Total Quality Management

CONCEPT

The Concept of Total Quality Management

Spreading awareness and enabling participants to learn development methods must be directed at all categories and levels of management (executives, managers, staff), and the requirements of each category must be met according to the challenges they face.

Specialized training is required: executive teams must work on the implementation strategy, while work teams must focus on the technical methods and techniques for developing processes. Senior management, meanwhile, must serve as the oversight and supervisory body for the program, managing sound professional evaluation built on clear assessment criteria, and addressing the importance of quality, its tools and methods, the necessary skills, problem-solving techniques, decision-making, effective leadership principles, statistical tools, and performance measurement methods.

Implementing the concept of total quality management within an organization requires certain prerequisites before beginning to apply this program, so that staff can be prepared to accept the idea and then work effectively toward achieving it and capturing its desired results. Here are some of the key requirements needed for implementation:

GOALS

Goals of Total Quality

The primary goal of implementing a total quality management program in companies is to improve the quality of products and services while reducing costs and minimizing wasted time and effort, in order to improve the service provided to clients and earn their satisfaction. This main quality objective encompasses three key benefits, namely:

Cost Reduction

Quality requires doing the right things the right way the first time, which means reducing defects or rework, thereby lowering costs.

Achieving Quality

This is achieved by developing products and services according to client preferences. Neglecting quality increases the time needed to perform and complete tasks and increases monitoring efforts, ultimately raising complaints from those benefiting from these services.

Reducing the Time Required to Complete Client Tasks

The procedures established by the organization to deliver services to clients have often focused on achieving and monitoring objectives, resulting in procedures that are frequently lengthy and rigid, negatively affecting the client.

IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS

Key Implementation Requirements

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Among the essentials of implementing a quality program is supervising work teams to correct any wrong course of action, and following up on and evaluating their achievements as needed. Supervision and follow-up also require coordination among various individuals and departments within the organization, and removing obstacles facing work teams while keeping the public interest in mind.

Spreading the concepts and principles of total quality management to all employees in the organization is essential before deciding to implement it. Marketing the program greatly helps reduce resistance to change and identify the expected risks caused by implementation so they can be reviewed.

The purpose of engaging external expertise from consultants and specialized institutions when implementing the program is to strengthen the organization's expertise and help it solve problems that will arise.

Work teams are formed from those who actually perform the work being developed and who will be affected by the project's results. Since this team will carry out the improvements, its members must be trustworthy individuals who are willing to work and develop, and they must be given the authority to review and evaluate the tasks involved in the process and to propose improvements.

Recognizing individuals for outstanding work will inevitably encourage them, build confidence, and reinforce this desired performance. Such encouragement and motivation play a major role in the program's development and continuity, and since the program's continuity within the company depends entirely on participants' enthusiasm for improvement, this enthusiasm should be reinforced through appropriate incentives — ranging from financial rewards to moral encouragement. Adopting an effective and flexible incentive program creates an atmosphere of trust, encouragement, and a sense of belonging to the organization, along with an appreciation for the importance of the role entrusted to employees in implementing the program.

Participants must be trained and educated in the methods and tools of this new concept so that it can be built on a sound and solid foundation, thereby leading to the desired results from its implementation. Implementing this program without awareness or understanding of its principles and requirements may lead to utter failure — full awareness can be achieved through effective training programs.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

Implementation Strategy

The strategy for developing and rolling out a total quality management program into practice goes through several steps or phases, starting with preparing the program through to achieving and evaluating the results.

Preparation

This is the stage of exchanging knowledge, sharing expertise, and determining the extent of the need for improvement by conducting a comprehensive review of the results of implementing this concept in other organizations. Desired objectives are set during this stage.

Planning

This stage involves developing a plan and implementation approach, and identifying the resources needed for the implementation plan.

Evaluation

This is done using statistical methods for continuous improvement, and measuring and enhancing performance levels.