Creating A Killer Checklist: Lessons from 'The Checklist Manifesto'

 

A checklist is an extremely useful tool for project management. In every stage of the project from start to finish, checklists are needed to ensure all required activities are performed. The project schedule itself is a checklist of sorts with a breakdown of tasks that have to be completed to deliver the final product. In Atul Gawande's book 'The Checklist Manifesto', the checklist is presented as a tool for overcoming failure, something that makes up for human errors when expertise alone is not enough in complex environments.

The Good Checklist

A good checklist should be precise, efficient and to the point, easy to use even in the most difficult situations and above all, practical. They should not try to spell out everything but provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps. They should turn the user's brain on, rather than off.

A bad checklist on the other hand is vague and imprecise, too long, hard to use and impractical. They treat people using the tools as dumb and try to spell out every single step.

Key Decisions

The book points out a number of key decisions to make when creating a checklist from scratch. Define a clear point at which the checklist is supposed to be used. Decide whether you want a DO-CONFIRM checklist or a READ-DO checklist.

With a DO-CONFIRM checklist the team members perform their tasks from memory and experience. Then they pause to run the checklist and confirm that everything was done. With a READ-DO checklist team members carry out the tasks as they check them off. When creating a checklist, you have to pick the type that makes the most sense for the situation. DO-CONFIRM checklists provide greater flexibility to the team while stopping them at certain points to confirm that critical steps have not been overlooked.

As stated earlier, a good checklist must not be too long. A rule of thumb is to keep it to between 5 and 9 items, which is the limit of working memory. However, it depends on the context. You should keep the list short by focusing on the killer items, i.e. the steps that are most dangerous to skip and sometimes overlooked. Keep in mind that the checklist must not become a distraction, prompting the team to start short-cutting.

The wording of the checklist is equally important. It should be simple, exact and use familiar language. Ideally it should fit one page, be free of clutter and unnecessary colors.

Test and Refine

Once the checklist is drafted it has to be tested. First drafts can fail. You need to study the failure, make changes and keep testing until the checklist works consistently. Even the simplest will require re-visiting and refining. The purpose of the checklist is to aid. If it does not achieve the purpose it needs rework.

The Advantages

The book cites many advantages of using checklists. They act as a defense against failure arising from flaws in memory, attention and thoroughness. By clearly setting out the minimum necessary steps in a process they help in memory recall, establish discipline and a higher standard of performance. Even the most experienced among us can benefit from a checklist. They can help experts remember how to manage a complex process or configure a complex system.

Checklists make priorities clearer and help the team to function better. Most importantly, checklists get the mundane stuff out of the way. By removing the routines that your brain shouldn't have to occupy itself with, the checklist allows you to focus on the hard stuff.

Checklists can be useful both in your professional as well as personal life. Even a simple mental checklist will help you to be better prepared. For example, making sure you have everything you need before you step out of the house every morning.

Are you an advocate of checklists? In what situations do you use them? Share your feedback in the comments.