The PDCA cycle explained

When it comes to how we work, we owe a lot to Toyota. The car manufacturer has kick-started so many techniques for being more efficient, it’s hard to keep track. As you probably know, their most famous creation is Lean, a method for continuous improvement that’s used around the world today. Well, the PDCA cycle (which stands for Plan-Do-Check-Act) is an offshoot of Lean.

While it was popularized by Toyota, the concept was actually created by legendary management consultant Dr. William Edwards Deming in the 1950s (which is why it’s sometimes called the ‘Deming Wheel.’) He wanted to create a framework for identifying how a product or service might fail to meet a customer’s needs, and came up with PDCA as a solution.

What is PDCA?

The PDCA cycle (also known as the Deming Cycle or Plan-Do-Check-Act) is a four-step, iterative framework that helps teams fix problems, avoid recurring mistakes, and continually improve processes, products, and services across all levels of the organization.

It’s widely used in quality management and problem-solving.

Here’s what each step involves:

1. Plan:
   Identify a goal or problem, analyze it, and develop a plan to address it. Define objectives, processes, and resources.
2. Do:
   Roll out the plan on a small scale. Test the solution, collect data, and document any problems or surprising results.
3. Check (or Study):
   Review and analyze the results. Compare what happened vs. what you expected. Look for differences and understand why they happened.
4. Act:
   If the plan worked, standardize and implement it on a broader scale. If not, make necessary adjustments and repeat the cycle.

How is the PDCA cycle different from other change management strategies?

While many change models focus on big, one-time transformations, the PDCA cycle is more about making small, steady improvements over time.

One major difference is that PDCA is cyclical. You don’t just follow it once and move on. Instead, you keep cycling through the steps, learning and adjusting as you go. This makes it ideal for teams that want to test ideas quickly and improve them step-by-step, rather than waiting for a perfect plan.

PDCA vs. Kotter vs. ADKAR

For example, Kotter’s 8-Step Process model is linear, moving from creating urgency to building a coalition, all the way through to anchoring new changes into the culture. Once you finish the steps, the process is considered complete. the PDCA cycle, by contrast, never truly “finishes.” There’s always another round of testing and refining.

The PDCA cycle is also much lighter on planning. While it does start with a planning phase, the focus is on quick, low-risk experiments rather than long, detailed blueprints. You plan enough to start, not to predict everything. If things don’t work out, that’s okay — you learn in the Check step and adjust in the Act step. This is different from strategies that expect large up-front investments in planning and forecasting, like Prosci’s ADKAR model.

In technical terms, the PDCA cycle is often linked to Lean and Total Quality Management (TQM) frameworks. These systems value incremental improvement (also called kaizen) over massive, disruptive changes. Instead of throwing out a whole process and starting over, the PDCA cycle helps you find small tweaks that add up to big results over time, and there lies its value.

When should you use the PDCA cycle?

The PDCA cycle is a great problem-solving tool, but it isn’t suitable for every situation. If you need answers quickly, then this probably isn’t for you because it does require time upfront.

For any other situation where you need to improve a process, product, or service, and you have the time to test your various solutions properly — then this could be the perfect match.

Generally speaking, it’s best for the following two situations:

• Improving processes, as part of Six Sigma and Total Quality Management.
• Working through a range of solutions and testing them on a smaller scale before selecting one to roll out across an organization.

As with all initiatives, careful planning and monitoring are the difference between a successful project and a flop. Remember to work through each stage in its entirety and use tools that help you automatically track and record your results.

PDCA: a real-world example

So say, for example, you run a vegetable box company. You source fresh veggies from a local farm, package them up, and ship them out to customers. But you’ve noticed your business has suddenly started receiving bad reviews because the quality has dipped.

You need to improve things to keep your customers happy, so you try a new producer for some time for some of your customers and see what this small group of people thinks. The results come back positive, so you decide to roll out this new supplier for all of your boxes. This is essentially a PDCA loop in action.

How to run a PDCA cycle yourself (with examples)

When you’re faced with an issue, it can be tempting to roll out sweeping solutions quickly — but hold it right there. It’s important to take a step back and work through this process methodically, giving due care and attention to each stage. The more time you invest here, the easier it’ll be to reach the right solution.

Let’s start by going through each stage of the acronym in order.

Plan

Start by taking a closer look at your problem or opportunity, and ask yourself the following questions:

• What’s the problem?
• What’s the context of this problem?
• What resources do we have to fix this issue? (Resources could include budget, tools, people — or all three.)
• What’s the best way to fix the issue with the resources we have? If there aren’t enough resources, how will we go about securing what we need?
• What are the metrics for success? How will you define whether or not your plan worked?

To use our hypothetical veg box company as an example, this stage might look as follows:

• You notice a drop in customer satisfaction — bad reviews mention declining veggie quality.
• You investigate and trace the issue to your current farm supplier.
• You research alternative farms and choose a new producer you believe might offer better quality.
• You decide to test this new supplier with a small group of customers to see if quality improves.

Do

This is where you implement your plan with a small-scale pilot. Doing it this way means you can test while causing minimal disruption to your overall services if your proposed solution doesn’t work.

It’s important to be flexible during this stage. Not everything will work out as intended, so be prepared to go back to the plan and revise it as you go. Remember to record your metrics, so you can track whether your solution has been successful or not.

Veg box company example:

• You start sending boxes with vegetables from the new supplier to a small, select group of customers.
• You track their feedback and any issues that come up during this trial phase.

Check

This is where you refer back to your success metrics and work out whether your plan worked. If it didn’t, go back to stage 1: Plan. If there were issues, but you’re struggling to find out where exactly, a fault tree analysis can help you work out the root cause of the problem.

In the spirit of continuous improvement, you can also use this stage not only to check whether things worked but to see if things could have worked better. Don’t settle for anything less than perfect. Only move on to the next stage when you’re delighted with the outcome.

Veg box company example:

• You review the trial results. Customer feedback is overwhelmingly positive.
• Fewer complaints, better reviews, and maybe even some new word-of-mouth praise.
• You compare this with the ongoing complaints from the customers still getting the original supplier’s boxes.

Act

Did everything work? If the answer is ‘yes,’ then your plan can become the new standard, and you can implement it company-wide. But remember: this is part of Lean Management, which is all about continual improvement. So you’ll want to keep looking for opportunities to make things better.

Veg box company example:

• Based on the successful test, you switch all your veggie boxes over to the new procedure.
• You update your processes, notify customers of the change, and continue monitoring quality to ensure consistency.

What are the disadvantages of PDCA?

PDCA, like all methodologies, has a few drawbacks. The good news is, they can be overcome with a little forward planning.

1. It can be time consuming

PDCA can be slow, especially when problems need urgent fixes.

• Use PDCA for complex or recurring issues, and apply quicker decision-making tools (like 5 Whys or root cause analysis) for urgent, straightforward problems.
• Set clear time limits for each phase to keep momentum.

2. You need strong data collection

Poor data or a lack of baseline measurements can skew the “Check” phase.

• Establish consistent methods for collecting and recording data before beginning the cycle.
• Use simple tools like customer surveys, spreadsheets, or dashboards to track progress reliably.

3. Resistance to change

Staff may be skeptical or unwilling to adopt new processes after the “Act” phase.

• Involve team members from the beginning to build ownership.
• Communicate benefits clearly and celebrate small wins during the trial phase.
• Implement a change management plan to formalize the process..

4. Not ideal for one-off issues

The iterative nature of PDCA suits ongoing improvements more than isolated incidents.

• Use alternative problem-solving methods (e.g., A3 thinking or root cause analysis) for one-time issues that don’t need cycles of refinement.

5. Small-scale tests might not reveal bigger issues

Pilot testing might not expose problems that appear at scale.

• When moving from the “Do” phase to “Act,” scale gradually and monitor closely.
• Include a diverse sample group in trials to better represent wider customer experiences.

6. Can be misused as a ‘tick box’ exercise

If it’s done mechanically, PDCA loses its effectiveness

• Encourage critical thinking at each step.
• Use simple tools like checklists and visual management (e.g., flowcharts or diagrams) to ensure depth, not just formality.

Banish planning headaches with project management software

Project management software will save you the hassle of having to manually track spreadsheets and documents, which quickly leads to time-consuming admin work you could probably do without.

With Backlog, our own tool, you can track task progress, receive automatic notifications, and store all of your data in one, easy-to-access place. With visual tools like Kanban-style boards, Gantt charts, and burndown charts, assessing progress at a glance is simple.

Implementing change is never easy, but the more methodical and organized you are, the more spot-on your solution will be. Ready to give Backlog a try?

This post was originally published on March 4, 2020, and updated most recently on May 23, 2025.