The outcomes teams achieve are a result of how their system functions. Understanding your system is therefore essential to any improvement journey.
Why understanding your system is important
If teams want different outcomes they need to understand how their system is currently working. They can use this knowledge to help them identify the right improvements to make changes where they are needed.
Watch the animation below for an overview of Understanding Systems.
Understanding people's experience of a service
Stakeholder Analysis - used to identify, prioritise and understand your stakeholders.
Process Mapping – used to outline the sequential steps in a process.
Cause and Effect Analysis – used to explore and record likely causes of problems
Forcefield analysis – helps teams identify, discuss and assess the forces for and against a proposed change.
User experience (including surveys) – method to gather information from the perspective of a person who interacts with and/or receives something from a service (content under development)
Pareto charts – helps teams identify and focus on areas of improvement with the biggest impact.
Content Updated August 2021
QI Zone Understanding Your System eLearning Module
The Improvement Guide, 2009, Langley et al