YOUR COUNCIL AND TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

1. Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services.
2. Adopt the new philosophy.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.
4. End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single supplier.
5. Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production and service.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Adopt and institute leadership.
8. Drive out fear.
9. Break down barriers between staff areas.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the workforce.
11. Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management.
12. Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship, and eliminate the annual rating or merit   system.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.
14. Put everybody in the operation to work accomplishing the transformation.

These total quality management principles can be put into place by any organisation, even your local council, to more effectively implement total quality management. As a total quality management philosophy, Dr Deming’s work is foundational to TQM and its successor, quality management system (QMS)

Quality Glossary Definition: Quality management system (QMS)

A quality management system (QMS) is defined as a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives.

A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organization’s activities to meet constituency and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis.

Quality management systems serve many purposes, including:

• Improving processes
• Reducing waste
• Lowering costs
• Facilitating and identifying training opportunities
• Engaging staff
• Setting organization-wide direction

BENEFITS OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Implementing a quality management system affects every aspect of an operation’s performance. Benefits of a documented quality management system include:

• Meeting constituency requirements, which helps to instil confidence in the operation, that in turn leads to constituency wellbeing and better planning oputcomes.
• Meeting an operations’ requirements, which ensures compliance with regulations and the provision of services in the most cost- and resource-efficient manner, creating room for expansion, growth, and better outcomes.

These benefits offer additional advantages, such as helping to communicate a readiness to produce consistent results, preventing mistakes, reducing costs, ensuring that processes are defined and controlled, and continually improving an operation’s offerings.

THE QUESTION IS:  Have you witnessed anything resembling TQM or QMS at your local council or in any part of its operation? If not, call out its absence you deserve better!