A Think Piece

Check Lists the Key to Effective Command Control and Communications

Command, Control and Communications (C3) are always be a significant

challenge for us. This is because of:
• The often dispersed location of the principals
• The distractions extant due to external demands
• The varying amounts of effort that we can contribute to the operational
day to day running of the organisation.
• The need to coordinate with the other players

A good set of operational controls if needed if our plans are to be implemented

effectively. Some might call these SOPs but what is discussed in this paper are
“checklists”. This discussion is based largely on the work that Atul Gawande has
done (Google Checklist Manifesto & his name if you want).

A checklist is a type of informational job aid used to reduce failure by

compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention. A checklist is
characterised by its simplicity and brevity

A SOP is a written document or instruction detailing all steps and activities of a

process or procedure. These should be carried out[without any deviation or
modification to guarantee the expected outcome.

A CHECKLIST is a tool to manage simple, complicated and complex events.

Why Checklists?

• We live in a complex world and our governance structures will often have
a complex C3)
• The fallibility of human memory and attention can lead to critical risks
being generated
• Lack of overwatch (Checklist again) can lead to skipping vital steps

Checklists will remind staff of minimum necessary steps and make them explicit.
Checklists provide a platform for verification, encourage discipline and so raise
performance.

The Origin of Checklists. The seminal event seems to be the crashing of a

Boeing prototype aircraft in 1935. That event proved that “heroic” seat of the
pants flying by instinct wouldn’t work. Thus checklists became embedded in the
aviation world. Engineering and more recently other disciplines including
medicine have adopted checklists. (An example checklist is the five vital signs in
a patient – PULSE, BLOOD PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE, RESPIRATION &
PAIN).

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Checklists

• Confirm Tasks are completed

• Speed up decision making
• Enhance inter team communication
• Builds team cohesion
• Impose Discipline
• Raise Performance standards
• Ensure power is shared

Two types of Checklist

READ DO
- Read List and do tasks according to the list, like following a recipe

DO CONFIRM
- Tasks performed from memory and experience and:
- Then pause to run checklist against them and confirm all the tasks have
been done

Check List Characteristics

- Cannot be lengthy (5 – 9 Items, i.e. the max within human memory

retention)
- Focused on Killer Items
- Exact and Simple words
- Fit on one page
- Uncluttered
- Highly readable (Both cases and san serif type)
- Must be challenged in draft
- Tested in real time

Note: Some managers rush into checklists and try to introduce them to the
workplace with a top down didactic all the while forgetting that to make them
work they need to be generated from the bottom up

What Checklists will you Need?

Checklists should cover both routine & risk events. Planners must ensure that the
operational processes of the business are identified, classified and
operationalised. Check Lists could be in both electronic and hard copy. Hard
copy on a tabbed ring binder. Each list (no more than 9 items) inside a plastic
cover so it can be quickly pulled out and upgraded if necessary

1. The most straightforward kind of checklist is the task list: a step-by-step

recital of standard operating procedures that must be followed in the correct

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order. This only works well when it's widely accepted and agreed what the task
list should be. This means task lists are best suited for technical endeavors that
involve too many details to remember, but not a lot of judgment. Such as
preparing a specific dish in a restaurant, or starting up an airplane. There are
surely some appropriate applications for them in more general management
settings, but— when imposed from above — they can get in the way of getting
useful things done.

2. A close relative of the task list is the troubleshooting list. Something goes
wrong; what steps do you take to find out what it is and correct it? Again, these
work best in technical endeavors such as the one Boeing put together to deal
with unlatched cargo doors. But one can easily envision simple troubleshooting
lists being put to good use in less technical, more judgment-dependent areas.

3. At a construction site you will find a coordination list. You have an extremely
complicated endeavor that no one person can fully understand, so you set up
procedures that force the various specialists involved to consult each other on a
regular basis. Again, this seems like something with all sorts of applications
outside of construction.

4. Some investment managers use checklists to make sure they always follow
certain steps before putting money into a company. This is a discipline list. In a
calm, reasoned state of mind, you set down a list of procedures you want to
follow to keep you from making bad decisions later, in the heat of the moment. It
seems like these can't really be standardized but, in part because they're not
standardized, they can be used almost anywhere.

5. The most common sort of checklist is the to-do list. This is an entirely
personal list, meant to be revised monthly or weekly or daily. It's a staple of every
time-management regimen going back at least to Benjamin Franklin, who wrote
in his Autobiography that he tried to begin his days like this:

“Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness! Contrive day's business, and take
the resolution of the day; prosecute the present study, and breakfast.
Question. What good shall I do this day?”