Improve your Business: Make a Mistake!

When was the last time your “yes” men said “no”? Have you ever thought about that? Are you that good?

This year, I have started full time with NETbase Solutions, a Queensland start-up which creates and implements business management systems, with the core product being cloud based ISO 9001 compliant Quality Management Systems. Part of my role involves helping customers to leverage the full capability of their QMS, beyond the tick (or cross) you get in the box from auditors.

More important than regulatory auditing, is the building of a Quality Culture within an organization. That is, ensuring that the regulatory and procedural framework, can operate efficiently, with a positive net effect on your business. Ultimately, you want everyone involved with your business, to want to participate.

There is no point having a QMS if no one ever uses it, so the first ingredient you need is an environment where your people are willing to be honest about performance (theirs, yours and that of the organisation). This primarily comes from you and your attitude as a manager. Being open is a great starting point, but let's be honest: you don't have time to wander around holding hands to see if everything is alright.
Some companies attempt the annual survey which is a great method for highlighting issues employees may have had in the last 2 weeks, but in reality, can you remember any specific issues you had in February 2010? How about the circumstances leading up to the issue or the order in which they occurred?

A better solution is a QMS which allows members of your organisation to communicate and record any issues, wherever they are, whilst it is still fresh in their mind. The QMS needs to be accessible (to ALL levels of your organisation) so that bad results/processes can brought to light, dissected and dealt with in short order.

That is one of the key strengths of the NETbase QMS. Because it is cloud based, you can access it anywhere, identify an issue (attach a photo if necessary) and it is immediately available for comment, review and discussion.

In addition to the problem being resolved efficiently, it is also readily available for future review guarding your organisation against making the same mistake twice, and that is dollars people! A dollar saved is a dollar earned.

When you quantify the value, make sure you communicate the positive impact that has come as a result of negative feed back, to encourage your people to become part of the process. That is how you foster a Quality Culture: through a user friendly mechanism that does not make the operator groan at the thought of reporting a problem.

Maybe you already have a solid Quality Culture, but how do you find out?

That’s the easy part. Make a mistake and see how long it takes for you to find out about it.