- What is a check list?
- What is a check list?
- Types check list
- Benefits of a check list at work
- How to do an check list?
We explain what a check list, what is it for and what are its benefits at work. In addition, we tell you how to do it step by step.
What is a check list?
A check list (of English check, “review”, and list, “list”) or checklist is a written tool with which the information about a task, a process or any set of pending items, in such a way as to be able to easily and quickly control their execution. In other words, a checklist is a list of the elements that require attention in some type of process and whose resolution we can mark on paper directly, as they are carried out.
It is a useful tool in different areas of work and daily life, since it assists memory and attention. A clear example of check list It is a list of pending daily tasks, or of groceries to buy at the supermarket, in which we can mark the ones solved one by one, and know quickly and easily which ones are missing. However, in complex processes, checklists can grow to large proportions, containing a multitude of different items at different priority levels.
As is the case with other anglicisms, that is, with other loanwords from the English language, the word check list should always be written in italics. Different institutions that watch over the Spanish language consider it an unnecessary loan, since there are terms such as "checklist", "checklist", "verification sheet" or "list of requirements", to name just a few examples.
What is a check list?
checklists or check list They are a control tool. They serve to verify pending and resolved issues, and can be applied to the daily work of a employee, as well as the running processes and threads in an entire area of worked.
The items of a check list In general, they represent those tasks of importance that deserve to be verified, that is, that cannot be left to memory. Thus, it is then possible to go to the list to check which things have been resolved and which are still pending.
Types check list
Regardless of subject and objective proposed, all check list They always operate in the same way and basically consist of a list of items that are written down. However, depending on the level of complexity of the list, a distinction can be made between:
- Simple checklists. They have a single record of items, that is, a list of items that are all at the same level, without there being hierarchy among them, although the order of appearance in the list may denote urgency or sequentiality.
- Multiple checklists. They have several item records, that is, first, second, and even third-order listed items, so that to complete a first-order task, second-order tasks must first be completed, and so on. This type of check list allows you to verify in much greater detail the pending and completed tasks.
Benefits of a check list at work
the use of a check list facilitates the tasks of:
- Organization of pending tasks, by arranging them according to their priority or according to the order in which they must be carried out.
- Verification of the progress of a process with different levels of detail, since the processes and sub-processes that are involved in it can be listed.
- Inspection and control of processes, and also find possible failures in a work chain.
- Record of the tasks performed by an area or worker.
- Exhaustive description of the elements involved in a specific dynamic.
- Automate process verification and lead to simple algorithms.
How to do an check list?
The following are the steps to carry out a check list in any area:
- Record in writing the total of pending tasks or items that require attention.
- Organize these elements according to their urgency or priority: the most urgent first, the less urgent later.
- Detail, if necessary, the sub-items or secondary (and tertiary) elements that each process implies. This in case you need a check list multiple or complex.
- Verify that no item has been omitted from the list or that the order of the items is appropriate.
- As progress is made in the resolution of the tasks, systematically mark, cross out or point out the resolved elements, in order to be able to distinguish them at a glance from the pending ones.