HOW TO IMPROVE QUALITY IN ONE'S FIRM

Every business owner likes to think that they have a commitment to quality. However, products and services disappoint thus raising customer complaints. So how can you improve quality at your company? Here are 6 steps you can take to put you on the right path.

1. Make a commitment.   

Commitment is the dedication to course or the constancy to purpose. Company's commitment to quality is not a one man's show- the quality assurance- but has to come from the top and to be reinforced over and over again cross cutting through out the respective departments. "Constancy of purpose means that quality decisions are not situational."

End of month quality is the same as beginning of month. The long term benefit of the organization is not sacrificed to hit quarterly targets."

Commitment is demonstrated through continuous and timely provisional of the right resources, both human and financial.

2. Track mistakes.

If you are going to commit to quality, first you must define exactly what quality is. For manufacturers, this process involves statistical quality control, the process of setting a product's specifications and then sampling a small number of units from the production line to see how closely they measure up to those specs. Standards are set and, if too much deviation occurs (or if quality appears to be trending in the wrong direction), the manufacturing process is altered. 

Tracking quality is admittedly more difficult in a service business, and efforts by groups such as the International Organization for Standardization (known as ISO) to create meaningful benchmarks beyond manufacturing have had mixed results. One way to gauge customer satisfaction (and, by extension, the quality of your service) is by tracking what is called a net promoter score that keeps tabs on the number of customers who would recommend a business to their friends. A customer who answers 9 or 10 is seen as a promoter; a customer who answers 7 or 8 is seen as passive; and a customer who gives a company a score of 6 or lower is seen as a detractor. By subtracting the number of detractors from the number of promoters, a company arrives at its net promoter score.

3. Invest in training.

Quality movement by quality control/assurance department is doomed to poor performance, for it demonstrates to every other employee that quality is not their chief concern. Instead, businesses should train workers at all levels to look for ways to improve quality and to ameliorate problems.

Training takes on several dimensions. For starters, you should set up a new-employee initiation or induction program that trains workers to focus on quality issues from their first day on the job. It is important that you provide workers with a history of the company through the lens of quality. Let them know what problems you have had in the past, how you corrected these problems, and where your company stands with respect to its quality goals today. You should also go over your definition of quality in detail, and show them how you measure quality. Finally, train workers to see the connection between their actions and, more broadly, their work ethic, and the company's overall performance. By tying individual behavior to an overall system of work, and then showing where that system can, on occasion break down, you will be giving workers the information they need to be good stewards of ones business.

4. Organize quality circles.

Quality circles are groups of employees who are encouraged to assess processes and recommend improvements, all with the goal of promoting quality, efficiency, and productivity OR teams of workers who are given the authority and responsibility for making a business better. To succeed, participation in a quality circle should be voluntary; circles should be multidisciplinary and draw members from all corners of a company; and the circle should set its own agenda (rather than pursuing a company owner's agenda.) 

Employees may not support the introduction of such a technique, but organizing staff into quality circles can be an effective way to identify and address issues. Once you have invited workers to join a quality circle, provide them with adequate resources to pursue their analysis, and schedule a time in the future at which they may present their findings. It is important that you act on their recommendations, even if the group's conclusion is not necessarily one you would have drawn yourself. Remember, the purpose of the exercise is less to solve a particular problem than it is to engage workers in the process of finding and addressing concerns. Moreover, you should be tracking customer complaints or product defects on a regular basis, so if the circle's recommendations do not produce the desired result, you'll know it, and be able to act.

5. Have the right attitude.

Too many people turn the quest to improve quality into something oppressive &/or the responsibility of the quality team. This quality culture, brought about by having positive attitude towards quality, is not easy to adopt and runs afoul of some of the basic management practices we take for granted. Quality starts with the initial process owner. Like I always say, It is magnanimous to produce 5 quality cases that will make the customer happy rather than producing 100 cases that would cause customer complaints &/or rework. Quality is never an option but an obligation and it is what makes the customer smile. We should pursue quality as an interesting, noble, and worthwhile goal. We need to create quality culture through sensitization and creating quality responsibility matrix. Irrespective of our departments, quality, by RACI ( Responsibility, Accountability, Consultation &/or Informed) is part of our day to day activities. It is a way of life and the entire team's effort. Therefore, in order for you to improve quality at your business, whether you manufacture products, distribute goods, or perform a service for your clients, your first step (and also the hardest) is to resist the temptation to dwell on your company's flaws and instead rally your team around the cause of rooting them out.

6. Pre-launch Product and Market Testing

Pre-launch product and market testing helps one to fix errors, add features and adjust the functionalities so the product meets the needs and requirements of consumers. One needs to test the product through beta testing, as well as test how consumers react to it via market testing.

Beta testing allows one to meet the promised user experience and ensure all product components including quality perform as initially intended. Product testing helps one gauge how your product performs in the real world vs. its performance in a controlled environment. You will test your product for usability, support, and marketing so you can measure customer validation and enhance product quality accordingly.

Market research enables one to understand the demand for and acceptance of your product, allowing you to achieve higher accuracy during a full product launch. By performing market tests, you will be able to streamline distribution, production, and support systems for your product. Additionally, you will be able to mitigate investment risks and make changes to the marketing of the product as well as the product itself.