There are a variety of tools which are useful to help plan and manage your QI project. Below will help you decide which tools are best for your project.
Run Charts - Line Graphs where a measure is plotted over time, often with a median. Changes made to a process are marked on the graph so that they can be connected with the impact on the process. Run charts allow us to:
- Display data to make process performance visible
- Determine if a change resulted in improvement
- Assess whether improved performance has been sustained
Data Collection Plan Form - This form documents who will collect what data, when and how for each improvement measure.
Driver Diagram - A driver diagram can be used to plan improvement project activities. They provide a way of systematically laying out aspects of an improvement project so they can be discussed and agreed on.
Measure Plan Form - captures what/why/how of data measure collection.
Pareto Chart - bar chart showing how often different categories of events take place, ordered with the most common to the left, and the least common to the right
What's your measurement challenge?
Is there a relationship between two variables?
(Scatter Plot)
How do different locations compare?
(Bar Chart) (Funnel Plot) (Map) (Box Plot)
Is performance of an indicator sustained?
(Run Chart) (Shewhart Chart)
Is variation in practice reducing?
(Run Chart) (Shewhart Chart)
Is performance of a system stable and predictable?
(Shewhart Chart)
Is performance of a process capable of producing the required results?
(Shewhart Chart)
What's the baseline performance of a process over time?
(Run Chart)
Investigating variation over time
(Run Chart)
Is there a pattern in the data?
(Frequency Plot, Histogram, Bar Chart) (Run Chart)
Deciding where to concentrate - which factors are most important?
(Pareto Chart)
How does capacity relate to demand? How do we reduce waiting?
(DCAQ)
Distinguishing random variation (internal process noise) from non-random/ special cause variation
(Run Chart) (Shewhart Chart)