003 chEckLists

#ideas2improve: A checklist is a collection of points to be reviewed after one activity has been accomplished.

A good checklist is very useful to catch defects soon, and the sooner a defect is fixed, the cheaper. The same checklist can also be used by the person that needs to perform the activity to ensure (s)he has everything in mind when doing so, and then to achieve better quality at first time. Doing things right at first time is even more efficient than having a good review process to catch them later.

Now, the question is:
Should a checklist contain ALL the points to be taken into account to produce with the required functionality and quality or ONLY those points that are most critical and typically may be forgotten?

The first alternative involves a long checklist with dozens of points that address every single detail to be considered. This also helps to transfer knowledge between people with more expertise to other colleagues less experienced, so these juniors will be able to perform the task, hereby reducing costs. On the other hand, there is a risk that long checklists are seen as bureaucracy and are passed faster than desired, skipping some important things, therefore converting the process in just (bad) "documentation".

The second alternative tries to synthesize the most critical steps even not including all the details. This helps to focus on what is important, reducing the cost of the review, agilizing the process and ensuring the imperative requirements are considered. However, the final result may not include all the requirements, and these will not be catched (contained), passing defects to the following stage. Moreover, some knowledge is not incorporated in the checklist (and therefore transferred to the other team members).

So, what's your choice?

Are your project people very skilled and you only need to ensure they don't miss essential things?

Do you have a team with senior and junior people where you need to transfer knowledge and rely on their discipline to follow a complex process to obtain great results?

Submit your #ideas2improve