Make a checklist to improve the quality in what you are doing
I read a book last weekend that was very interesting. The reason why I read it was partly because I was interested in the subject, but also that Jack Dorsey gave it to all his new employees in Square. Jack Dorsey is also known as the cofounder of Twitter. To be truly effective, I have read the book and summarized it for you :)
"The Checklist Manifesto" is written by Atul Gawande, a doctor from Harvard, that begins the book with stories from the operation rooms. To make the story short people almost died and the heart stopped for a few minutes but got saved in the end when the doctors realize what went wrong.
The reason for mistakes is because operations are very complex, and there is not only one way to do the same thing. So the solution was the checklist, an old and simple idea for a complex problem.
Then he continued about deep interviews from a building project of a multi floor project in the scale of 250 billon dollar. Where they had an unpredicted incident but also had a process to handle incidents like this.
To broaden the view he was sitting a whole evening watching the chefs serve 300 guests and participated in the meeting before and after to understand to team work and process.
Why the checklist
Every project needs a process or checklist, otherwise detailed would be left out. Even a chef that has made the same dish a hundred times, the hundred and one time maybe he forgets an ingredient and the next few batches would be different and lesser good. It could also be that he likes the different approach and he changes the checklist, also known as a recipe. The checklist must always have room for improvements.
A list is especially good when there are many people involved. A check by the responsible is a ultimate guarantee that the person agrees to a certain quality. So sharing responsibilities with a list is very efficient.
How to make a good checklist
It is easy to make a checklist and most people have done it. But to make a good checklist that works for other and not just for yourself is more difficult. (The following three points are what I got from the story and maybe not the intention by the author, all misunderstanding is purely mine.)
Effortless - it is very important that the list is simple to check. In a hospital it could be a form by the patience' bed. For a company it could be a big wall in the meeting room, a bulletin board on the hallway, an Internet website or a mobile app. The important is that is has to be simple enough and that it doesn't get perceived as an unnecessary paper work that is slowing down the process. It should strengthen the project not stalling.
Improved by the team - The checklist should start centralized and always needs to be used a few times before finalizing. A theory is always theory before putting into practice. And while the amount to expertise in the team the checklist should always be updated and improved. This will give a decentralized responsibility of always following the checklist because everyone knows that is updated and important not just something the boss is forcing. By asking for improvement it also makes sure that it gets implemented in the organization quicker.
5-9 important points - remove all the unnecessary steps and only leave the crucial and those where people tends to miss. One of the last points should be a reflective one. If it is a team, ask the involved if they have any concern. Maybe someone will tell you that they are afraid that there is a screw loose, or there might be a bug in the system etc. Write down the concern and maybe adjust the checklist so that it never happens again.
Now when you know how to make a good checklist, just apply it. But not everywhere, use it on tasks or projects where you have a repetitive process, especially if the results may vary. With a checklist the mistakes will be lesser and for a team - the responsibility will be captured leading to higher quality. Now, go and make your perfect checklist!
