Teams
Employee
involvement is optimized by the use team. In most instances they are effective
because many heads are more knowledgeable than one. Each members of the team
has special abilities that can be used to solve complex problems. The
interactions within the team produce the results that exceed the contributions
of each member. There are various types of teams, namely Process improvement
team, cross-functional team, natural work team, self-directed team. But
people need to be trained to work as a team. There are mainly three types of
teams that TQM organizations adopt:
- Quality Improvement Teams or Excellence Teams
(QITS) - These are temporary
teams with the purpose of dealing with specific problems that often
re-occur. These teams are set up for period of three to twelve months.
- Problem Solving Teams (PSTs) - These are temporary teams to solve certain problems and also to identify and overcome causes of problems. They generally last from one week
to three months.
- Natural Work Teams (NWTs) - These teams consist of small groups of
skilled workers who share tasks and responsibilities. These teams use
concepts such as employee involvement teams, self-managing teams and
quality circles. These teams generally work for one to two hours a week.
Recognition
and Reward
Recognition
is a form of employee motivation in which the organization acknowledges the
positive contributions an individual or team has made to the success of the
organization. Reward is something tangible. Recognition and reward go together
to form a system for letting people know that they are valuable members of the
organization. As people are recognized, there can be huge changes in
self-esteem, productivity, quality and the amount of effort exhorted to the
task at hand. Recognition comes in its best form when it is immediately
following an action that an employee has performed. Recognition comes in
different ways, places and time such as,
- Ways
- It can be by way of personal letter from top management. Also by award
banquets, plaques, trophies etc.
- Places
- Good performers can be recognized in front of departments, on
performance boards and also in front of top management.
- Time
- Recognition can be given at any time like in staff meeting, annual award
banquets, etc.
Performance
appraisal
The
purpose of performance appraisal is to let employees know how they are doing
and provide a basis for promotions, salary increase, counseling and other
purposes related to an employees future. Performance appraisal may be for the
team or individuals. Regardless of the system a key factor in a successful
performance appraisal is employee involvement.
Continuous
improvements
There
must be a continual striving to improve all business and production processes.
Quality improvement projects, such as on-time delivery, customer satisfaction,
waste reduction, product realization and inventory are good places to begin
Tools. Thus, techniques such as Juran Trilogy, PDSA Cycle, 5S,
Benchmarking, Quality function deployment, TQC, Kaizen etc.
are excellent for problem solving at various activities.
Treating
suppliers as partners
As
the significant quantity of business activity is the purchased product or
service, their performance quality is contributing lot to the companys quality.
Therefore partnership relationship with suppliers must be developed. Both
parties have as much gain or lose based on the success or failure of the
product or service. Focus should be on quality and life cycle costs rather than
price.
Free Download
