COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Continuous Quality Improvement Tools course. This program will equip you with the essential knowledge, analytical skills, and practical techniques used to improve processes, strengthen performance, and embed a culture of continuous quality improvement within organisations. You will explore structured problem-solving tools, data-driven decision-making methods, and collaborative techniques that help teams identify root causes, generate ideas, evaluate solutions, and track meaningful progress. This course also demonstrates how quality improvement tools support consistency, efficiency, and innovation across diverse industries and operational environments.

This course begins by examining what is meant by continuous quality improvement and introduces the major continuous quality improvement tools used to enhance organisational processes. You will explore the affinity diagram as a tool for gathering and grouping ideas, including why it is used, what it does, how to apply it step-by-step, and the variations available. This section also covers the KJ method as a structured extension of the affinity process. You will then examine brainstorming as a method for creating bigger and better ideas, including why brainstorming is used, what it does, how it is conducted effectively, the variations of brainstorming, and the two major methods commonly applied.

The next learning area focuses on root-cause identification tools. You will explore the cause and effect (fishbone) diagram as a technique for finding and curing causes instead of symptoms. This section explains why the fishbone diagram is used, what it does, how to construct it, and the variations that support deeper analysis. You will also examine the CEDAC technique, an advanced extension of the fishbone method that incorporates idea cards and continuous experimentation.

A further section examines data collection and analysis tools. You will explore the check sheet for counting and accumulating data, including why it is used, what it does, how to design and apply it, and the variations commonly used in different operational settings. This section also examines data points as a method for turning raw data into meaningful information, the types of data used in quality improvement, basic sampling methods, and how to categorise data into subgroups. You will explore important data patterns, how predictable patterns or distributions can be described statistically, and how measures of location and variation support deeper analysis and interpretation.

The program then introduces tools for evaluating change and strategic decision-making. You will explore the force field analysis as a method for identifying the positives and negatives of change, including why it is used, what it does, and how to apply it effectively. This section introduces the matrix diagram for finding relationships between factors or ideas, including its uses, structure, how to construct it, and the variations such as L-type, T-type, Y-type, and X-type matrices that support different analytical needs.

The next learning area focuses on group decision-making and consensus-building tools. You will explore the nominal group technique (NGT) as a structured method for ranking ideas, achieving consensus, and ensuring balanced participation. This section explains why NGT is used, what it does, how to apply it step-by-step, and the variations that support different group sizes and environments. You will also examine the radar chart for rating organisational performance, including why it is used, what it does, and how to construct it to visualise strengths, weaknesses, and priority areas for improvement.

By the end of this course you will be able to select and apply continuous quality improvement tools appropriately, gather and analyse data effectively, identify and resolve root causes, generate and evaluate solutions collaboratively, and use structured methods to support decision-making, performance assessment, and ongoing organisational improvement.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

• What is meant by continuous quality improvement?
• The continuous quality improvement tools
• The affinity diagram – for gathering & grouping ideas
• The affinity diagram - why use it? what does it do? how do I do it? and variations of this tool
• The KJ method
• Brainstorming – for creating bigger & better ideas
• Brainstorming - why use it? what does it do? how do I do it? and variations of this tool
• The two major methods for brainstorming
• The cause & effect/ fishbone diagram – for finding & curing causes, not symptoms
• The cause & effect/ fishbone diagram – why use it? what does it do? how do I do it? and variations of this tool
• The CEDAC technique
• The check sheet – for counting & accumulating data
• The check sheet - why use it? what does it do? how do I do it? and variations of this tool
• The data points – for turning data into information
• The types of data
• The basic sampling methods
• How to categorise your data into subgroups?
• The important patterns in your data?
• How predictable patterns or distributions can be described with statistics?
• The measures of location and variation
• The force field analysis – for positives & negatives of change
• The force field analysis – why use it? what does it do? how do I do it?
• The matrix diagram – for finding relationships
• The matrix diagram – why use it? what does it do? how do i do it? and variations of this tool
• The types of matrices
• The nominal group technique (NGT) – for ranking for consensus
• The nominal group technique - why use it? what does it do? how do I do it? and variations of this tool
• The radar chart – for rating organisation performance
• The radar chart – why use it? what does it do? how do I do it?

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.