Checklists? You mean those lists I prepare each day that don’t do anything to help my productivity? Thanks, but I don’t really need to know more about them!
Or do you mean those checklists that airline pilots use to keep me from getting killed? Now, those I like. I like the ones that keep doctors from getting me killed, too.
In the Value of Checklists, I discussed The Checklist Manifesto, a book by Atul Gwande inspired by issues found in operating rooms, but expanded to the many areas where simple checklists enhance productivity and eliminate errors and oversights. Be sure to check this out to see how by adding a simple 5 step checklist, a hospital reduced the level of infection related to IV tubes in the operating room from 11% to -0-! The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine also published a study showing the safety value of a surgeon’s checklist.
Checklists won’t solve everything. They aren’t terribly productive for To Do lists, for example, although that’s probably the first list people think of. It’s a longer discussion for another post, but there is simply too much arranging and re-arranging, rescheduling and re-ordering to make To Do lists a very valuable productivity tool if they’re being kept on a simple checklist.
HR departments use checklists to onboard new employees so nothing is left out, particularly those pesky government forms that damn well better be in the file when Uncle Sam comes a’knockin’. Accounting departments use a monthly closing checklist to be sure that when the books are closed for the period, nothing is left out.
There are countless uses for checklists but I think they are the most useful when they include these 4 components:
They’re ACTIONABLE when you can use them to take sequential actions to complete a process or task. Like me, you probably also use “checklists” or plain “lists” to keep track of music you want to buy, books you found interesting, Christmas and other lists to review at the appropriate time. Those are reference lists and while they do serve a useful purpose, they’re not what we’re talking about today.
We’re talking about Actionable Checklists that help us complete a process, particularly a repetitive one where we can’t afford to leave out any steps, like the pilots and doctors we’re talking about. You’ll see more examples as we keep going.
They need to be RELIABLE because you’re going to follow them rigorously to make sure you don’t leave anything out. Recipes are a great example of this because they don’t include things you don’t need … but they include everything you DO need. If you’ve ever followed a recipe and left something out, you know how important it is to the finished product.
They also need to be DEFINITIVE. They must include EVERYTHING required to complete a particular process. Airline pilots rely on them unfailingly, in large part because they’re definitive. Nothing has been left out. They’ve been updated, modified, amended … they’re both reliable and definitive.
They also need to be DETAILED. You might say this is too tedious, but that’s exactly why we need them. We’ve got a decent chance to remember the big things but virtually no chance of remembering all the details, particularly if there are many more than a handful.
The operating room example I gave has only 5 steps. Some of them might seem minor … How could anyone forget that? … But it’s not hard to miss 1 out of 5 steps if you’re in a hurry … Or for pilots, maybe 1 out of 50 steps. Making sure your checklists have all of the details is the only way you’ll gain the confidence that by following the checklist, nothing will get left out.
Many of us use a checklist for travel. Over the years, I’ve created one for business travel (where I might need a suit or more formal clothing) and one for casual travel with family and friends. I leave nothing to chance and constantly update it with every detail I can think of. That way there’s absolute certainty that nothing’s left out.
Take nothing for granted when you do this. I include my cell phone, for example … How could I ever forget that? … but I also separately include the phone charger. I include an ear piece for wireless use … AND include the ear piece charger. How many times have we taken off with all our electronic gadgetry, even the simplest things, but left out the chargers?
I include my razor … But also the shaving cream and the skin balm. (For some reason, I’ve never forgotten a comment made by Joan Collins of Dynasty fame from the 1980′s. When she was asked what single thing she’d bring if she was stranded on a deserted island, she answered: “Face creme”. So, heah, me too! Where do you think I get this beautiful skin from anyway!)
I’ve got a nightlight, belt, headphones, every single thing I need on that travel list. When I follow it, I never show up missing something I need.
I keep several lists to support my blogging activity. One is a checklist that simply reminds me of the various things I need to include in every blog past before it’s published:
Almost every day, I’m tempted to just “publish” a post without consulting the list, thinking I couldn’t possibly forget anything after all these years, could I? But I resist the temptation … because I’ve learned the hard way. Every time I’ve left something out … always something obvious and stupid … I’m reminded of how easily that could have been avoided just by looking at the checklist. (BTW, you might also keep a digital “reference list” of html code handy so you can to cut/paste what you frequently use.)
Like you, I’m involved with several organizations, including the Exkalibur Leadership Forum which I organized for San Francisco Bay area CEOs. For those meetings, I keep an action checklist of those things that need to be done every month, including host arrangements, posters, handouts, video materials, articles, camera, video connector and other things essential to running the meeting.
If you have to leave your office to host a meeting, is this essential? Anyone else ever host a meeting outside of the office and arrive without a laptop power cord or the agenda?
I think you get the point. Don’t overlook these simple but powerful tools. Start with something that you do repeatedly and just record all of the steps you always repeat. Keep the list handy, preferably in some digital form, so you can continually update and modify it as you remember other things, add procedures or change steps. Make it a living, breathing checklist.
Use it every time without fail … And you’ll wonder how you ever got along with them!
Do you use checklists in your activities. What works best for you? Any reason you think they don’t help?
Heah, and don’t forget to sign up to make sure you don’t miss any of these weekly Productivity Tips or the other great material we’re sharing at the intersection of strategy, finance and leadership.
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[...] may want to check out some of the posts in this Productivity series, including the the value of checklists; the importance of getting rid of the crappy stuff; the nightmare of the cluttered mind; and the [...]