1 Critical Point to Install True KAIZEN Culture in Your Product Team

"KAIZEN" is a concept / an attitude which refers to improvement of any types of process. One day when I talked with one of my friends, I noticed he didn’t know PDCA even though he is a big fan of “KAIZEN”. Seriously? So I made Google search with the keywords, "KAIZEN PDCA", it showed only 0.4 million results, compared to 16.5 million of “KAIZEN”.

It’s very strange that PDCA is not known well like KAIZEN because PDCA is the core concept of KAIZEN. So I will introduce PDCA and the simple trick to install true KAIZEN culture through PDCA in your product team.

What is PDCA?

PDCA is a life cycle about workflow improvement, which stands for Plan, Do, Check, Adjust. When we apply PDCA cycle to activities, we can continuously improve the result or performance of it.

1. Plan
   Before we start the activity itself, define what is success / what is ideal state. In this step, you think about what should be the activities to achieve it. This activity design becomes hypothetical.
2. Do
   Execute the activity we "Plan"ed.
3. Check
   Check the outcome after execution. Then, check what is the difference between “Plan” and the outcome from the execution. Don't forget to think about why it happened.
4. Adjust
   Think about improvement for the next “PDCA” cycle based on the findings in "Check". The generated idea in this step will become the basis of the “Plan” in the next PDCA cycle.

Why PDCA is the key to install Kaizen culture?

If you are already familiar with Six Sigma, the concept of PDCA might not be new. But the point is PDCA is more cost effective to apply in our daily life. Because the concept itself is very small and simple. So that it can be easily applied to any situation, from micro tasks to team project. Let's see the detail from 2 examples.

Example 1: Make a minute in a meeting

1. Plan
   - Define success: Share CTA (Call-To-Action), responsibility, deadline and background to stakeholders through minute.
   - Generate activity: Organize the items which should be shared as a list on minute. Consider Todo to make minute and choose it based on the workload.
2. Do
   Join meeting, take note and create the list base minute.
3. Check
   Check if the minute is enough to make the success. Check the effort vs outcome. Check how good and how bad the result is, compared to “Plan”. Think about why.
4. Adjust
   Generate ideas how to improve from the idea on “Check” process.
5. The Next PDCA (For similar types of minute taking in the future)
   Start from the improvement at the"Plan" step for the next meeting minute taking.

Example 2: Coordinate a meeting

1. Plan
   - Define success: Make decision about activity plan for the next quarter with stakeholders.
   - Generate activity: List up and share the discussion items which decision making is required. Choose discussion format, attendees, timebox. Check hidden todo in order to make it.
2. Do
   Coordinate the meeting along with “Plan”.
3. Check
   Check if you reach to the success. Check how good and how bad the result is, compared to “Plan”. Check the effort vs outcome. Think about why.
4. Adjust
   Generate ideas how to improve from the idea on “Check” process, from the viewpoint of both your and attendees'.
5. The Next PDCA (For similar meeting coordination or 2nd round)
   Start from the improvement at the”Plan” step for the next meeting.

The simple trick to keep PDCA in mind

Those steps might look too much for a lot of daily work or processes. But there is a simple trick to keep PDCA in mind. Always remember only “Plan”.

The integration of “Check” and “Adjust” are relatively easy because it can be considered after we finish doing it or when problems arise without any preparation. But it’s too late to integrate “Plan” when you notice the needs for KAIZEN in your product team. Without "Plan", we lack the basic data for the improvement idea. What is more important is "Plan"also helps us to find hidden needs for KAIZEN in both personal level work and workflow in your product team.

Conclusion

When you improve software development process, SCRUM can help us make it. When you improve marketing channels with your team, A/B testing help us do it. But, in the case where the work is personal level or where the workflow doesn’t have accepted standard for improvement, it’s hard to apply KAIZEN.

When your product team has “PDCA” in their workflow, the performance in group process will be increased. When each of the team members has “PDCA” in mind, they will grow the performance in own personal work. When you succeed in having both, it will make dramatic change in your team performance as true KAIZEN culture.