Tool 13: Balance sheet

AKA

Pros and Cons

Classification

Decision Making (DM)

Tool description

A balance sheet is used to identify and review the pros and cons of several listed alternatives and to facilitate discussion for the purpose of guiding a team closer to consensus. The information provided from using this tool can also serve as a rationale for or against implementing a proposed change in activity or a solution to a problem.

Typical application

• To determine a course of action on the basis of assessing the pros and cons.

• To supply the information necessary for a team to make a decision.

• To provide a quick approach for reaching team consensus.

Problem-solving phase

	Select and define problem or opportunity
	Identify and analyze causes or potential change
→	Develop and plan possible solutions or change
→	Implement and evaluate solution or change
	Measure and report solution or change results
→	Recognize and reward team efforts

Typically used by

	Research/statistics
	Creativity/innovation
	Engineering
3	Project management
	Manufacturing
	Marketing/sales
	Administration/documentation
	Servicing/support
2	Customer/quality metrics
1	Change management

links to other tools

before

• Consensus decision making

• Brainstorming

• Crawford Slip Method

• Circle Respones

• Buzz Group

after

• Starbursting

• Multivoting

• Team meeting evaluation

• Team Process Assessment

• Consensus decision making

Notes and key points

• Balance sheets have two columns labeled Pros (+) and Cons (−).

Step-by-step procedure

• STEP 1 A facilitated team identifies and selects two or more alternatives to solve a problem, implement an improvement program, or initiate an organizational change effort.

• STEP 2 A whiteboard is used to record the alternatives. A balance sheet is drawn showing alternatives and two columns, Pros and Cons. See example Twenty-four Hours of TQM Training within One Year for Every Employee in the Organization?

• STEP 3 Participants systematically discuss the pros and cons of each alternative and generate short statements to be placed in the pros and cons columns.

• STEP 4 When all alternatives have been discussed and pros and cons recorded, the facilitator guides team participants toward a decision by consensus. The decision could be for or against the activity, or simply point to a compromise.

Example of tool application

Twenty-four Hours of TQM Training within One Year for Every Employee in the Organization?

Cascading 24 Hours of TQM Training	Date: xx/xx/xx
Pros	Cons
Every employee will be TQM trained	Most employees will not use the training
Spreads employee involvement	Many employess will not have time
More problem-solving teams	Would drain too many resources
Will increase job satisfaction	Will not affect most job classifications
A good investment of time and money	To train all is too costly and time consuming
Promotes teamwork and communications	Hard to involve everyone—too busy now
Train Every Employee within One Year
Will have all employees trained by—	Cannot release all employees to training
Resources can be made available	Will be a hardship to prioritize resources
Become competitive and world class	Haste makes waste, hard to control
Develop a strong commitment	Difficult to get support at all levels
Learn from other companies	Could learn from internal experts