Continuous improvement

There are many management fads, techniques, and practices that all have basically the same outcome for an organization: To become more efficient with its resources and more effective in achieving its goals.

The Total Quality Management movement has lasted longer than most management philosophies because it is based on the premise of achieving continuous improvement to produce quality products that will continuously satisfy the changing needs of customers. Quality improvement is more about the journey than reaching a final destination. This is because you can never arrive at a point where “quality” today will still be the standard of quality in the future. Everything changes, and every organization must be innovative to discover and uncover best practices that can be adapted to their situation.

A key ingredient to start on the journey is for top management to commit to making needed changes, providing the resources, and creating the environment that will ensure the change is successful. Without this commitment, an illusion of change will occur, but the status quo will soon regain its comfortable position.

We have examined the critical stages that an organization should follow to fully implement quality improvement, and we have concluded that there are at least four basic phases—and all four are identified by words that rhyme: Now, WOW, How, and Vow.

As a manager or business owner, you should involve key people in this change process, and ideally your entire staff. We suggest that you meet once per week for 30 to 40 minutes in a workshop environment where everyone will be responsible to participate. Identify a specific topic for improvement, such as customer service, and every week you will use this topic as the point of discussion as you progress through the four phases. In one month, you should be able to create actionable steps that people have committed to follow so that measurable improvements are realized. Below are the four weekly phases and questions you will need to answer:

Week One: Now. This defines your current organizational status. Share ideas to honestly examine your current situation. The main questions you will answer at this session are: What is the current status in a particular area? What would be the typical experience a customer has after interacting with us in that area?

Week Two: WOW! This describes what your organization could and should become to achieve the ultimate outcome in a particular area. Ask: Focusing on the topic from last week, what would a WOW experience for the customer look and feel like?

Once you have described this situation, write down all the sensory experiences by asking: What would she see, hear, smell taste, or touch in an ideal situation? What would make the customer say “WOW!” after such an experience?

Week Three: How? What steps must be taken to move the organization from Now to Wow? Ask: How could we achieve the WOW experience for the customer?

List specific steps and resources needed to make the changes. Identify who will be responsible to accomplish the various steps. Set target dates, and determine a budget. This is typically the planning stage. After all of this is done, there is one more step to take in order to begin the change making process and ensure that your organization will not backslide into the comfortable status quo. That step is to Vow.

Week Four: Vow- means to make a commitment and ensure that the steps will be carried out to achieve the desired results and outcome. Develop a policy and procedure document to systemize the new activity in your organization. Make a commitment to ensure the new process becomes a regular practice.

Follow-up to make sure people are following what they commit to do. If progress is not being made, meet with the responsible individuals and identify the root cause. The individual may need more training, resources; or duties may need to be delegated so more time is available to focus on the area of improvement.

Follow these four phases, and over a period of time you will realize an organization that is continuously improving in many other ways besides those you are specifically targeting. Residual effects could include lower turnover, improved morale, reduced costs, and increasing profits. In short time, you may be repeating the mantra, “now, wow, how, vow” as part of your transformational process.

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)