PDSA Cycle Gift Wrapping Activity

Overview

This exercise is a fun team building activity that also allows participants to work through the different stages of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle.

Time: Approximately one hour

Participants: Teams of 4-6 members

Setup: Enough tables to allow teams to sit together. If possible, provide two sets of tables, one for completing the Plan, Study, and Act phases and a separate set of tables for completing the Do phase.

Materials:

• Gift packages (e.g., boxes of chocolate that can be consumed by the teams and/or sent home to the participating facilities are always appreciated)

• Measuring tape

• Scotch tape

• Scissors

• Roll of patterned gift wrap

• Ribbon

• Bows and stickers to decorate the package

• Balloons

• Copies of the gift wrapping instructions and judging criteria

• Teams will wrap the package three times. Either the same package can be wrapped three times or teams can wrap a new package each time. Be certain to have enough supplies available for each team to wrap the package three times (e.g., at least three balloons per team).

Leader Instructions

1. Wrap the gift package yourself beforehand to determine the measurements that should be used for the length and width of the wrapping paper. Use ribbon to wrap the package and determine the length.

2. Update the exercise PowerPoint presentation to reflect the appropriate measurements, instructions and judging criteria.

3. Review the different stages of the PDSA cycle and the components within each stage with participants. Comments for leaders are provided in the notes section.

4. Review the instructions and judging criteria for the exercise with participants.

5. Address any participant questions.

6. Begin the exercise. Allow ten minutes for teams to complete their initial planning.

7. Ask teams to move to the “Do” table, if available, or to organize the items on their tables so they can easily wrap the gift as a team.

8. Instruct teams to raise their hands when they finish wrapping the gift.

9. Count down to three and tell teams to begin wrapping.

10. Announce the time when each team raises their hands.

11. When everyone is finished, ask teams to return to their planning tables and talk through the Study and Act stages before beginning their next planning stage. Show the slide of the PDSA cycle to reinforce the different stages and components.

12. Repeat the exercise twice, shortening the planning stage to five minutes. For the final gift wrapping Do stage, inform teams that this is the final cycle and that this is the package that will be judged according to the established criteria.

13. Reflect on lessons learned from the exercise. Ask participants if they have a better understanding of the PDSA cycle and the importance of data collection to evaluate improvement.

14. Judge and assign team scores for the wrapping criteria (this is best done when the teams are on break or another speaker or project is underway).

15. Announce the final team scores and the winning team.