhaps come up with better solutions to their initial weaknesses identified during the ‘plan’ stage.

Using the PDCA for change management

You can also use the PDCA for change management in your business generally. For example, making your workplace more accessible to disabled customers, employees, and/or clients. The PDCA cycle can make company-wide changes less overwhelming, helping to break these down into more manageable chunks.

Strengths and weaknesses of the PDCA cycle

A strength of the PDCA cycle is its flexibility and how it can be applied to different aspects of your business that need developing. This can be any projects, changes, or professional development. Another plus of this cycle is that it’s rigorous – involves testing before implementing any changes or actions, which means that there’s a better chance that changes will be effective.

While the PDCA is a flexible change management tool, there are some potential weaknesses to this model as well. One of its major flaws is that you can’t add any additional variables to the picture once you’re at the stage of implementing the solution. This can make using the PDCA cycle a slow process compared to other methods, as you’ll have to revisit earlier stages in order to decide on responses to any additional variables.

Another issue is that if you focus too much on the third ‘check’ process, it can potentially slow down the project. This means that if you are to use the PDCA cycle, it’s a good idea to monitor how long you spend on each stage, and how long you expect to take on each considering budget and time available.

A PDCA cycle can be a useful way to identify issues with your products or systems, and redesign them in response to customer feedback. They can also be useful in helping you to design systems for employees, such as training courses, or even in helping to manage their performance. There are both strengths and weaknesses to using this type of cycle; while it is potentially flexible, too much time spent on the ‘check’ process can lead to a slowing down of project development.