This series of four articles have focused on defining quality, linking it to customer experience and determining the type of person we need to manage our quality system.
All of this writing got me thinking….. do we even need a quality system?
I wish that were true but unfortunately Quality is like common sense, we assume it exists and we imagine everyone does it the same as us.
Quality is a perception, its open for interpretation and one person’s measure of quality may be very different from another’s.
The focus of quality can vary depending on the type of business you are in. The measure of quality in a human-centred service industry may be safety, how many critical incidents occur is often a common measure of quality. In a more corporate setting, a quality indicator may be purely financial, in manufacturing it may be the reduction of waste.
We can talk about why we do quality, “to provide a great experience for our customers so they keep coming back to us” but understanding what we can do to ensure this outcome can be trickier.
Quality management systems are often mandated by funders or as part of a contract with another organisation to give them assurance that you are doing a good job. Whilst there is research to suggest that implementing a quality system will provide a return on your investment1, when a quality system is implemented and not understood it can be counterproductive to quality, creating extra work and costing valuable resources to maintain.
In his article, "The True Measures of Success" Michael J Mauboussin2 discusses the importance of measuring the right thing. This isn’t an idea new to him, indeed the saying “what gets measured gets done” has been quoted many times (and its origins debated), but Michael makes a great point of examining the importance of using statistical analysis and not being overconfident in your interpretation and beliefs about what drives quality in your organisation.
In my example, the perception that safety drives quality could prevent you from measuring what keeps customers coming back, ie the ease of getting an appointment may be a better measure of quality which drives revenue.
So do you need a quality system?
You do, but only if you use it to measure the right things....
If you have designed a quality system to meet the requirements of an external funder, their focus may be different to yours. What your system measures and monitors may satisfy them..
...but is it measuring the right things for you?
1 http://asq.org/economic-case/
2 https://hbr.org/2012/10/the-true-measures-of-success
============================
Connect with Rebecca:
If you are interested in working in an efficient customer focused business here are a few ways I can help:
- Download a free chapter of my book [HERE]
Get a sample of DECIDE|DESIGN|DELEGATE the three step guide to implementing a quality system.
- Ask me about attending the "Quality Network" program
Come for a FREE session and meet the tribe. [More info here]
- Work with me
If you would like to work directly with me to build an efficient enterprise reply with #lessbusy and we can arrange a time to have a chat about what you need.