A Better Business Bureaucracy: Total Quality Management Decision Matrix

TQM - a Total Quality Management decision matrix is any special, organized performance enhancement effort aimed at improving services; reducing costs; pleasing customers; and improving quality, working life, and employee morale. Key toTQM is to do better - to create a better business bureaucracy based on rejuvenatedcontinuously improving customer-focussed processes. You don't have to have dramatic improvement. Modest improvements add up over time; their cumulative effect can be substantial.

Employees are your key to improved productivity. They do the work, so they are best able to identify and implement improvements. It's not usually people who hamper improved productivity. It is often the systems, rules, policies, and regulations which get in the way.

Step One — Planning

•   Understand what business you're in, i.e., your product/service/offering
  
•   Understand your customers' expectations about your product/service/offering
  
•   Understand your competition and how your product/service/offering is unique
  
•   Understand quality/service/performance improvement is a cross-organizational intervention and not just   something which occurs at the point of contact with the customer
  
•   Everyone has a role and responsibilities
  
•   Create an action plan to include philosophy, information, and training
  
•   Training must be skill-focused, not just smile training
  

Step Two — Implement The Plan

•   Communicate your Total Quality Management decision matrix to everyone involved or affected
  
•   Establish teams
  
•   Identify monitoring devices
  
•   Solve initial problems
  

Step Three — Follow-up And Adjustment

•   Conduct review meetings as appropriate
  
•   Receive and act on project team review/reports
  
•   Advertise successes; learn from mistakes
  
•   Build a better business bureaucracy
  
•   Correct shortfalls
  
•   Revise as needed
  

Step Four — Continuous Improvement

•   Identify sponsors/champions
  
•   Heedindustry reports, best practices, and benchmarks
  
•   Deploy continuous improvement teams
  
•   Implement a Total Quality Management decision matrix
  
•   Articulate process for continuous improvement and Total Quality Management
  
•   When your effort fossilizes, blow it up and create a better business bureaucracy!
  

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