Improvement work does not look the same in every organisation.
Some teams are just beginning to build a more structured approach to improvement. Others already have established methodologies, governance routes, reporting requirements and portfolio-level oversight. Some improvement work needs a full project structure with measures, PDSA cycles and formal reviews. Other work may begin as a simple idea, audit, OKR, research project or local improvement plan.
That variation matters.
If improvement software is too rigid, teams are forced to work around it. If it is too unstructured, organisations struggle to maintain consistency, governance and visibility.
Simana is designed to support both.
One of the major differences between Life QI and Simana is the level of flexibility Simana can offer. That flexibility ranges from small details, such as chart colours, to more significant decisions about which workflows an organisation uses, how those workflows are structured, and how improvement work is governed.
At the heart of this flexibility are templates.
Templates are often thought of as forms. In Simana, they do much more than that.
A template helps define how a piece of work is structured, what information teams capture, which tools are available, how progress is reviewed and how governance is applied. For improvement teams, this matters because structure shapes behaviour.
A good template helps teams:
Templates also help organisations create consistency without removing local flexibility. That balance is important. Improvement work benefits from shared methods and common expectations, but it also needs to reflect the real work being done by different teams, services and departments.
Not every improvement activity should be forced into the same format.
An improvement idea is different from an audit. An OKR is different from a research project. A small local change is different from a large-scale improvement programme.
Simana supports different types of work through different templates, including:
Each template can be designed around the purpose of that work.
For example, an improvement project template might include an aim statement, measures, driver diagrams, PDSA cycles and governance reviews. An idea template might focus on capturing suggestions, assessing potential impact and deciding whether an idea should become a project. An audit template might guide teams through audit planning, findings, actions and follow-up.
The aim is not to make every workflow identical. The aim is to give each type of work the right amount of structure.
For many organisations, the most effective starting point is a proven template that works well without heavy configuration.
Simana includes ready-to-use templates based on recognised improvement practice. These templates are designed for organisations that want a clear, reliable structure for running improvement work without needing to design every workflow from scratch.
This approach is especially useful for organisations that are:
Ready-to-use templates are available across different workflow types, including projects, ideas, audits and other improvement activities.
They still allow useful local configuration. Organisations can add their own improvement priorities, department structures or service structures so that work can be organised and reported in a way that reflects the local context. For many teams, this is exactly the right level of flexibility.
The template provides enough structure to support good improvement practice, while avoiding unnecessary complexity for teams who need a simple and practical way to manage their work.
Some workflows in Simana can be used in different levels of detail: Simple, Standard or Enhanced. This gives organisations more choice over how much structure a workflow should include.
A Simple workflow is designed for lighter-touch work. It includes fewer fields and tools, making it easier for teams to capture and progress work quickly.
A Standard workflow provides a balanced structure for typical improvement activity. It gives teams enough guidance to follow a consistent process without making the workflow feel overly complex.
An Enhanced workflow includes more detail, more tools and more governance support. This can be useful for work that is larger, more complex or subject to greater oversight.
This means organisations do not need to force every piece of work through the same process. A small local improvement idea can remain simple. A more formal improvement project can include the additional structure it needs. A complex programme can include greater detail, governance and reporting.
The workflow can match the work.
Some organisations need a deeper level of configuration.
This is often the case when improvement is being managed at a larger scale, or where the organisation already has a mature improvement methodology, established terminology, specific governance requirements or defined lifecycle stages. For these organisations, Simana can support fully configurable templates.
Fully configurable templates allow organisations to shape workflows around the way improvement already works locally. This can include configuration of:
This allows Simana to reflect the organisation’s improvement method rather than requiring the organisation to adapt its method to the software.
For example, one organisation might use a formal QI project lifecycle with defined approval points, measures, PDSA cycles and executive review. Another might have a lighter innovation workflow for staff ideas. Another might need a structured audit workflow with findings, recommendations, action tracking and follow-up review.
With fully configurable templates, each of these workflows can be shaped to fit its purpose.
Configuration should help organisations move faster, not create more work at the start.
For customers using fully configurable templates, the Simana team typically supports the initial configuration during onboarding. This helps organisations translate their improvement method, terminology and governance model into practical workflows quickly.
After that, customer Admin users can continue to adapt and refine templates themselves. This matters because improvement systems are not static. As organisations develop their improvement capability, their workflows may evolve. Governance may mature. Reporting needs may change. New types of work may need to be supported.
Simana is designed so templates can evolve with the organisation, rather than becoming fixed at the point of implementation.
Flexibility is valuable, but only when it supports clarity. Too little flexibility creates friction. Teams are forced into workflows that do not reflect how they actually work. Too much variation creates a different problem. Governance becomes harder, reporting becomes inconsistent and organisations lose visibility across their improvement portfolio. Simana is designed to balance both needs.
Templates allow organisations to adapt workflows to local methods, terminology and governance, while still maintaining enough consistency to support oversight and learning.
This helps organisations create:
The goal is not unlimited variation. The goal is useful flexibility within a clear improvement system.
Different templates support different types of work.
| Workflow | What the Template Supports |
|---|---|
| Improvement project | Aim statements, measures, driver diagrams, PDSA cycles, risks, learning and governance reviews |
| Improvement idea | Capturing suggestions, assessing impact, prioritising ideas and progressing selected ideas into action |
| Audit | Audit planning, standards, findings, recommendations, actions and follow-up |
| OKR | Objectives, key results, owners, progress updates and review cycles |
| Research | Study details, evidence, approvals, outputs, learning and follow-up activity |
These workflows can be simple or detailed, ready-to-use or fully configured, depending on what the organisation needs. The important point is that Simana can support different types of improvement work in one place.
Teams are not forced to manage projects in one system, ideas in another, audits in spreadsheets and governance in separate documents. Workflows can be brought together in a shared improvement workspace.
As improvement activity grows, structure becomes increasingly important.
At a small scale, teams may be able to manage work through informal processes, local documents or simple tracking tools. But as more teams become involved, organisations need clearer ways to structure, govern and learn from improvement work.
Flexible templates help organisations scale improvement by providing structure without forcing every team into a rigid process.
They allow organisations to:
This is where Simana becomes more than a project repository or a collection of improvement tools. It becomes a configurable improvement workspace.
One that can support teams who need a simple, proven starting point, as well as organisations that need fully tailored workflows aligned to mature improvement methods and governance models.
Every organisation improves in its own way.
Some need ready-to-use best practice templates that help teams get started quickly and consistently. Others need fully configurable workflows that reflect their own methodology, terminology, lifecycle, governance and scale. Both approaches are valid.
The right choice depends on the maturity, complexity and ambition of the improvement work being managed.
Simana is designed to support that range. It gives organisations the structure they need to run improvement well, and the flexibility they need to make improvement work in the way that fits them best.
Whether you need a proven starting point or a fully tailored workflow, Simana provides the templates and configuration needed to support improvement at every stage of maturity.