A quality system CAN'T be non-value added

This series is for EXECUTIVES and high-level leadership who want to ignite excitement and make quality relevant in your organization.  "Quality" is very rarely seamlessly assimilated into daily operations.  This series dives into what traditional operations-centric organizations value most and how to plug "quality" in to support those values.  

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WARNING!  Readers have come to expect "real talk" from this series.  This week, there's some REAL, REAL TALK aimed at management and about quality and continuous improvement professionals.  But, as a passionate advocate, these things need to be said if we're to maximize the real potential from our quality improvement efforts.

A very typical pattern for quality system implementation is for an organization to:

1.  Realize the need for a quality system (often as a customer or industry mandate).

2.  Choose a model or standard to follow (and an overly aggressive "certified by" date).

3.  Assign to an underexperienced, but also underutilized "go getter" in the organization without the management support, authority, or influence to be successful.

4.  Narrowly pass a "paid for" assessment by a certifying body.

5.  Look back with regret at all the time, heartache and money spent with very little return on the investment (ie REAL quality improvement). 

Unfortunately, this pattern is as old as the notion of quality management systems and it is still repeated today.  And the key to breaking this pattern is NOT TO START without a very clear strategy.

It is too easy for the business development group to proclaim that the biggest barrier to market is the absence of a recognized quality certification such as ISO9001, AS9100, IATF16949, etc and for the goal to immediately become, "Well, let's get certified!".

For any quality system to be effective and sustainable, it must serve a strategic purpose for the business.  Recognized standards such as ISO9001, AS9100, IATF16949, etc all provide proven guidelines for effective management.  And while the argument can certainly be made that the certification game is just an industry in and of itself, the standards are actually very clear and helpful and CAN improve business performance when applied CORRECTLY.

Companies whose top management not only commit, but understand the requirements are the ones who actually stand out as World Class.  The requirements in the standards apply almost exclusively to the strategic infrastructure and direction of how the organization is constructed, why it exists and what it is trying to do.  There is then some emphasis on standardizing operations with policies and procedures, but this is insignificant as compared to the more important activities of planning, establishing and implementing the business infrastructure and how it will be run.

And this is often the disconnect.  Management may offer its "full commitment" to the effort, but in practice, cannot manage to participate in a single discussion about what will be done, who will do it or how it will be done.  They give their "full commitment" to someone with the directive for them to "Take a shot at writing us a quality system that we can approve and will get us certified".  This approach may (painfully) ultimately get the organization through the certification process, but real quality improvement cannot be realized.

Worse, the newly appointed "quality person" may misunderstand their role in maintaining the system.  They mustn't become simply the gatekeeper of compliance or certification, or the "enforcers" within the organization.  If your quality group focuses mainly on pointing out flaws to other departments, they will not be viewed as adding value to the organization.  And in fact, if they're not actively engaged in supporting departments where the departments determine they need help, they will likely not be perceived as needed or helpful.  This relegates them to the "non-value-added" column, for sure.  

Executives, hold yourselves accountable for the culture created in your organization around quality.  What do you hold the quality and continuous improvement groups accountable for?  Is it focused on the quality group reducing defects?  It would be more appropriate to hold them accountable for their specific contributions and support to other areas (as in reported by the other areas in terms of how much demand their is for their support, how responsive they are to requests for help and actual results).  This is how mature quality systems operate and get real results.  Wherever quality is secondary to operations or "extra" or a "bolt-on accessory", it cannot achieve meaningful results.

An effective quality system implementation is one that is carefully considered by the management team.  The team must arrive at a consensus and very clear understanding of:

WHY the organization exists (context)

WHO the stakeholders are (interested parties) and their needs

WHAT products/services the organization is trying provide

WHERE the quality system applies (scope) 

HOW the work will be done (processes)

WHEN the system is working/not working and how to respond

And that's it! 

However, too often, this is misunderstood.  Too often, companies start out with the two biggest mistakes in quality system implementation:

ONE - Telling everyone to "write down everything they do, because we have to do it for ISO/AS/IATF/etc".  This is completely false and the beginning of the end for the newly budding quality system.

TWO - Introducing it as an initiative with the liberal use of the term "our ISO system", "our AS documents", "for our IATF certification".  This immediately disconnects the internal workings of the business from the quality system that is trying to be built.  The use of this language immediately makes the quality system in service to something outside the organization and therefore gets no engagement.  No one feels responsible or compelled, because its outside their purview or area of responsibility.  

A better approach is for management to follow the guidelines in the standards around context, stakeholders and planning.  There is a LOT of work to be done directly by top management before anything is assigned to ANYONE other than themselves.  When management takes the time to consider its answers to the requirements of these standards, they begin to see that there is very little "new work" to be done.  It's merely an exercise in formalizing what is already in motion.  And how "formal" it must be is absolutely the prerogative of the organization.  Most of this work is the business of understanding each requirement and capturing and describing what is happening and how it works at "our company".  When written as more of a handbook for new managers (rather than something an auditor can audit), it adds value.  

Think about the scaleability of a business.  Scaling is very difficult in the midst of chaos.  Where there are resources available, people can be onboarded more quickly and can become productive more rapidly.  The quality system is supposed to BE that resource, telling a story of how the business runs, by whom and how each role fits into the grand scheme.

The quality system should be something that is easily understood by EVERYONE.  It should not be untenable amounts of information and paperwork.  But, just a simple roadmap describing to the user how to navigate the business and how the product/service is realized from start to finish.  It needn't have too many procedures or work instructions either.  Did you know the bulk of "required documentation" is NOT procedures or work instructions, but only records that whatever the business thought was supposed to happen on a daily basis "DID ACTUALLY" happen?  If a person can be easily assimilated into a process with some personal instruction, there is no need to create "non-value added" documents & paperwork - only evidence that the processes are being carried out the right way.

Likewise, all other aspects of the quality system - non-value-added meetings, non-value-added requirements for minimum numbers of nonconformances reported, non-value-added forms to fill out, non-value-added internal audits that are too cumbersome to maintain, non-value-added training sessions, should ALL be scrutinized brutally and often!  If there is push back about "why we're doing a thing", we should most certainly ask if we're doing it to improve the business or "because ISO says we have to". 

This week's HOW TO GET IT DONE:

1.  Reflect on the real culture of your organization around quality.  Has management clearly communicated its expectations?  Do your actions truly support the directive?  Are you asking the right questions?  Do you truly know how effective your investment in quality and continuous improvement actually is?  (Beyond whether or not you're maintaining certification to a standard)?  Merely maintaining certification is a terrible investment (overhead personnel, hidden costs of forced participation by other departments that serve only to feed the auditability of the system (not actually improving processes and outcomes), the additional cost of the audit events themselves and the required follow up responding to findings, etc.  It's a real money suck with very little real return.  You pay your registration companies enough to maintain registration.  Why spend even more throughout the year on more activity that only serves their benefit?  It doesn't HAVE to be this way.  If this is where you're struggling, connect with us today and let's talk about how you can turn that around.   

2.  Reflect on your quality team's general perception within the organization.  Are they in real demand?  Do operational areas actively ask for their support where there are problems?  Or, are they avoided, thought of as a "necessary evil" or identified as the tattling folks with the clipboards?  Does the meme above hit a little too close to home?  And if so, are you leading the challenge to help your quality team understand the true meaning of the requirements and what is actually required to be compliant?  Do they still rely too heavily on "because I (ISO) said so", rather than developing the skills to find the most efficient and effective way to not only comply but simultaneously IMPROVE the business?  Do you receive the common complaint that the quality group takes pictures, sends emails (cc: ALL), etc but does not participate and join in being part of the solution?  It doesn't HAVE to be this way.  We provide training, soft skills training and coaching for individuals or groups to help change mindset as well as perception within your organization to make the quality team a welcome and valued part of your organization, so that they can continue to champion your valued goals of better quality outcomes and a better customer experience.

If your system is based on ISO9001 (which is also the basis for AS9100 and IATF16949), and your system needs another look at what is REALLY needed to maintain compliance, but ALSO achieve real improvement,  watch this 3-minute video about another great resource to accompany this series.   Get the self-directed, on demand, online learning series ISO9001 in Plain English, today and you'll get:

• A clear understanding of the requirements of ISO9001:2015
• Proven tips to build a robust quality system that's easy to use
• Ways to reduce documentation and paperwork (yes, really!!)

Each video is about 15 minutes and targets a specific element of ISO9001, (with over 6 hours of total content!).  We translate all the gobbledegoop into Plain English you can understand and leverage the requirements to get maximum VALUE from your quality efforts. 

One of the most important things to remember, all-the-time, is that quality efforts exist for the sole purpose of supporting successful operations and the customer experience.  Our constant pursuit must be to leverage our management systems (ISO9001, ISO45001, ISO14001, IATF16949, AS9100, etc) PLUS our lean practices PLUS our Six Sigma tools PLUS our continual improvement efforts toward the achievement of better outcomes for operations and the customer experience.  

For some new ideas on this, get Tribal Knowledge - The Practical Use of ISO, Lean and Six Sigma Together, a simple guide to UNITE ISO9001, lean and Six Sigma to create a robust quality system with better results.  Read what ASQ American Society for Quality – Quality Progress Magazine had to say about it. 

Or for targeted, personalized support and coaching, let’s develop your skills as a quality advocate.  Available weekly, monthly or whatever best suits your needs!  We'll create a routine around your real professional situation.  Whether it's a specific project you're working on or general organizational management, you'll learn how to be an effective champion for quality.

And finally, for onsite consultation and training on any of your quality challenges, quality management systems, problem solving (root cause analysis), risk assessment (FMEA, SWOT), internal audits, management review connect with us today and we'll create a program tailored specifically for your organizations needs to get MORE VALUE out of your quality efforts.  No boring classroom conceptual training with too much "quality speak", just plain talk about how to get better outcomes.