1. What Is Continuous Improvement?
2. What Is the Continuous Improvement Process?
• 2A. What Is the Discovery Phase?
• 2B. What Is the Validation Phase?
• 2C. What Is the Resolution Phase?
• 2D. What Is the Evaluation Phase?
3. What Makes a Continuous Improvement Program Effective?
4. Course Wrap-Up
5. Course Exam

The following section will discuss:

• The definition of Continuous Improvement.
• The importance of practicing Continuous Improvement.
• Example Continuous Improvement products.

Continuous Improvement helps emergency managers to drive change after incidents and exercises and to better prepare for future disasters (Reminder: Clicking linked terms will open the definition in a pop up window).

Continuous Improvement involves:

• Identifying, validating, and sharing operational strengths, areas for improvement, potential best practices, and mission critical issues from incidents and exercises.
• Developing courses of action (COAs) to maintain strengths, address areas for improvement and mission critical issues, and institutionalize best practices.
• Assigning and tracking COAs until completed.

Emergency managers at all levels of government, in the private sector, and in nongovernmental organizations can conduct Continuous Improvement activities to create a more secure and resilient nation.

Continuous Improvement increases the effectiveness of response and recovery efforts by ensuring emergency managers are able to routinely identify strengths, areas for improvement, potential best practices, and mission critical issues. Once identified, emergency managers should improve corresponding plans, policies, and procedures.

In recent history, lessons learned from disasters have been used to inform and update laws and plans to ensure preparedness across the nation. These laws and plans include:

• Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (PKEMRA).
• Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (SRIA).
• Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA).
• FEMA Strategic Plan 2018-2022.

The following section will discuss the Continuous Improvement Process and its four phases:

• Discovery
• Validation
• Resolution
• Evaluation

The Continuous Improvement Process is a system that helps emergency managers discover trends, learn lessons, and implement COAs. The process:

• Promotes the efficient use of time, staff, and resources.
• Advances state, local, tribal, and territorial preparedness to manage disaster operations.
• Enables action planning and information sharing.

The following section will discuss the Discovery phase of the Continuous Improvement Process, including how to plan for collection and methods for collecting data.

The purpose of the Discovery phase is to collect information to identify trends across incidents and exercises. The goal of the collection process is to:

• Evaluate actions taken to correct previous issues.
• Gather information on priority focus areas for leadership.
• Measure effectiveness of new plans, policies, and procedures.
• Validate risk and assess capabilities.

 The Discovery phase consists of two key elements:

• Planning for collection to ensure that information is collected, managed, and shared in a systematic and deliberate manner.
• Collecting data using a variety of methods.

A Collection Analysis Plan (CAP) organizes and establishes a clear way forward for data collection efforts. CAP development begins either during or after a real-world incident. It should be finalized as soon as possible to ensure all collection efforts align to the plan.

There are seven essential elements of a CAP:

1. Brief description of the incident (e.g., name, type, duration).
2. Statement on the purpose and scope of the effort.
3. Priority focus areas (i.e., what specific issues will be analyzed).
4. Methodology for collecting data (i.e., what qualitative and quantitative data).
5. Roles and responsibilities of personnel supporting data collection.
6. Tentative schedule for data collection, analysis, and reporting.
7. Potential constraints (e.g., scope, schedule, resources) and mitigation strategies for each.

The following section will discuss the Validation phase of the Continuous Improvement Process, including relevant data analysis techniques and observation reporting.

During the Validation phase, Continuous Improvement Personnel analyze data collected from plans, trainings, exercises, real-world incidents, capability assessments, and/or steady-state activities to identify and ensure the accuracy of observations and potential COAs. 

The Validation phase consists of two key elements:

• Conducting data analysis of collected data to identify conclusions, insights, and trends.
• Reporting analyses, observations, and potential COAs.

Continuous Improvement personnel may use the following techniques during their data analysis efforts:

• Real-Time Analysis: Conducting analysis during ongoing operations.
• Event Reconstruction: Consolidating information from multiple sources into a single, fact-based account of what happened during an incident.
• Root Cause Analysis: A structured process for determining the originating factor(s) that directly led to a specific outcome.
• Synthesis: Compiling and reviewing data from multiple sources to identify common issues.
• Trend Analysis: Identifying recurring strengths or challenges and changes in both over time.

Data collected and analyzed can be communicated through written observations, which explain what occurred and provide supporting evidence.

An observation should be reported and disseminated when:

• There is supporting evidence from multiple sources.
• There is demonstrable operational impact.
• Rigorous synthesis, event reconstruction, and/or root cause analysis has been conducted.
• The observation is different from other observations.

Observations from an incident or exercise can be compiled into an AAR or used to inform the development of other Continuous Improvement products.

Strong observations include these elements:

• Topic Sentence: Make a specific assertion or claim about something that occurred regarding a particular topic and describe the impact.
• Example: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) crews were not given incident-specific equipment checklists, which resulted in EMS crews not bringing enough HazMat suits and lengthened the time it took for first responders to reach survivors in the contaminated area.
• In this example topic sentence, the topic is EMS crews and incident-specific equipment checklists. The specific assertion is that EMS crews were not given incident-specific equipment checklists. The impact is that EMS crews did not bring enough HazMat suits, lengthening the time it took to reach survivors.
• Discussion of Evidence: Elaborate on the topic sentence by providing relevant background information and supporting evidence to detail what happened, why it happened, and the impact.
• Desired Outcome(s): Describe the ideal future state when action is taken on an observation.
• COA(s): List the actions that could be taken to meet the desired outcome(s). These can be proposed by interviewees or other subject-matter experts.

The following section will discuss the Resolution phase of the Continuous Improvement Process, including how to conduct Improvement Planning Workshops and develop action plans.

During the Resolution phase, Continuous Improvement personnel should use observations to develop and finalize appropriate COAs.

The Resolution phase consists of two key elements:

• Conducting an Improvement Planning Workshop (IPW) to socialize observations and develop and finalize COAs.
• Developing an action plan to adopt COAs that maintain strengths, institutionalize best practices, and address areas for improvement and mission critical issues.

Continuous Improvement personnel develop COAs to take action on observations. Effective COAs should:

• Be based on validated observations.
• Be reviewed by subject-matter experts.
• Be developed in coordination with and assigned to a responsible entity for implementation.
• Include a clearly defined timeline for completion.

An IPW is a means for developing and implementing COAs. Participants should engage in productive discussion and implement any COAs assigned to them. Workshop participants should include:

• Leaders and subject-matter experts from the responsible entities.
• Analysts who developed the observations.
• Staff who will track and evaluate the actions.

There are three goals that participants should accomplish during an IPW:

• Agree on a list of COAs to take.
• Identify the entities responsible for implementing the COAs.
• Develop timelines for completing the COAs.

An IPW may consist of the following activities:

• Presentations: Participants share important information on observations.
• Trend Analysis: Illustrate how often a particular observation has been identified in the past.
• Breakout Discussions: Focus discussion on key issues that are important to a specific set of participants.
• Problem Solving Exercises: Help participants identify COAs that will address the root cause of the problem and consider other steps to addressing these issues.
• Facilitated Group Discussions: Participants discuss priorities, possible solutions, and responsibilities for COAs.
• Analysis Training: Help participants to continue the necessary analysis with their office or jurisdiction as they work to complete their COAs.

COAs finalized during the IPW are transferred into an action plan. The plan provides a common operating picture of what actions are being taken, who is taking them (e.g., the responsible entity), and when they will be complete.

An action plan manager or accountable tracking body should be identified to track updates to the plan, maintain accountability, and provide updates on progress made.

The following section will discuss the Evaluation phase of the Continuous Improvement Process, including how to conduct action tracking and share information.

During the Evaluation phase, Continuous Improvement personnel examine the implementation of COAs and determine the extent to which they have maintained strengths, institutionalized best practices, and addressed areas for improvement and mission critical issues.

The Evaluation phase consists of two key elements:

• Action tracking to ensure accountability and implementation of COAs.
• Information sharing with relevant stakeholders on the COAs being implemented.

Action tracking is the primary accountability function of the Continuous Improvement Process.

The action plan manager or accountable tracking body should communicate regularly with the responsible entities with assigned COAs on:

• Implementation progress.
• Resource shortfalls.
• Other potential risks and limiting factors.

Implementation of COAs should ideally happen before the next disaster.

COAs may have multiple tasks that need to be tracked. The following are the most common tracking methods:

• Units Completed: Useful for tracking tasks that are done repeatedly, where iteration of each unit can easily be measured.
• Incremental Milestones: Used in cases that involve subtasks that need to be completed in an orderly fashion.
• Start to Finish: Focused solely on capturing the starting point and the finishing point of the task and nothing in between.
• Cost Ratio: Usually implemented on a project that has tasks that occur over a long phase or the entire project.
• Improved Performance: Helpful for measuring progress changed against a measurable target.

Various stakeholders may be interested in knowing the status and progress on the implementation of COAs:

• Leadership, who has a vested interest in the status of changes.
• Other emergency managers, who can learn from successful COAs.
• Interviewees, who want to know the impact of their participation in the Continuous Improvement Process.
• The general public, who may want to know how services or processes may change.

Sharing information should become a routine part of stakeholder engagement. Building stakeholder relationships will help develop a positive perception of a Continuous Improvement Program.

The following section will discuss how to effectively manage a Continuous Improvement Program and the qualities of a successful program.

Effective programs must excel at each phase of the Continuous Improvement Process while also managing:

• Strong communication of ideas and concerns.
• Change management to guide individuals in adopting change.
• Accountability to ensure COAs are tracked to completion.

Personnel should evaluate the following considerations when trying to establish strong communication for a Continuous Improvement Program:

• Staff at all programmatic levels should have an outlet to express ideas or concerns about an incident.
• Establishing strong channels of communication will encourage creative problem-solving and move progress forward.
• It is critical to keep all relevant stakeholders informed of what is occurring throughout the Continuous Improvement Process.
• It is often difficult to explain the immediate benefits of a Continuous Improvement Program, as many initiatives take time to complete.

Change management guides how we prepare, equip, and support individuals to successfully adopt change in order to drive organizational success and outcomes at three levels:

• Individual: Requires understanding how people experience change and what they need to successfully implement change, including messaging, coaching, and training.
• Group: Involves identifying the groups and people that require change as a result of the project, what needs to change, and creating an action plan for ensuring impacted employees receive the awareness, leadership, coaching, and training needed.
• Organizational: Incorporates change into your organization’s roles, structures, processes, projects, and leadership competencies and ensures change management processes are consistently and effectively applied.

As previously discussed, a Continuous Improvement Program should develop appropriate methods to track the progress of COAs. This should include:

• Identifying staff that will be accountable for implementing COAs.
• Collaboratively implementing and tracking COAs.
• Meeting regularly to monitor progress and record changes.
• Taking action to directly address the most important issues.
• Ensuring that progress updates are tracked until completion.

The most successful and impactful Continuous Improvement Programs do the following:

• Obtain commitment throughout the organization: Staff at all levels must be supportive of the same Continuous Improvement goals
• Ensure everyone is involved: Staff at all levels need to be involved in the Continuous Improvement Process.
• Maintain strong communications: Keep all relevant stakeholders aware of Continuous Improvement progress until each COA is completed.
• Routinely revisit Continuous Improvement activities: Establish a regular routine to evaluate Continuous Improvement methods and make modifications to make future Continuous Improvement activities more effective.
• Remain patient: A culture of Continuous Improvement will take time to build and will require consistent commitment to the Continuous Improvement Process.

The following section will provide:

• A summary of the course.
• Information about the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program and the Continuous Improvement Planning Toolkit.
• A course reference list.
• A course terminology list.
• Information about asking questions and providing feedback about the course.

This course equipped you with the knowledge and skills required to conduct Continuous Improvement activities with the aim to help improve operational and programmatic outcomes by building upon what it does well, correcting what needs to be fixed, and sharing actionable information throughout the emergency management enterprise.

The objectives of this training were to:

• Define Continuous Improvement and understand its importance.
• Describe the Continuous Improvement Process and its four phases.
• Describe what makes a Continuous Improvement Program effective.

The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) establishes a common approach to exercises, including Continuous Improvement efforts during and after an exercise. It provides a set of guiding principles for exercise programs, as well as approaches to exercise program management, design and development, conduct, evaluation, and action planning.

Exercise evaluation assesses the ability to meet exercise objectives and core capabilities by documenting strengths, areas for improvement, potential best practices, mission critical issues, and COAs in AARs and action plans. Through action planning, emergency managers implement the COAs identified after an exercise to improve plans and build and sustain capabilities.

FEMA has developed the Continuous Improvement Planning Toolkit (CIPT), which includes a set of standard tools, templates, and resources designed to assist state, local, tribal, and territorial partners with strengthening their own Continuous Improvement Programs.

The Toolkit includes over 20 tools and templates including:

• CAP template.
• Standard interview questions.
• Notetaking template for interviews and hot washes.
• AAR template.
• Action plan template.

Start a free Preparedness Toolkit account using this link at Preptoolkit.FEMA.gov Once you have an account, click on the Communities button on the homepage and join the “Continuous Improvement Planning Toolkit” community.

• Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (PKEMRA)
• Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (SRIA)
• Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA)
• FEMA Strategic Plan 2018-2022
• Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)
• FEMA’s Preparedness Toolkit

• To ask questions about this course, please email FEMA-CIP-TA@fema.dhs.gov
• We would appreciate your feedback on this course. Please complete the survey at this link.

You have reached the end of the course. The following screen will provide details on how to take the course exam.