FREE online courses on Quality Improvement - Environment for Quality Improvement

 

To make improvements in quality, a positive and healthy environment is essential. It is the responsibility of the top management to create an environment, which is conducive to encourage the people to become innovative and creative. Following factors contribute in creation of quality improvement environment:

 

• Leadership
• Values, attitudes and behavior
• Education and training
• Quality improvement goals
• Communication and teamwork
• Reward and recognition system

 

Leadership

 

The top management should take initiative and provide leadership
for creating an environment for continuous quality improvement. Senior managers should demonstrate leadership and commitment necessary for creating environment for quality improvement by their own actions, constancy and development of essential resources.  Managers should lead quality improvement by communicating purpose and goals, by continuously improving their own work processes, by fostering an environment of open communication, teamwork and respect for the individual and by enabling and empowering everyone in the organization to improve their work processes.

 

Values, attitudes and behavior

 

The environment for quality improvement often requires a new set of shared values, attitudes and behavior, focusing on satisfying customer needs and setting ever more challenging goals.  Values, attitudes and behaviors that are essential for continuous quality improvement include:

 

• Focusing attention on satisfying the needs of both internal and external customers
• Involving the entire supply chain from suppliers to customers in quality improvement
• Demonstrating management commitment, leadership and involvement through visible actions and examples
• Emphasizing quality improvement as a part of everyone's job, either by teamwork or individual activities
• Addressing problems by improving processes
• Continuously improving all processes
• Establishing open communication with access to data and information
• Promoting teamwork and respect for the individual
• Making decisions based on facts and analysis of data

 

Education and training

 

Quality improvement environment can be created and maintained through continuous education and training programmers. All members of an organization, including the highest level of management, should be educated and trained in quality principles and practices and in the application of appropriate methods for quality improvement. All education and training programmes should be reviewed for consistency with quality principles and practices.  The effectiveness of education and training should be regularly assessed.  An effective training programme relevant to process, people and culture can make quality improvement happen.

 

Quality improvement goals

 

Quality improvement goals should be established throughout the organization.  They should be closely integrated with the overall business goals and provide focus for increasing customer satisfaction, process effectiveness and efficiency. Quality improvement goals should be clearly defined in measurable terms. Goals should be clearly understandable, challenging and pertinent. Strategies to achieve these goals should be understood and agreed to by all who must work together to achieve them.  Quality improvement goals should be regularly reviewed and must respond to changing customer expectations.

 

Communication and teamwork

 

Open communication and teamwork is essential to remove organizational and personal barriers that interfere with effectiveness, efficiency and continuous improvement of processes. Open communication and teamwork should be extended throughout the whole supply chain, including suppliers and customers.  Communication and teamwork require trust.  Mutual trust is essential among the team members involved in continuous quality improvement activities.

 

Reward and recognition system

 

The recognition process encourages actions consistent with values, attitudes and behavior necessary for quality improvement.

Successful recognition processes emphasize the development and growth of individuals and consider the factors, which influence an individual's work performance. Reward and recognition process should emphasize on group performance and group recognition and encourage frequent and informal feedback from the people.

 

Reward systems should be consistent with the recognition process. Care should be taken to avoid any internal destructive competition among employees.