Tools

15 seconds 30 minutes (15s30m) aims to help anyone identify how they could spend a few extra seconds on a task now which will save someone else 30 minutes or more later on.

To generate lots of new ideas try a brainstorming session. This is a group creative technique to gather a list of ideas.

This is a tool which can help you plan your quality improvement project activities.

A fishbone diagram, also called a cause and effect diagram, or an Ishikawa diagram, is a visualization tool for categorizing the potential causes of a problem, in order to identify its root causes. The design of the diagram looks like a skeleton of a fish, hence the name.

This tool will help to generate new ideas. It encourages looking at a situation with fresh eyes, or from a new or different perspective.

Here is our illustrated introduction to quality improvement (QI) The drawings were created as part of our first QI conference, held in July 2019. The booklet explains some of the concepts of improvement work.

Life QI is an online quality improvement (QI) platform that makes it easy for teams to run QI projects and organisations to report on QI activity.

A Pareto chart is a type of chart which contains both bars and a line graph. It displays categories of data in descending order. A Pareto chart will highlight the most important among a set of factors.

Use our project plan templates for your project. There is a full version and a short version.

You can use PDSA cycles to test an idea, by trialling a change on a small scale and assessing its impact.

Use this prioritisation matrix template to help with your quality improvement project.

Process mapping allows you to create a visual picture of how something currently works, capturing every step.

A project idea template to help you when you start a quality improvement project.

Start filling this in when you first begin your quality improvement project.

Find some of the main QI tools in our digital toolkit booklet. Use the arrows at the bottom to turn the pages.

Run chart is a line graph of data plotted over time. It will help you find trends and patterns. It is a simple way to help analyse information.

Six Thinking Hats® will help you look at things from different perspectives.

SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound – and SMART aims can be used to provide a structured approach to developing and designing a work plan.

This involves speaking with all those whose interests should be taken into account, who might include clinicians, administrative colleagues, patients and user groups.

A Statistical Process Control (SPC) chart helps to see what is different to the norm. It charts changes over time and shows data plotted in time order.

This diagnostic tool helps to identify strengths and weaknesses in implementation plans.