Continuous Improvement
A clearly defined plan to capture, analyze, and act on quality data related to implementation and outcome attainment promotes continuous improvement.
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A clearly defined plan to capture, analyze, and act on quality data related to implementation and outcome attainment promotes continuous improvement.
Charting the Course:
Navigating from Current State to Ideal State
How do you plan to monitor project implementation and ensure progress toward your goals? A continuous improvement plan provides checkpoints for assessing progress and making necessary adjustments. To do this effectively, high-quality, reliable implementation and outcome data should be routinely available for the team to review, analyze, and act upon. This involves two key components: data access and data review.
Data Access
- If the needed data isn't currently available or the connection between available data and project outcomes is unclear, there's an opportunity to find better information and establish more explicit connections.
- Is the required data collected but not accessible? If so, how can access be regularly facilitated for project team collaborators?
- If the data hasn't been collected yet, is there a different source that can provide needed information? Or can a data collection procedure be established as part of the project plan?
Data Review
- While accessing data is crucial, it's equally essential for team members to know how to review it. They should be able to identify successes and determine action steps to support the project's goals.
- Have relevant parties been adequately trained for data review?
- Are there regular meetings to discuss project progress and review the data?
- What are the expectations when data review identifies new challenges or implementation issues?
Building Your Case:
Gathering Evidence for Your Current Position
Document your continuous improvement process with as much detail as possible.
Documentation examples:
- Completed CSPs self-assessment
- Outputs from consensus-building workshops
- Continuous improvement team in place
- Continuous improvement plan/cycle documented
- Data review training materials
Once you've gathered and assessed the evidence, use the following scale to identify your current position. Remember that this rating is a benchmark, not a fixed position. If you find yourself at the Emerging stage, don't worry. You now have a clearer understanding of the steps needed to progress toward the advanced stage.
State of the Project
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Emerging
No data or the ability to include data collection regarding implementation and/or outcomes exists
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Developing
There is some data available around implementation and/or outcomes, but the quality is uncertain, and the connection between the two is not clear
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Advancing
There is data available around implementation and outcomes, and a plan to improve the quality and regular reporting and analysis exists
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Mastery
There is high-quality, reliable implementation and outcome data routinely available for project team collaborators to review, analyze, and act upon for continuous improvement
Looking for tools to help?
- Try this self-assessment worksheet for this element, or look at the complete PSF self-assessment.
- Still struggling? Check out our resource library for additional tools.
Ready to dive in?
Tap into the full potential of the PSF self-assessment to evaluate your project's standing in each element. Gain valuable insights on the necessary steps to propel your project even closer to achieving successful outcomes.