Quality
November is considered World Quality Month. While there is probably a quality expert or group of experts in your company, quality is not the sole task of an expert, quality is everybody’s job. During this time of unprecedented global crisis, it’s time for all of us to imagine ways to drive a better quality for our society. What are the skills needed to lead quality among the new generations?
Why is November World Quality Month?
World Quality Month started in Japan. Since 1951, November has been declared Quality Control month because it is when the Deming prize of quality is awarded.
Dr. Edward Demings, an American professor of statistics and an internationally renowned consultant was the man who the Japanese credited with providing the stimulus of the production of quality goods since the end of World War II.
When Edwards Deming received recognition for his work in Japan, donated the money received by Japanese authorities to continue helping other companies to thrive. This donation gave birth to the Deming Prize in Japan and was the kickstart for other countries to work on implementing and developing new quality practices.
Portrait of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, American business expert who helped rebuild industry in Japan ... [+]
Quality focused on numbers
During his conferences and books, starting in 1950, Deming would urge companies to avoid managing by the numbers. He would say “inhibitors to quality and productivity have crept in, among which are: emphasis on the quarterly dividends, short-term planning, creative accounting, manipulation of assets, management by the numbers, business on price tag with short-term relationship, unfriendly takeover, and the so-called merit system or annual appraisal of people.”
Most management practices nowadays still simply trust the numbers, forcing individuals within a team to be ranked to define salaries, offering individual incentives, and using annual performance improvement programs (a/k/a PIP) with quotas to push employees to perform or leave. When what they are doing is, pushing employees to think for their good, a Me Culture, instead of promoting team collaboration, system thinking and long-term, a We Culture. This system penalizes people for things that could be out of their control.
Skills to practice quality in the future of work
To achieve quality in the “new normal” and considering the new generations of employees, pay attention to the person, not the numbers. Help employees understand their own results. Help them understand what quality means for the products they are designing so that they can help build quality into the product too. In that case, we can better help employees model positive behaviors with a positive and growth mindset, avoiding anxiety and fear.
There are three desired behaviors in the dimension of attention that will drive better quality are:
- Pushing decision-making to the front-line
Decision-making brings about a sense of control. If the decisions are all made by the same person, then the engagement of the other team member suffers. As Deming would say: “The obligation of any component is to contribute its best to the system”, Each team member needs a clear role and responsibilities for the specific process or project. In a We Culture, each individual should have the responsibility to do their role, and the freedom to do it how they decide to do it to achieve the best possible result for the organization.
- Understanding the why behind goals and performance metrics
Setting goals and measuring performance is probably one of the most challenging activities of a leader. Why is it that they keep on trying to define arbitrary goals by themselves? Goodhart's law says: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."
If an employee is forced to work from 8 to 5, they may do work that can be done in 4 hours, in 9 hours just to meet the target. Goals can be set by the employee that will work on them. They will be more engaged and committed to meeting self-imposed goals, and not be surprised if they are even more challenging.
- Manage risk by sharing, observing and listening
When it is a common thought that leaders should be the ones making high-risk decisions, teams should learn to evaluate alternatives and make decisions together. The amount of information available nowadays makes it impossible for one person to make the right call. It is important that all the team members know the risks and opportunities and learn how to weigh them.
Leading quality in the future of work is about withholding your thoughts, observing, letting people talk, listening, and asking questions. That’s how you can understand how to lead better quality.
