A Practical Guide to Performance Improvement: Beginning the Process

Abstract

This article discusses the history and background of performance improvement (PI) processes and describes the creation of the foundational document for a PI project: the project charter. It is important for PI teams to create a complete charter before the project begins to give structure to the project. Teams involved in PI should use the charter as a roadmap for project completion because it helps to keep the team focused on issues within the scope of the project. This article reviews the steps to begin creating the charter and provides examples of the various sections that should be included. By reviewing this article, the reader should have a better understanding of this part of the PI process.Editor's note: This bimonthly article series is designed to provide a practical guide regarding the fundamentals of performance improvement (PI) and will focus on the specific steps and components of the PI process. The purpose of this series is to help readers who have not had experience learning or using PI techniques and those who need a refresher on the fundamentals of PI. The series will address the following topics: starting a PI process, including creating a charter, purpose, and business case; reviewing the tools (ie, data collection and analysis, process mapping, cause and effect or fishbone diagrams, 5 Whys, run charts, Pareto charts, check sheets); and using various meth odologies (ie, PlanDoStudyAct, Six Sigma, Lean management, failure modes and effects analysis, root cause analysis). HISTORY OF PIOne of the pioneers of quality improvement was William Edwards Deming, who focused on the idea that quality improvement is all about managing the process. 1 The concept of PI has been in existence since the 1920s, and

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