Editor's Note: CR4 would like to thank Ed Eisermann of GEA Consulting for contributing this blog entry.

Question: "Why do we each use informal check sheets (list) in our daily personal lives, but seldom see them used in business? I recently heard a news piece that about a study that reported that a check list to confirm the critical activities related to surgical procedure are used in only 30 percent of domestic hospitals. So I went to the internet and found the following report. It is very interesting.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1871759,00.html

The above internet sight discusses a study that showed a dramatic reduction in deaths after implementing a surgical check sheet. Next time you or a family member sees a doctor for surgery, you may want to ask the question; "does this hospital have a surgery check sheet?".

Check sheets are a simple tool to ensure that necessary actions are taken, preventing an error or the need for rework. Two simple examples in our daily family lives is the grocery list (a simple reminder of the items we need) to reduce the chances that we need to make a second trip back to the store. Another check sheet frequently found on the refrigerator is the common "To do List".

What we do not see are check sheets in the work place for people doing repeated jobs daily. Yes, office employees use a daily work planner or scheduler, but few of us have check sheets for our repeating tasks.

I once handled a request from a client to study their order process with an ultimate goal of reducing the cycle time from contract signing to scheduling. I found that the number one problem creating delays was data needed by the internal customer from their internal suppliers was wrong, missing or incomplete. This required having the Applications Engineer call the field sales person or customer to confirm the correct data delaying the design work or the component procurement process. Simple check sheets were created based on the most common errors at each stage of the internal process from Application Engineering to Scheduling. The result was far fewer instances of missed information, smoother processing and on time scheduling to meet the commitment date.

Pick any process where instructional data is found to be missing or wrong and create a check sheet. I am confident that use of the "check sheet" technique will increase for a better overall result. Further, it is a great tool when someone is required to fill in while an employee is out of the office or a new employee is added.

- Ed Eisermann