01926 633333January 20th, 2025
How the Quad of Aims Can Help Your Team Nail Improvement Projects
Let’s be honest—improvement projects can feel overwhelming sometimes. Everyone’s juggling their regular workload, and suddenly, this new initiative needs focus, time, and effort. It’s no wonder things can get a little chaotic if the team isn’t clear on what’s being asked of them. That’s where the Quad of Aims (QoA) for improvement projects comes in…
What is the Quad of Aims
It’s a simple, four-step tool that helps teams communicate effectively about a project. Once you try it, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.
The QoA is exactly what it sounds like—it helps you define four key things about your project:
- Purpose: Why are we doing this? What’s the goal?
- Customer/Impact: Who benefits from this, and how will it make a difference?
- Deliverables: What will we produce or deliver by the end of this?
- Success Criteria: How will we know if we’ve nailed it?
Think of it as the blueprint for your project. It helps clarify everything, so the team knows exactly what’s happening and why their work matters.
Why you should use it.
Improvement projects often demand extra time and energy from your team, and that’s not always easy to come by. The QoA makes it easier to get everyone on board and excited about what you’re working toward. Here’s how it helps…
Using the QoA with your team.
Download our infographic guide here.
Why it works so well.
The beauty of the QoA is in its simplicity. Whether your project is small or large and wide-scale, this tool scales to fit. It’s especially handy for improvement tasks that require more than just a quick tweak—when you’re really investing time and effort, this structure helps you keep things focused and impactful.
E.g. Imagine you’re leading a project to improve customer service response times.
Using the QoA, you might define the purpose as “reducing average response times by 20%,” identify the customer benefit as “faster resolutions and happier clients,” list deliverables like new training materials and process updates, and set success criteria like hitting that 20% reduction target within six months.
Now everyone knows exactly what they’re working toward.
Ready to try it?
The QoA isn’t just about getting organised—it’s about building trust, alignment, and excitement around your project. When your team understands the plan and believes in the goal, amazing things can happen.
So, next time you’re kicking off an improvement project, give the QoA a try. Your team will thank you for it, and you’ll be on your way to delivering results that everyone can be proud of.