Future Trends in Quality Management
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| by Michael Stanleigh |
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Where is quality management going in the next decade? Being able to look
at current trends and see where they will take us is an interesting and
thought provoking exercise. It can give us a much needed competitive
edge to move ahead of the pack.
Through our continuous, extensive global research studies
we have identified a number of key trends that will have a positive
impact on organizations and how they manage quality initiatives over the
next decade.
Here are 8 trends you can expect to see happen that will help you gain organizational momentum: |
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| 1. |
Quality Management is not dead - it continues to evolve |
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| Quality Management never really died. It evolved. Rather than being
relegated as a position title or a department, it has been infused into
the way everyone works in every single position within their
organizations. Quality is about products and services. It is about
people and processes.
Quality management
has become a critical element contributing to the successful
development of innovations. It is now integrated into project
management. Successful projects have clear quality processes, tools and
templates. Quality management is well, alive and living in
organizations today and in the future. |
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| 2. |
There will be a trend towards Profound Knowledge. This includes the combination of project and quality management principles. |
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| Ultimately, organizations led by people who are guided by the System of
Profound Knowledge are likely to be much more efficient and successful
than organizations which continue with the prevailing style of
management. Profound Knowledge systems integrate increasing knowledge
as part of the system. To this end, no longer is quality management
relegated to production and no longer is project management only an IT
initiative. Quality and project management
are infused into everyone position within every department within every
organization. This is equally true for both public sector and private
sector organizations. We are seeing training and development
initiatives as well as consulting assignments focusing on how to develop
quality measures to all work, projects and learning. This includes
details on how to transfer this knowledge to others so that it stays
resident in the organization when staff leaves. This is becoming
critical as more and more long-term staff retires.
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| 3. |
Six Sigma initiatives will be successful when they are managed as a Project |
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| A great challenge in Six Sigma initiatives is that although they follow a
clear process and quality standards they may fail because they are not
well managed as a project. This has led to problems for Six Sigma
initiatives becoming over time, over budget and not meeting their
customer expectations. Individuals apply the Six Sigma methodology but
fail in their execution. Success on Six Sigma will continue for those
organizations that apply a project management approach to how Six Sigma
initiatives are structured, managed and processed.
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| 4. |
Organizations will undertake Change Management
initiatives focused on ensuring consistency in the management of all
work processes |
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Organizations are undertaking the changes required to transition
themselves from ad hoc and inconsistent work practices to one where
knowledge is incorporated into everyone's job. This helps to ensure
that the knowledge of one resource working on their quality measurable
work is easily transferred to other employees or new employees expected
to take-over or continue work within this role. Organizations will see
increased customer satisfaction rates as a result.
Successful quality management systems do have a direct bottom-line
impact on an organization but will require that the organization
undertake a significant cultural change
because quality management systems have a profound effect on the
structures, systems and resources. These cannot be changed only in the
short term. To have a lasting effect, employees need to be prepared for
the changes that will be necessary and understand the benefits of the
change.
The process for creating the cultural change is easy but one must
recognize that it is journey. It is exciting but you must stay focussed
throughout. Like all journeys, it takes time. There really is no end.
If quality management is built into the corporate culture than
everyone in the organization will not only know what it is they have to
do but how that work will be measured and how that knowledge can be
transferred. |
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| 5. |
Lean Management will become more important to organizations seeking continuous improvement than Six Sigma |
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| Six Sigma has been the dominant force for organizations seeking
improvement in the management of their key business processes. Most
have already reaped the benefits of Six Sigma. Continuous improvement
of key business processes will be more easily realized through the
principles of Lean.
Organizations will identify that the time and cost required to continue
to support Six Sigma will be more than the value produced. Lean is
less expensive, easier to implement and delivers immediate, measurable
improvement.
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| 6. |
Organizations will focus more on where to spend their supplier quality management resources |
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| Organizations can no longer sustain the cost of problems identified
through their supplier evaluations. In order to reduce the risk of
unsecure supply chain organizations will focus more effort and money on
creating strict quality standards that all of their suppliers will be
required to meet. These standards go beyond the traditional ISO
certifications in that they will be very specific to the requirements of
the organization engaging the supplier. Although this will take more
effort in the beginning, the long-term impact will be reduced risk for
the organization that might otherwise be realized by poor supplier
quality standards. These quality standards will be regularly audited to
ensure compliance.
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| 7. |
Quality Standards will move beyond the realm of work processes into job functions |
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| Quality standards have commonly been written for all work processes.
They have emerged as a key element to identify the success of a project
in that they are written for all project management processes, tools and
templates. Now quality standards are being written for all job role
functions so that everyone knows not only what is expected of them, but
exactly what quality standards they must adhere to. These quality
standards will be used in their performance reviews to identify whether
or not their performance adhered to the agreed-upon quality standards
for work performance.
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| 8. |
Quality Departments will undertake Strategic Quality Planning |
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| Quality departments and quality professionals will demonstrate how,
through their quality initiatives (i.e.; Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, ISO
registration, etc.) they are positively impacting the organization's
bottom-line. By being forced to become more accountable for results
they will spend more time ensuring that they are doing the right quality
initiatives at the right time and that each one is clearly linked to
one of the key strategic imperatives developed by the management team.
Every quality initiative can, and must be tied to key business
process performance indicators in order to have any real impact on
productivity and the bottom-line. Undertaking Strategic Quality Planning
will ensure quality departments are able to identify what they should
be doing, how they should be doing it, why they are doing it and the
relationships of these endeavours to the organization's strategic plans.
When quality strategies are clearly outlined and measured, quality
departments will be able to ensure overall performance improvement
gains. |
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| Concluding Remarks
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| Many of you will read these trends and believe that you are not "senior"
enough in your respective organizations to ensure these trends are
effectively implemented in your organizations. This is not at all true.
One of the great strengths of leaders is their ability to use
influence and critical thinking skills to bring about positive change.
Each of us can choose to be either a leader or a follower. We must
decide. Our organization's future may depend upon the right decisions
being made today. Hopefully, knowledge of these trends will help you
stay ahead of your competitors and help you contribute to your
organization's future success.
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| About the Author |
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| As President and CEO of Business Improvement Architects,
Michael works with executives and senior managers around the world to
help them improve operational effectiveness through strategic planning,
leadership development, project management and quality management. He
has been instrumental in helping his clients reduce waste and increase
efficiencies and profits with his clear processes and quality approach.
For more information about this article you may contact Michael at mstanleigh@bia.ca |
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