The Power of PDCA Cycle
The concepts of PDCA (Plan –D0- Check –ACT) and SDCA (Standardize –D0- Check –ACT) are widely used in manufacturing industries for the Continuous Improvement process. So I thought about how this same principle can be used in the blogging process to make this journey interesting as well as provide stress-free results.
Please be with me to understand this concept for blogging business perspectives. The details are as under with examples:-
PDCA (Plan –D0- Check –ACT)
1. Plan: — When we plan anything it starts with the objectives in our mind whether it’s verbal or written on any kind of document. The written objectives have a higher chance of getting the results as compared to verbal goals in mind. These goals might be website traffic, growing our email subscriber list, improving engagement on social media, etc.
Example: — We may decide to increase our blog monthly traffic by 20% within the next three months.
2. Do: — Stands for taking actions like creating and publishing content based on our planning phase to achieve our objective such as publishing more frequently, using SEO techniques, or promoting our blog on social media.
Example: — We start publishing three blog posts per week and share them on our relevant social media channels wherever it suits us.
3. Check: — Stands for assessing the desired results v/s actual through regular monitoring and analyzing the performance of our blog. For this, we are using analytics tools to track traffic engagements, like subscribers, followers, clap comments, and other relevant matrix.
Example:- Suppose after a month we check our website analytics and find that our traffic has increased by 10% instead of the 20% we had planned. This is less than our targeted results.
4. ACT:- Stand for taking corrective actions after observation during the check phase. Make the necessary adjustments to our blogging strategy. Identify that what are the different actions that are providing good results as per the strategy we had planned and what action needs further improvements.
Example:- As we know our initial target was to increase the monthly traffic by 20% and we have achieved only 10%. Hence we decided to invest more time in keyword Research and SEO Optimization for our future posts.
This way PDCA (Plan –D0- Check –ACT) cycle is called a continuous improvement cycle which never stops.
SDCA (Standardize –D0- Check –ACT)
SDCA is focused on creating and maintaining standardized processes for continuous improvement If we fail to standardize then our results will not be predictable they will fluctuate with high margins.
1. Standardize: — We can make our (SOP) standard operating procedures for various aspects of our blogging business, such as content creation, publishing, promotion, and audience engagement. Etc.
Example: — We can develop a content creation checklist that outlines steps like keyboard research, writing, editing, formatting, and getting relevant images from respective websites for every block post.
2. D0:- Stands for taking actions like implementing and standardizing our procedures consistently across our blogging operations.
Example:- Each time we create a new blog post, we will follow the content creation checklist to ensure a consistent approach.
3. Check — Stands for audit and evaluation through regular audits at a defined frequency of our blogging processes to identify any deviations from the standardized procedures. Assess the effectiveness of these procedures in achieving our desired goals.
For example, we can conduct periodic reviews to ensure that each blog post adheres to the content creation checklist and measure the impact of this consistency on our blog performance.
4. Act:- Based on the audit findings and evaluation, make necessary adjustments to the standardized procedures to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Example:-If we get the findings during the audit that certain steps in the content creation checklist are time-consuming but yield little benefits, modify or eliminate those steps in streamlining the process.
I hope that this concept of PDCA and SDCA will help our blogging journey. It will surely enhance our results to achieve the goals, by fostering a cycle of planning, execution, evaluation, and improvement. This methodology will promote a systematic approach to blogging business that can lead to long-term success.
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