What is the PDCA cycle and how to use it to improve management

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A classic methodology from the world of management, PDCA is used continuously to improve processes, contributing to the alignment of your company's operational and strategic stages.

In this article, we will show you the importance of the PDCA cycle for organizations, what phases are present within this technique and how you and your team can align planning and make decisions using PDCA.

The use of acronyms is very common in the corporate environment, because they are more practical and easier to memorize. In this case, PDCA refers to the initials of four words in English:

It is a methodology that values ​​“Plan – Do – Check – Act/Adjust”, an interactive management technique that consists precisely of these four steps and aims to continuously Phone Number List improve processes and products .

The PDCA cycle is recommended for those who carry out strategic management and seek continuous improvement, which, according to the PMO – Project Office, is “a management philosophy that addresses the challenge of improving products and processes as a continuous act of achieving small advances ”. Continuous improvement is based on three pillars:

The PDCA cycle became widespread in the mid-1950s, thanks to the American statistician and professor William Edwards Deming (1900-1993), considered by many to be the father of quality control in production processes.

There are those who also attribute its creation to the engineer Walter Shewhart (1891-1967), a fellow countryman of Deming. Therefore, the PDCA cycle can also be known as the Shewhart cycle or the Deming cycle.

Regardless of authorship, the fact is that both intended to accelerate and improve a company's processes by identifying problems, causes and solutions. And PDCA was the result of this search.



The PDCA cycle went through several adaptations over time until it became what we know today. In fact, it was designed to be applied to quality management , as a recommended tool for continuously improving the quality of any company's products and services.

But the PDCA cycle has been successful and widely used in understanding the administrative process and solving problems that are not easily visualized, in 5 steps:

As we explained previously, PDCA is a method used to continually improve an organization's processes, products and services, thus helping the company increase the efficiency of its activities, improve decision-making and establish assertive planning.