Creating a checklist is one of the most effective ways to increase productivity. It will help you remember everything you need to get done each day, avoid forgetting about tasks that are important to your business and make sure you’re not spending unnecessary time on things that don’t matter.
If you’re trying to figure out how to be more productive at work or in your personal life, create a simple checklist of things that will get you there, then follow these steps every day to stay focused and get more done in less time!
Why create a Checklist?
The greatest explanation I have heard to create a checklist is.
Think of it like how you bake a cake, a to-do list is all the ingredients and Checklist is the recipe for the finished product.
Just imagine how your cake would turn out if you missed a few ingredients out! Or add them in the wrong order?
Everyone knows that to-do lists are great for getting things done. But if you have multiple tasks to complete, it becomes increasingly difficult to prioritize. To solve these problems, create a checklist based on your goals. By breaking down goals into separate tasks, you can develop habits over time that will help you be productive every day.
Effectively Create a Checklist
When you’re trying to get work done, it can be difficult if you don’t have a clear vision of what needs to happen in order for you or your team to accomplish it. A checklist is a simple tool that can help keep track of what must be done, in order. That way, no step will slip through the cracks.
So what makes a good checklist? There are a number of factors you want to have at the forefront of your mind. It must be useful, achieve results, save you time and most importantly achieve your ultimate goal.
Create a Checklist
Learn from Past Mistakes
This is the most important step looking back at mistakes and errors so you can learn from them.
Could errors be occurring from simple things like certain steps being missed? Maybe steps being completed out of order?
Identify failure points within your processes and procedures then break them into simple steps.
Consult with Team Members
Team members are an important way to improve your processes and create a checklist using the power of a simple checklist to benefit everyone.
Ask people for their ideas on helping identify common causes of failure and any suggestion they can offer. These thoughts and observations can often be a great source of information.
Focus On Key Tasks Often Overlooked
Identify key items always forgotten, overlooked or even totally missed as your primary point to cover.
Every point on your checklist is like a bullet point to remind people or jog memories but with your standard operating procedure (SOP) available if not quite sure of the steps.
Define Specific Action
Business Process Management and procedures need to be defined in standard operating procedures and laid out into simple steps. Imagine these steps as a reminder to trigger events.
There are two ways a checklist can be performed sequential and or non-sequential in other words in order or any order. This can be very important in the way the checklist is used and affect results significantly.
Communication
Communication is a key part of the process identifying whom people need to talk to, any set time requirements, potential authorisation or sign off required and by whom and any other points of contact that may be needed.
Test The Checklist
The first checklist is often not perfect and needs refining over time but the best way to do this is to put your checklist into action.
During the checklist development asking for feedback at every key task from fellow team members allows refinement and better task management.
Improve Checklists
Checklists will need continuous refinement as steps are improved and more failure points are identified.
Flexibility to build and adapt processes quickly is key and checklists allow you to do this while maintaining consistency and improve productivity.
If you create a checklist, you can avoid spending time on tasks that don’t actually need your attention.
If you create a weekly checklist, it’s important to prioritise items in order of importance. You should also cross off completed items or move them into other weeks once they’re no longer relevant.
Never worry about forgetting things again. Check it don’t forget it!