How to make a check list in THREE STEPS
Making a checklist can seem to be a daunting task. It need
not be. All you need to remember is that human beings can typically remember
approximately 7 items at any given time. As with anything involving us, this is
an ‘average’ number. So do not get excited if you only remember 5 or 6 things.
The real point is we have a natural limitation when it comes to remembering items.
Add in a little stress and this number shrinks quickly. Hence
the rise of the ‘checklist’.
From History
A checklist is usually a list of things that must be done in
a systematic fashion to be certain all tasks that must be done are done. An
indicator of the power of the checklist can be seen from this story from the
history of aviation.
In 1935, the US Army Air Corps had established the need to
develop a new bomber. Boeing had developed a plane that was going to be the
clear winner. This plane flew further than the stated criteria. It flew faster
than the established standard. It flew higher than the designers had specified.
And it cost the same as its nearest competitor which could not meet all the
design features the Army Air Corps needed. The plane was unveiled at the fly
off competition being held in Dayton, Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Field.
It had a huge wing span, its four engines were massive, the multiple gun turrets earned the plane a reporter’s quick short hand description: ‘flying fortress’. Major Ployer P Hill was the pilot: an accomplished test pilot and engineer, he was the best pilot in the world. The plane headed down the runway, lifted off flying quickly away from the field. Suddenly, at three hundred feet, the plane stalled and crashed to the earth, killing the pilot and another crew member. The plane was too complicated to fly by relying on the memory of one person, regardless of how skilled, accomplished and knowledgeable the pilot was.
The Boeing company was facing bankruptcy. The firm had
placed all it resources into developing this plane. The engineers and test
pilots in Seattle got together to fix the problem. Many outside the firm
suggested that the plane was unflyable or that the pilots would need to spend a
year learning how to fly the plane, at that time, an impossible feat. What they
did was to create a checklist: a list of tasks that must be done in order to
successfully complete a task. A simple fix. A quick fix and totally reliable.
In the end, the Army Air Corps purchased over a thousand of
the planes and became one of the decisive elements of the victory in Europe.
Many of the tasks we face as CO’s are just as complicated as
flying a B-17, the Flying Fortress. And the solution to doing them accurately
and completely can be addressed by using a checklist, one of the cheapest and easiest
forms of quality assurance and control in existence. And they are easy to make.
Do-Confirm and Read-Do
checklists
Checklists fall into two categories: Do-Confirm and Read-Do
checklists. A Do-Confirm checklist is based on the person doing completing the
task and then verifying all the steps were done to complete the task after it
is completed. This type works best when there are only a few tasks to be
completed and simply verifies that the steps have been completed.
A read do checklist is based on the person reading the
particular step in the task to be done and then doing that step, marking it off
as the step is completed. The last is similar to a recipe and easy to do which
is why it is most common. It also has the nice feature of allowing pre-planning
to ensure all the necessary steps are done.
Creating the Read-Do
Checklist
This checklist may seem to be very daunting. But creating
one can be a very simple task. All that is needed is some thought and prior
planning.
1)
Break big tasks into specific parts,
chunk the larger steps into smaller, easier to accomplish tasks.
2) Make the steps flow logically. Opening a door
before you unlock it is not a logical flow. Unlocking a door by using a key
then opening the door is a logical flow.
3) Test it to make certain you have a complete
list.
You can then print the checklist out. Place it in a baggie
and you can use a dry erase pen to mark each step as it is completed. When you
are finished, just wipe the plastic clean and it is ready for the next time you
use it.
All good checklists have the following features:
· Brief, just 5-9 items
·
Big, easy to read type
(use uppercase and lowercase text for ease of reading)
·
Few lines on each page
(for most things best to be only one page long)
·
Lists the most important
(and/or most often forgotten items), while not having to list every single step
and possible contingency
·
Precise
·
Practical
Easy to make and easy to follow and leads to success. And at
the end of the day, everyone goes home knowing that tasks were done completely
and to a high standard.
In my e-Book, View from the Tier, there is a deeper
examination of checklists. It describes several different situations that, by
using a checklist, can make quality shakedowns automatic.
References:
Gawande, A. (2009). The Checklist Manifesto, Picador Books,
New York, NY.
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