Involve Your Team in Continuous Improvement - Content Guide

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Involve your team in continuous improvement: Content guide

Contents

Involve your team in continuous improvement: Content guide 1

Overview 2

Key terms 2

Identifying opportunities for improvement 4

Total quality management (TQM) 4

Quality journey 4

Evaluate systems and processes 5

Systems — the foundation for TQM 5

TQM tools 6

Communicating change 10

Employee empowerment 10

Collaborative decision making 10

Facilitating implementation 11

Deming’s 14 points on TQM 11

More resources 12

Sample answers to ‘My workplace’ questions 13

Overview

Today, just about all organisations want to improve quality, productivity and profit. Yet many efforts to introduce continuous improvement programs fail. But with some knowledge and planning this need not happen to you! This Content guide contains information and short activities to help you to:

·  identify opportunities for continuous improvement

·  evaluate current workplace systems and processes

·  facilitate change by communicating plans effectively and involving others in the achievement of objectives

·  implement a streamlined continuous improvement process.

Key terms

Audit

Structured checklist for recording performance compared to pre-determined standards.

Benchmarking

Provides a reference point so that comparisons can be made between current and past performance in a single department or across an organisation. Comparisons can also be made with competitors within the same industry, including the market leaders.

Check sheet

A chart used to collect information on variations to the ideal working practice.

Continuous improvement

The idea of continuous improvement is related to the belief that there is always a way to improve the way we do business. By identifying opportunities, having consistent processes in place and constantly reviewing performance, businesses can remain competitive. This relates to the whole organisation as well as all tasks undertaken by all work units and individual employees.

Corporate culture

Refers to an organisation’s values, beliefs and behaviours. It creates the tone of an organisation.

Occupational health and safety (OHS)

Organisations are required by legislation to provide a workplace where employees are not exposed to hazards. This responsibility includes the development of work processes, facilities and training to enable employees to work safely.

Process

A series of activities directed towards a stated outcome.

System

A set of procedures that, when implemented, aims to achieve a desired outcome.

Total quality management (TQM)

TQM refers to an integrated approach by organisational leaders to focus all levels of the business on quality. Continuous improvement systems and processes are employed to improve quality in all aspects of the business. This ultimately results in a better quality product and consequently to greater customer satisfaction.

Identifying opportunities for improvement

Total quality management (TQM)

These days, businesses that are focused on improving their performance make sure to implement programs to improve quality, productivity and profit. However, many programs typically run into serious resistance during the implementation phase, which often lasts less than 12 months, and the results are disappointing.

The key to achieving enduring success is to create a positive attitude to continuous improvement throughout the entire organisation, and that includes the internal customers (employees) as well as external customers. Cultural changes need to be initiated and maintained if an organisation is to be successful with a continuous improvement plan.

The aim of total quality management (TQM) is to improve systems and processes across the entire organisation. TQM provides a series of tools and techniques to improve quality, save money and improve the use of people and information across the organisation.

TQM traditionally focuses on continuous improvement — making lots of small improvements, which all add up to provide improved productivity and performance. Here are some examples:

·  reducing power costs on the bakery production floor by turning off the ovens for two hours during the night shift

·  by implementing a check sheet on the production floor that records accidents and injuries, workers become more aware of the need for improved OHS — this means workers compensation and down time due to injury is reduced.

Quality journey

To be able to improve quality and start the quality journey, an organisation needs to ask some key questions. Below are some questions that an organisational mission/vision statement will need to address if the quality journey is going to provide first-rate, long-term results. The questions will also provide something for you and your team to reflect upon:

1. What does quality look like to you and your customers?
2. What will your game plan look like? How can quality improve your ability to compete in the marketplace?
3. How can you ensure that all levels and functions within the organisation are focused on quality and continuous improvement? What will need to change to deliver the right:

·  organisational culture

·  structure

·  training and development

·  rewards

·  processes?

1. How can you plan to involve employees and external customers in the feedback process?
2. Who will you benchmark your success against? How will you track your progress?
3. What can organisational leaders do to show their commitment to quality and continuous improvement?
4. How can you ensure that employees take ownership of the quality journey? What can you do to encourage a continuous flow of small improvements from all levels of the organisation?

My workplace

1. Where will you find the information needed to answer the seven questions above that relate to the quality journey?

Once you have located the information you need, take a lever arch file and put together a story that describes the organisation in which you work. This will give you a foundation to work from when looking for ideas related to continuous improvement.

Answer:

Evaluate systems and processes

Systems — the foundation for TQM

No organisation performs at its peak in all aspects of its operations all the time. Even if systems and processes have been streamlined and duplications reduced, changes always occur, and this means that you will need an organisational culture that embraces continuous improvement and quality management.

Systems should be in place to ensure that all employees know what to do and how to do it. They must be communicated widely, implemented consistently and simple to follow.

The driving force behind TQM is to continually improve systems and processes so that they will consistently and cost effectively deliver superior customer service. Don’t forget that customers are both internal and external to the organisation.

How can you improve systems for superior customer service? There are four key areas to focus on:

·  the suppliers of raw materials and equipment

·  organisational processes

·  external customer service

·  after sales service.

Ask questions, such as:

·  Do our suppliers meet our needs?

·  Where are things going wrong? What’s causing the problem?

·  Do our customers come back to us? Are they happy?

Effective systems reduce the chance of mistakes and allow organisations to use the resources they have at their disposal. If good quality systems are the foundation for continuous improvement, how do we ensure that the right systems are in place?

To work out whether a specific process or system needs improving, ask these questions.

Does this step in the process help to:

·  deliver better customer service?

·  empower employees to make the best use of resources?

·  increase productivity?

·  enhance communication?

·  reduce costs without reducing quality?

·  cut out unnecessary red tape?

·  support originality?

If the answer to any of these is NO, then the step needs to be removed from the process, and it needs to rewritten to ensure the best use of resources available.

TQM tools

The basic purpose of any measurement system is to provide feedback relative to your objectives. Measurement gains true value when it provides information for timely decisions.

If you can get your performance measurement right, the data you generate will tell you where you are, how you are doing, and where to go next!

Decide what to measure

Applying the often quoted 80/20 rule (that 80% of business comes from 20% of an organisation’s customers) to an organisation will help you to create the greatest stakeholder value and generate the most profit with the least expenditure on assets, wastage and employee costs. The key is to identify the few spots where small changes can bring about the greatest gains.

Decide how to measure it

Charts and graphs are useful when they collect and present meaningful information that you can use to make improvements. Data will need to be collected in a consistent manner by well-trained staff who are committed to the process. TQM tools should be used to simplify data and allow analysis for smart business decisions.

Examples of measurement tools

Here are some tools to identify and prioritise areas for improvement:

1. Check sheets

Table 1: Check sheet of wastage issues

Number of problems reported
Wastage issue / Week
1 / Week
2 / Week
3 / Total
Faulty ovens / 2 / 3 / 1 / 6
Packaging errors / 10 / 25 / 14 / 49
Total / 12 / 28 / 15 / 55

The check sheet above is like a tally sheet where incidents (in this case faults and errors) can be recorded on a daily or weekly basis. This way, you can measure the amount of times a particular error is occurring over a monthly period and whether or not there are any patterns. If you are looking to improve systems and processes you will need to ‘diagnose before you prescribe’. A check sheet will show you where the problem is occurring, and how often. Only then, can you attempt to fix the problem.

2. Pie charts

This pie chart compares the occurrence of various types of accidents on the production floor over a yearly period. You will notice that the message is displayed in a simple visual format (coloured pie pieces) as well as numerically (using percentages). At a quick glance it is easy to spot that the biggest problem for this organisation is the number of falls that have occurred in 2004.

Figure 1: 2004 Incidence of accidents on production floor

3. Brainstorming

Brainstorming involves a group of people coming together to generate new ideas. It is a useful technique because:

·  once generated, ideas can then be explored, refined and developed

·  it allows all individuals within an organisation to have some input into developing ideas

·  it provides qualitative and quantitative measures. For example, employees can be asked how they feel about a particular issue as well as how many of them are affected by it.

Here are some more tools to further identify and analyse areas for improvement:

4. Stratification charts

Stratification charts will help you to clearly identify issues. Using this example, data from the weekly check sheets on the bakery production floor was collected and inserted in a word document chart. You can see from the chart below that there were 10 falls recorded in the first quarter (January–March 2004) and so on.

This table data was then plotted on a stratification chart to provide a clear visual message on where the biggest issues are for OHS in this particular organisation.

Figure 2: Accidents on the production floor

5. Pareto charts

The Pareto chart has been used below to measure and identify the number of hours that the bakery’s ovens are non-operational over a monthly period. The information you can see from the chart is similar to both the pie chart and stratification chart in that it provides a clear visual message of numerical data that can be used to identify and analyse problems.

Figure 3: Monthly report: Ovens non-operational

If you’d like to know more information about these tools, you can read Cole, K (2001) Supervision. The theory and practice of first-line management. 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall: Sydney Chapter 9, pp 270–300.

My workplace

1. What type of things could be measured in your workplace using TQM tools to provide meaningful feedback?

Answer:

Communicating change

Employee empowerment

No organisation can achieve consistently high results in today’s market with an unmotivated workforce. In fact, your employees can be your greatest asset!

Competitors can copy your products and technology but they can’t match energised employees who really care. The people who work within an organisation hold the knowledge and workings of an organisation and are central to its competitive advantage. Well-trained, coached and dedicated staff are critical to the development and implementation of continuous improvement strategies.

Remember that those working directly with the customers know what is happening. When the ideas of all employees are valued and acted upon, the talent you have hired is able to provide you with more than just their day-to-day contribution. They will provide an insight into the way the customer feels, and may also provide some creative solutions to the problems you face.

Collaborative decision making

A quality workplace culture supports and promotes communication right across the organisation. Whether workers are focused on research, production, marketing or customer service, they should be working together to share ideas and reduce unnecessary errors.

Successful collaboration involves establishing an environment in which it can effectively operate. Leaders must possess particular qualities to enable the benefits of collaborative decision making to become a reality.

Leaders who encourage and promote collaborative decision-making have the confidence to involve everyone in the decision-making process. They are able to:

·  communicate a vision to employees

·  inspire energy in others

·  set challenging goals

·  see change as an opportunity, not a threat

·  think laterally.

Good leaders are open to new ideas and committed to quality and excellence.

For more information about good leaders, research ‘25 lessons from Jack Welch (CEO, General Electric)’. You can find out more about leadership in Murphy, E & Murphy, M (2002) Leading on the edge of chaos — the 10 critical elements for success in volatile times. Prentice Hall: New York.