What is quality management?
Quality management is a set of tools and actions that have the purpose of avoiding possible errors or deviations in the production process, and in products and services that are created with these processes.But as we´ve said before, it is useless to correct errors continuously, if we don´t know how to detect which variables cause them and we do not learn from it.On this opportunity, we will tell you what the 7 principles of Quality Management are, and how they can help us in our company:
1. Customer Focus
This first approach, answers the question: quality for whom? Companies depend on their customers to survive, since it represents profits and more work.
It is necessary that organizations understand the needs of their customers, both current and future, and can also satisfy the necessary requirements and meet expectations to ensure that they are loyal to the company.
Understanding this, it is easier to understand this customer-centric approach. The idea of increasing customer satisfaction must be clear in all sectors of the organization, and in each of the processes and activities. This will lead to the whole team being on the same page and more efficient.
2. Leadership
The concept of organizational leadership refers to “the interpersonal skill or capacity of a leader or the process through which he influences, induces and encourages employees to carry out the company´s goals with enthusiasm and of their own free will”.
Leaders are responsible for creating and maintaining a good internal environment, and getting employees involved with the organization’s purposes.
Leaders are not always people with a high-level position, they can be people who, having certain leadership characteristics, assume the role of proposing changes, actions and results.
It is extremely important that the leaders of the organizations offer information to the rest of the employees and team members; that make clear the objectives and vision of the future of a company.
If a new employee enters the company and has no one to guide him and show him the quality values, how will this person be able to stay in sync with the rest of the company?
3. People´s Commitment.
With good leaders, the people who make up the organization will be aware of the quality values of the company, but it is not enough to just inform. It is important to understand that a motivated person who feels valued will make a much greater commitment to their work. .
To increase employee commitment to the organization, it is necessary to listen to them: The best ideas and improvement opportunities come from the people who carry out the processes on a daily basis. If there is something that is not right, they are the people who will know best. Training, motivation and incentives will also help the employee represent the company’s values.
4. Process approach.
To achieve quality, an organization must be based on process management, that is, its activities are structured and organized through processes that help it achieve purpose. If a company is subdivided into several processes, it is easier to control, evaluate and improve each one. With good planning, results are better.
5. Evidence-based decision making.
To improve, the decisions we make must be based on data analysis and collected information.
To collect information it is necessary to listen to employees, and observe and evaluate through internal audits. Full Audits, for example, is a tool that will help you in this process, since through a Checklist system, it helps you collect consistent data, which the software then analyzes in order to make the best business decisions.
Identify points of improvement and determine their frequency to then work on the source analysis and solve them definitively. Thanks to Full Audits it is possible to find faults, or see what could be improved.
6. Continuous improvement.
“Continuous improvement of the overall performance of the organization must be a permanent objective”
It is an added value that every company that wants to advance and endure, must have. Everything that can be controlled and measured can be improved, and that should be the goal, to always do everything possible to be better.
It is not a one-day job, continuous improvement is a progressive process that does not allow setbacks and only then can quality levels be guaranteed.
Improvement can be implemented through a technological advance or through the improvement of production processes, trying to make them more efficient.
7. Relationship management.
An organization is not only the result of what it offers, its relationships are also important. When consuming a product or service, the client is not satisfied that the company follows quality management, they are also interested in whether its suppliers, raw materials and it´s production chain in general also follow the expected quality standards.
This is why we say that the organization depends on its relationships with customers and suppliers, and a mutually beneficial relationship will increase their added value. If my company’s relationships follow the correct path, this will help reduce time, resources, process costs and increase profitability.
If what you want is to achieve Quality Management, we can help you.
With our app, Full Audits, the reports, in addition to being automated, will have all the information needed to start monitoring the processes.
It will help you identify points for improvement and determine their frequency so that you can then work on the source analysis and solve them definitively.
You will be able to visualize everything that is happening in the company. You just have to enter our website and get more information about our audit system.