TQM: getting total quality to work.Introduction The successful implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM (Total Quality Management) An organizational undertaking to improve the quality of manufacturing and service. It focuses on obtaining continuous feedback for making improvements and refining existing processes over the long term. See ISO 9000. ) can lead to improvements in the quality of products and services, reductions in the waste of resources, and overall increases in efficiency and productivity. Such improvements contribute to good customer relations, growth in market share and sustained competitive advantage. However, TQM needs to be implemented consistently across the organisation and to become an ongoing process of continuous improvement, if it is to be effective. TQM involves everyone in the organisation and needs to become a way of life, if it is to be successful. National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership This checklist has relevance to the following standards: B: Providing direction, units 1, 5, 6, 9 F: Achieving results, unit 3, 12 Definition TQM is a style of managing which gives everyone in the organisation responsibility for delivering quality to the final customer, quality being described as 'fitness for purpose' or as 'delighting the customer'. TQM views each task in the organisation as fundamentally a process which is in a customer/supplier relationship with the next process. The aim at each stage is to define and meet the customer's requirements in order to maximise the satisfaction of the final consumer at the lowest possible cost. Action checklist 1. Decide whether to run pilots While it is important to map a TQM strategy to cover the whole organisation, it is usually best to introduce it in stages. For the pilots, select areas or functions which are significant and where you feel TQM will yield results within a year at most--these will be critical in selling TQM to the sceptics. 2. Monitor and evaluate the results of the pilots Draw up a framework and appoint a management team to assess and evaluate the results of the pilots. What lessons can be learned, and how can these be applied in introducing TQM elsewhere in the organisation? 3. Decide which tools and techniques to use at each stage There are four key stages in the implementation of TQM: measurement; process management; problem solving problem solving Process involved in finding a solution to a problem. Many animals routinely solve problems of locomotion, food finding, and shelter through trial and error. and corrective action A corrective action is a change implemented to address a weakness identified in a management system. Normally corrective actions are instigated in response to a customer complaint, abnormal levels if internal nonconformity, nonconformities identified during an internal audit or . For each, you need to select the tools and techniques appropriate to the scale and environment of your organisation. 4. Decide which measurement techniques to use Measurement is critical to the success of TQM in quantifying situations and events and providing a benchmark by which to measure progress. The key is to ensure measurement is a meaningful process which leads to corrective action, rather than an end in itself. The main techniques are: measurement and error logging charts; corrective action systems; work process flow charts; run charts and process control charts. 5. Select process management tools A range of systems and tools are available to assist in process management. Many may already be used in the organisation, including: Gantt charts, flow charts and histograms. Select those which fit the culture of your organisation. 6. Set up mechanisms for problem solving Plan to establish groups throughout the organisation to look at improving quality from different angles. * Improvement groups are regular sessions led by supervisors of natural work groups. * Key process groups analyse an·a·lyse v. Chiefly British Variant of analyze. analyse or US -lyze Verb [-lysing, -lysed] or -lyzing, the operation of important processes. * Innovation groups cross departments and are drawn from different levels within the organisation to look at totally new ways of working. Techniques to assist these groups include brainstorming, fishbone diagrams and Pareto analysis Pareto analysis is a statistical technique in decision making that is used for selection of a limited number of tasks that produce significant overall effect. It uses the Pareto principle - the idea that by doing 20% of work you can generate 80% of the advantage of doing the entire . 7. Set up corrective action mechanisms The emphasis in TQM must be on identifying the causes of problems and solving them. Build in feedback loops with corrective action at the planning stage. 8. Draw up a communications plan Decide when and how to announce the programme across the organisation. Assume that staff may initially be cynical or sceptical and work out strategies for overcoming this. Use "converts" from the pilots to explain the benefits. Make clear how TQM relates to other initiatives within the organisation. 9. Implement the education programme Introduce the education programme mapped in your strategy (see Checklist 029 Total Quality: Mapping a TQM Strategy). Target key groups first. Use change agents to cascade what they have learned through the organisation. 10. Plan to create the right culture for quality Successful TQM depends as much on cultural change as on process improvements. Be aware that TQM will probably need to be accompanied by a general programme of information and education targeted at employees, supervisors and managers. 11. Empower empower verb To encourage or provide a person with the means or information to become involved in solving his/her own problems supervisors The team leaders will be pivotal to the success of TQM. You need to give them the resources, time, support and education to become leaders. 12. Consider how to motivate employees to take ownership Employees will need to take ownership of quality and act on their own initiative. To achieve this, you will need to create an open culture and drive out fears of failure and reprisal reprisal, in international law, the forcible taking, in time of peace, by one country of the property or territory belonging to another country or to the citizens of the other country, to be held as a pledge or as redress in order to satisfy a claim. and reluctance to take risks. You may also need to deal with potential insecurities in people who may discover that some of their work is unnecessary or can be done by staff at lower levels. 13. Establish a programme of management change Employees will not be able to make the changes needed without profound changes in management style. A new approach will be needed under TQM, based on collaboration, consensus and participation: the largest single change for managers will be the shift from telling to listening, from commanding to empowering. 14. Set short- and long-term goals Long-term goals Financial goals expected to be accomplished in five years or longer. for the implementation programme Establish a means of monitoring progress. This will require a mix of short-term Short-term Any investments with a maturity of one year or less. short-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss on the value of an asset that has been held less than a specified period of time. goals, to demonstrate progress, and more challenging long-term ones to stretch the organisation. Include a mix of business and cultural indicators. 15. Maintain the impetus Impetus is a stimulus or impulse, a moving force that sparks momentum. Impetus may also refer to:
Cultural changes take a long time to produce visible results and staff may be frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: at what can be achieved through process improvements. Regularly review and report on progress and publicise Verb 1. publicise - call attention to; "Please don't advertise the fact that he has AIDS" advertise, advertize, publicize announce, denote - make known; make an announcement; "She denoted her feelings clearly" successes. How not to implement TQM Don't: * see TQM as a precisely defined methodology or a set sequence of steps to be completed * expect instant results * forget that TQM is not a quick fix, but an ongoing process of continuous improvement * try to implement TQM at the same time as other major change initiatives * neglect the soft side of TQM: changing culture is as important as changing processes * lose sight of the ends by excessive concentration on the means. Glossary A term used by Microsoft Word and adopted by other word processors for the list of shorthand, keyboard macros created by a particular user. See glossaries in this publication and The Computer Glossary. of terms associated with TQM Brainstorming is a simple approach used to help a group generate as many creative ideas as possible. Everyone is encouraged to speak and every idea is recorded without evaluation or criticism. Corrective action depends on introducing management systems which require employees to identify the cause of a problem and remove it, so the problem does not recur, rather than just fixing the problem temporarily. Fishbone charts, or cause-and-effect diagrams, explore the root causes of a problem in diagrammatic di·a·gram n. 1. A plan, sketch, drawing, or outline designed to demonstrate or explain how something works or to clarify the relationship between the parts of a whole. 2. form. Gantt charts are used in planning projects to show the proposed start and finish of each activity graphically against a common timetable. Histograms are bar charts which show patterns of variation in different processes. Pareto analysis is used to separate out and prioritise Verb 1. prioritise - assign a priority to; "we have too many things to do and must prioritize" prioritize grade, rate, rank, place, range, order - assign a rank or rating to; "how would you rank these students?"; "The restaurant is rated highly in the food the significant items in a mass of data by applying the 80/20 rule to them: recording and analysis will usually show that 80% of the problems stem from 20% of the potential causes. Process control or process flow charts are used to plot the sequence of events in a particular process diagrammatically di·a·gram n. 1. A plan, sketch, drawing, or outline designed to demonstrate or explain how something works or to clarify the relationship between the parts of a whole. 2. . Additional resources Books ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9001:2000 in brief, 2nd ed, Ray Tricker and Burce Sherring-Lucas Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth Heinmann, 2005 Total quality management in a week, 3rd ed, John Macdonald John Macdonald may refer to:
The Chartered Management Institute is a professional institution for managers, based in the United Kingdom. In addition to supporting its members, the organisation encourages management development, carries out research, produces a wide variety London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2003 Managing quality, 4th ed, Barry G Dale Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2003 Quality beyond six sigma Not to be confused with Sigma 6. Six Sigma is a set of practices originally developed by Motorola to systematically improve processes by eliminating defects.[1] A defect is defined as nonconformity of a product or service to its specifications. , Ron Basu and Nevan Wright Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 2003 This is a selection of books available for loan to members from the Management Information Centre. More information at: www.managers.org.uk/mic Journal articles Six sigma the ultimate in continuous business improvement, David Hutchins QMA QMA Queens Museum of Art (Queens, NY) QMA Quiz Magic Academy (arcade game) QMA Quarter Midget Association QMA Quantum Merlin Arthur QMA Qatar Monetary Agency Tell Me, Winter 2003, no 29, pp5-8 Quality is king, Keith Ogden Quality World, August 2002, vo 28 no 8, pp40-43 This is a selection of journal articles available from the Management Information Centre. More information at: www.managers.org.uk/mic Related checklists Total Quality: Mapping a Strategy (029) Six Sigma (195) Internet resources iSixSigma www.isixsigma.com Look under Methodologies for Total Quality Management section which includes articles and case studies. Organisations British Quality Foundation: www.quallity-foundation.co.uk 32-34 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2QX Tel: 020 7654 5000 European Foundation
Brussels Representative Office, Avenue des Pleiades, 11 1200 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 775 35 11 Institute of Quality Assurance: www.iqa.org 12 Grosvenor Crescent crescent, emblematic representation of the quarter moon. The crescent and star, ancient Byzantine symbols that became the emblems of Constantinople, were also assumed as the standard of the Ottoman Turks. , London SW1X 7EE Tel: 020 7245 6788 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion