What is PDCA cycle and how does Plan Do Check Act work in practice?

What is PDCA?

To really grasp the PDCA meaning, it is important not only to memorize the PDCA abbreviation but also to understand the essence and live the concept. The order of the four capital letters is often mixed up. So, PDCA stands for: Plan Do Check Act and that is also the only correct order to implement improvement processes. Act does not refer to action, but to actualize.

Figure 1: The steps Plan, Do, Check, Act help you to implement continuous improvement and quality management. But a good plan requires passion, in the do step you use data for analysis, the check step cannot be done without conscious control, and autonomy of action ensures self-direction and reflection in act. More explanation: the 2 variants of PDCA.

What can a PDCA cycle be used for?

With a PDCA cycle, you initiate a continuous learning and improvement process in an organization. You do this by giving KPIs, data analysis and human reflection a leading role. In this way, you give people who are passionate about their work the daily opportunity to improve their work process incrementally, step by step.

The basic principles of a PDCA cycle: two variants

How do you build a robust PDCA model? And is there actually a difference between the Deming cycle and the PDCA cycle? The illustration below provides a concise explanation of the four PDCA steps:

1. Plan: Define your plans and the expected results | details
2. Do: Test the plan and observe what happens | details
3. Check: Verify that the results achieved are satisfactory | details
4. Act: Implement the method that produced the desired results | details

Figure 2: Overview of the PDCA cycle and the four steps needed to get it working.

The 4 Phases of PDCA

Below we discuss the four phases of PDCA, continuous improvement, and learning processes in organizations. We give the PDCA cycle meaning and more clout by connecting two domains – data analysis and continuous improvement. By adding four new dimensions to Deming’s quality cycle, we give the traditional PDCA cycle a new, modern look. Let your organization also benefit from the latest insights and our unique PDCA tips.

Securing without worrying about tomorrow

The PDCA cycle is emphatically not meant to be a one-time exercise. The effort is too intensive and the time commitment too costly. Continuous improvement should always be the goal (see figure 4). Ultimately you want to use continuous improvement cycles to achieve structural quality improvements that will still be acceptable, tenable, and sustainable tomorrow.

Figure 4: Continuous improvement thanks to interim assurance of the results achieved

This means that you will have to secure the often laborious results achieved in order not to have to keep reinventing the wheel. Standardize what works and reject what doesn’t.

PDCA cycle example: make it a sport

As a concrete PDCA example, let’s use a current one for Europeans: reducing your own energy consumption. You want to reduce this because you hate waste, for example. Moreover, it’s also good for your wallet. With energy prices skyrocketing, saving energy is a must.

• Plan: consume a maximum of 150 kWh of electricity and 80 cubic meters of gas monthly. Current consumption is 180 kWh and 125 cubic meters of gas, respectively. Time to act. In your plan, you devise a number of measures to reduce energy consumption, such as turning off the heating one hour earlier in the evening and installing LED lights.
• Do: you implement the measures and every month you receive the consumption data from your energy supplier via an app. You analyze that data and plot it over time. You make a graph of it. You also make the costs transparent.
• Check: the first month after your plan, you discuss your energy consumption with your partner. You are at 179 kWh and 126 cubic meters of gas, severely insufficient to achieve what you planned.
• Act: you add a number of additional measures to your original plan. For example: take a 1-minute shorter shower (applies to all family members) and turn off appliances that use a lot of power, such as a clothes dryer and a television.

Figure 5: PDCA cycle worked out example – energy consumption across months, constantly look for room for improvement.

You go through the PDCA cycle until you reach your goal (the standard). You make it a sport. Or you adjust your goals and standards because your roommates are running cranky through the house due to the shortened shower times. But note that people are creatures of habit. Therefore, even in the above simplified example, it is essential to secure the results achieved, so as not to fall back into old habits (sneak a minute longer shower). At the same time, it is important to look for new savings opportunities. For example, you can also start improvement cycles with the goal of limiting the use of the dishwasher or deactivating the standby mode on all kinds of appliances, for example.

Also in work situations and in almost any business sector, such as healthcare, for example, there are plenty of ambitious improvement projects to define on which you can apply the PDCA principles and achieve continuous improvement. Contact one of our management consultants to discuss and define your project.

The 2 variants of the PDCA cycle

Looking at the positioning of PDCA within a business or work process to achieve improvements, there are two basic forms of PDCA, or two routes to success:

Figure 6: The two basic forms of PDCA visualized

• The light, regular variant: this approach focuses on optimizing existing work processes. You monitor and discuss results using KPIs, make adjustments where necessary, and implement minor improvements – provided the risk of disrupting the process remains acceptable. This variant aligns with the classic planning and control cycle, making use of existing resources, standards, targets, and KPIs. Changes, improvements, or corrections take place within the line organization, without fundamentally altering processes or plans.
• The heavy, experimental variant: this variant is designed for major process changes or innovations. You begin by thoroughly testing solutions to problems – or exploring promising improvements – in a safe “sandbox” environment (the experimentation room) before implementing them in practice. This version of the PDCA cycle starts with fundamental questions about process redesign and often requires new resources, skills, technologies, or ways of working. Only after a successful experiment do you elevate the solution to the standard. At that point, you transition back to the light variant.

Although the two variants differ in scope and intensity, the same KPIs remain applicable.

The SMART KPI Guide Use our Smart KPI Guide to find the right KPIs that fit your organization in each step of the PDCA cycle. With the SMART KPI Guide 2022 you will learn in 6 steps how to work and steer effectively and efficiently with KPIs. This indispensable handbook helps you compile crucial steering information. You will get a clear picture of your KPIs and it will be easier to implement the PDCA cycle and achieve continuous improvement in your organization.view the guide

11 PDCA tips and prerequisites for success

Below we provide some tips for implementing the PDCA cycle. Use these tips as prerequisites for the proper application of the PDCA model in your own organization.

1. Going through the PDCA cycle pro forma is pointless and a contempt for the Deming circle. Take the example of a healthcare organization where everyone is critically reviewing and monitoring all processes and KPIs ahead of an inspection that will take place in two months. If after the inspection everyone goes back to business as usual, nothing has been achieved. That is precisely not the purpose of the PDCA cycle. PDCA is about continuous improvement and intervening deeply in the organization and should not take place superficially, once a year or so.
2. A PDCA without KPIs is like a car without wheels. Don’t forget to name in your plans the desired improvement of one or more KPIs. During the Do phase, you will analyze the data behind the KPIs, in the Check phase you will compare the execution based on your KPIs with your objectives as formulated in the plans or policy intentions. The PDCA circle can never start turning without reliable data, insights, and SMART KPIs. Improve KPIs sustainably based on the rhythm of the PDCA cycle.

3. Always apply the PDCA cycle integrally: that is, go through all the steps. People tend to pick only those steps from the PDCA method that are useful to them at that moment. There is cherry-picking. Or they get no further than the P and the D, and give up at the C. So, you never reap all the benefits of the Deming cycle. The integral application of the Deming circle, if properly done with KPIs in the line, will eventually always translate into better (financial) performance.
4. Realize that the PDCA cycle can be applied at strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Moreover, the different levels are closely intertwined. The implementation of the strategic plans determines the frameworks for drawing up the tactical and operational plans. The progress reports from the tactical and operational reports from the Check phase serve as input for the higher strategic plans. You will thus begin to see the connection between improvement initiatives, strategic frameworks, and operational processes.
5. Regularly test your plans against implementation. Do not wait too long but start with this as soon as possible. There are now enough examples of projects that were started with the best of intentions, but because of a lack of interim adjustment, have gone completely off the rails.
6. Make data analysis a permanent part of the Do phase. The PDCA cycle stands or falls with reliable data that you need to analyze in more detail. Without solid data analysis, you’ll never get the PDCA cycle completed and you won’t be able to do your job properly.
7. Take the Check phase seriously. For example, set aside half an hour every two weeks for each team and individual employee to complete the Check phase. Is the process running as expected? Does the output meet the standards? Are deviations staying within the rule boundaries? And how is the trend developing? The same motto applies to the Act phase, but then those responsible at the strategic and team levels must get to work.
8. Always link the major PDCAs to the minor PDCAs. The decision to only set up a PDCA cycle at the policy level and over a large one-year time frame does not ensure continuous improvement or innovation. A large PDCA cycle alone is too unwieldy for that. And if employees focus solely on their daily improvement in a small PDCA cycle, they lose sight of the larger development. So, both cycles are needed. The large PDCA gives direction and frameworks to the smaller PDCA, allows for in-depth investments, and ensures stability and continuity. The smaller PDCA cycles are improvement loops that are small enough that a person recognizes themselves in them and large enough that a person can measure their own performance against them.
9. No longer base organizational decisions on opinions or feelings, but on facts. Inspiring managers will regularly adjust standards and KPIs while raising the bar ever so slightly. Employees, in turn, will develop an improvement mentality. They are “in control” and experience more job satisfaction because their autonomy puts them back in control.
10. Make a link between the PDCA and lean processes. Look for symptoms of poor processes such as long lead times, lots of extra checks, lots of data retyping, high work stocks, buffers, and lots of exceptions in the process. Look for the eight wastes that occur almost in every process or organization: overproduction, overprocessing, waiting, transportation, inventories, moves, defects, Deming wheel, and poor use of talent. For each waste, start a new PDCA cycle and create a plan to stop the waste.
11. The D of Data and the D of Do: achieve better financial results using PDCA. Our large-scale PDCA research shows that applying Plan Do Check Act company-wide doesn’t improve profit margins only. Work stocks drop dramatically and customers are more satisfied. These results are mainly due to a few simple rules of thumb: set standards and targets for each KPI (Plan), regularly evaluate the standards and targets and adjust them (Act), use steering information and KPIs consistently for analysis and action (Do), use steering information and KPIs to improve and innovate (Do), talk about the numbers and hold each other accountable for negative and positive performance (Check).

If you would like to delve further into the mechanism of the PDCA cycle, download our free article ‘The PDCA cycle is alive and well’.

Article ‘The PDCA cycle is alive and well’

PDCA Cycle = Deming Cycle

In practice, the PDCA cycle, Deming’s cycle, the Deming wheel, and Deming’s quality cycle are used interchangeably. Just to clarify right away: there is no essential difference and all concepts are visualized almost in the same way: as a circle or a wheel. In other words, they are all synonyms for the same concept, the concept that is all about continuous improvement, controlled process optimization, and data-driven work.

Want to know more or need practical advice?

Do you want to know how to improve your organization’s performance with the Plan Do Check Act cycle? Do you want a clear explanation of the PDCA cycle? Are you curious about how you can make your company or teamwork smarter and also more data-driven with the PDCA method? Do you want to know how to draw up a practical PDCA form? Or do you need an improvement consultant or change specialist? Then contact us now for an exploratory meeting with one of our PDCA experts or improvement coaches.