Overcoming the Impediments to Quality

The bottom line for any private club is to consistently meet or exceed the expectations of its members.? Given that the members of clubs typically come from the affluent and elite segments of a community means that their life experiences have accustomed them to superior levels of quality and service.? To exceed their expectations, therefore, the management and staff of a private club must be committed to quality in all aspects of its operations.

In the late 1970’s and 80’s, American businesses and industries became obsessed with understanding and implementing the necessary initiatives and processes that led to the astonishing Japanese dominance in quality manufacturing.? American academics and business leaders, building on the pioneering work of Dr. Joseph H. Duran, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, and others, embraced the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) as the answer to improved competitiveness.

In 1988 a major U.S. government agency defined TQM as “a strategy for continuously improving performance at every level, and in all areas of responsibility.? It combines fundamental management techniques, existing improvement efforts, and specialized technical tools under a disciplined structure focused on continuously improving all processes.” (emphasis added)

While many businesses and organizations embraced TQM, not all attempts were successful.

As often stated, much can be learned from failure, which demands close examination, while success is celebrated but often less well understood.? In 1996, Robert J. Masters published an article in Quality Progress magazine entitled, Overcoming the Barriers to TQM’s Success.? In this paper the author listed eight obstacles to efforts to improve quality (shown below with my comments and resources relating to private club management in italics):

1.?“Lack of management commitment.? Management must commit time and resources and clearly communicate the importance and goals to all personnel.”

Service-Based Leadership places a primary focus on providing all the tools, training, resources, support, daily engagement, and example to provide high levels of quality and service to members.? Constant communication is an essential element of such leadership, while Unimpeded Communication ensures that everyone in the organization is on the same page.

2.?“Inability to change the organizational culture.? Change takes time and effort.? For the culture to change, the employees need to want change and be willing to participate.? This requires reasons that management must convey.? The change will only occur if the employees trust the management.? It cannot occur from a state of fear.”

Well-defined and continually reinforced Organizational Values and Culture of Service are essential to club operations.? Whether you need to start from scratch to develop such a culture or want to change an existing culture, you cannot achieve quality and service without it.

“The quality of your leadership is determined by the influence you have with your followers, which, in turn, is established by the quality of your relationships with them – and your relationships are built on a foundation of trust, of which integrity, competency, consistency, and common decency are primary ingredients.” (emphasis added)

3.?“Improper planning.? Planning must involve all parts of the organization and be communicated clearly to employees.”

A Discipline of Planning on all levels of the organization is crucial.? As we say, the importance of disciplined planning cannot be overstated.? Haphazard planning results in haphazard operations and equally haphazard performance.? See Expectations, Work Planning, and Performance Reviews for additional information.

4.?“Lack of training.? The most effective training comes from senior management.? Informal training needs to occur on a continual basis.”

Lack of formal and consistent training is the Achilles heel of club operations.? Training on the Go is an effective way to continually train without breaking the bank.? The club’s management team must provide a consistent message of quality and excellence and be actively involved in training.? Ensuring the management team is properly and thoroughly trained is even more important than training line employees.

5.?“Organizational structure problems and isolated individuals or departments.? Multifunctional teams will help break down some of these barriers.? Restructuring is another method.”

Structure and organization are fundamental in any complex enterprise, as is the discipline of utilizing industry best practices on a consistent basis.? The Remarkable Service Infrastructure is offered as an overarching plan for structuring club operations for quality and service. Management Disciplines on the Go provides additional helpful information.

6.?“Ineffective measurement and lack of data.? Effective decisions require that the employees have access to the necessary data.”

Benchmarking Operations in detail will provide the data to keep stakeholders informed and focused on continual improvements.? Judicious sharing of the data with line employees will furnish the necessary feedback and incentives to excel in their efforts.? Check out Club Benchmarking Resources for greater detail.

7.?“Inadequate attention to internal and external customers.”

The feedback loops in The Remarkable Service Infrastructure graphically represent the need to listen to both internal and external customers.? Knowing and addressing the concerns and challenges of employees is just as important as providing for the needs and desires of members.

8.?“Inadequate empowerment, lack of teamwork.? Teams require training.? Their recommendations should be followed whenever possible.? Individuals need to be empowered to make decisions.”

Note the requirement for employees to be willing, committed, AND empowered in The Remarkable Service Infrastructure.?? This powerful tool of quality and service is described and explained in The Power of Employee Empowerment.

The first step in overcoming any obstacle is to identify it; once identified you can formulate initiatives to address it.? Private Club Performance Management provides a wide variety of resources at the links above to put your club on the path to improved levels of quality and service.? Despite whatever success you’ve achieved in your own quest for high levels of quality and service, reviewing the PCPM materials may inspire or materially assist in your efforts towards excellence.

LAST WEEK OF END OF LINE SALE

Ed Rehkopf's Entire Portfolio of PCPM Marketplace Store private club resources is offered in a?LAST OPPORTUNITY SALE?at a?50% discount.? The sale will end on October 7, 2024, after which the Marketplace Store will be shut down.? Those purchasing the Entire Portfolio will receive the materials digitally through a file sharing service within a week.

All materials are described in detail with links to samples of the materials on the?Professional Development,?Operational Resources, and?Training Resources?category pages of the PCPM Marketplace Store.

Those desiring more targeted resources can purchase items of their choice on an?a la carte?basis with a 30% discount.? Simply select the desired products and add them to the shopping cart.? The 30% discount has already been applied to the prices of these items.