The Art of Quality (a.k.a. A Cheat Sheet for Improvement Programs)

While this exciting nine-part series is in production for publication, I thought I’d give a unique tickler to a new dashboard I wrote for a consulting opportunity out of Charlotte, North Carolina.   

The real backbone of quality programs has a diverse team tackling wicked problems. It’s more intricate than plugging a leaking levee, oiling the most squeaky wheel, or jumping to attempt knee-jerk patches. Quality is an ongoing mindset and mechanism of higher-level cyclical activity targeting rocks in the corporate shoe; it requires a team to deploy a structure that will organize people or things to be used for a particular purpose as well as improve operations of an organization.

Before anyone is engaged to make changes, the team needs to consider its corporate culture because it influences available internal resources as well as gaps and any work-arounds to get the job done.  In fact, it’s smarter to have a more efficient operation and that’s what quality programs create: a better solution for internal and external customers.  

Frequently, buzzwords are used and without proper understanding, the team can run off the rails because they use their own definitions around the activity, which should all be centered on a simple application and adapting features to create relentless improvement.  In this case, the buzzword used for this would be disruptive innovation as the quality program takes a product, makes it better, increases demand by customers, and this causes growth.

Once any physical barriers or ideological hurdles are identified, a quality program uses two phases to find opportunities to improve: 

Preparation  The activities centered on “getting rid of rocks” through either natural problem identification (the old school water cooler complaints or the new school text messages) or blinded problem identification (allowing anonymous pointing of fingers to protect the identifier of a pet project or dumb idea from blame) contribute to the preparation phase, which has three stages to address the hard topics.

1. Strategy  The framework of deployment and discovering the “why are we doing this” by using assessment techniques to identify the areas with the highest potential for improvement.
2. Program  The targeted plan and steps for change by selecting the right methodology that fits your company’s needs in both upstream (such as perceptions, creative or innovation team idea generation, training opportunities) and downstream (which could be advertising, manufacturing line changes, order software).
3. Project  The actionable and manageable units to improvement, knowing that these may be small ideas or big changes, but they will reach across multiple departments as well as identifying what improvement you anticipate as you enter the next phase.

Management  It’s easiest to start by saying the second phase of management is not a trigger-pulling directive style, but the collective administration of an activity. It is the review of interrelated facets of an organization (in this case as parts of the quality program) to see an improvement in resource utilization by using three additional phases to achieve successful outcomes.

1. Leadership  More important than picking someone with the biggest title on the highest rung of the ladder, experience is the most valued commodity, and provides the key stakeholder requirement for supporting these changes. Leadership includes selecting the right participants from all areas of the company as well as opening doors or removing ideological obstacles. 
2. Process  Focusing on improvements, this phase looks at the entire supply chain that touches the facets to be modified. The nitty-gritty is where the quality team disintegrates the rock into dust by using innovation, cyclical review during ongoing championing of new solutions in a series of actions to improve the identified process.
3. Measurement The only way to know if you’ve reached the goals of the quality program is not by finishing the process phase, but by evaluating every intention of this quality program with links why an action was taken. Setting the right metrics reminds the team that improving experiences of internal staff and external customers is the keystone of an effective quality program.

People like solving problems; it’s in our nature. Knowing why we are solving a problem and how that solution “came to be” makes it all the more interesting to look at the results. We can produce answers to wicked problems vaguely touched by those knee-jerk directives and bring long-term solutions for sustainable improvements. 

Stay tuned for the links to the detailed information, including “how to” pieces as well as case studies!

Heather M. Hilliard is Principal and Chief Strategist for R. Roan Enterprises, LLC, a professional services consulting firm supporting businesses in pointed areas of expertise as well as with individuals for targeted projects or career development. For more articles like these, visit her posts on LinkedIn or G+. 

#seizetheday, #makeithappen

Best Practice Traits From The Kingdom

You know that by looking out the window that you can gain new perspectives. The same is true when you look beyond your own door, crossing borders to other kingdoms - particularly the animal kingdom. 

Elephants are not known for their delicate nature. Similar to the connotation of a bull in a china shop, their strength and fortitude keeps them focused and alive in various environments. When encountering an obstacle, many people make the assumption that an elephant considers any obstruction a barrier to be broken. 

You know what assumptions get you…

Here are some traits of elephants:

• Long-term memory.
• Ability to use tools.
• Create complex social groups.

But take a look at this problem-solving skill. The elephant remembers this scenario from a prior situation and although it is using the road (the path of least resistance), it could just walk around the barrier. Yet, deciding to stay true to the route selected, the first barrier is lifted while the second can’t be handled the same way even though it is nearly identical. New solution, problem resolved and momentum continues. 

How many times have you come across an obstacle and where you’ve had to remember how to address an issue similar to one in the past, used tools as well as your network to overcome the issues and continued on your way? I’m not saying that you’re an elephant, but best practice across industries (and species) makes things easier for everyone. 

If you have ever had to face the gorilla in the room, you know it’s best to stay one step ahead. Learn from others and apply these elephant lessons to your own enterprise. 

Heather M. Hilliard is Principal and Chief Strategist for R. Roan Enterprises, LLC, a professional services consulting firm supporting businesses in pointed areas of expertise as well as with individuals for targeted projects or career development. For more articles like these, visit her posts on LinkedIn or on G+. 

#seizetheday, #makeithappen

Government and Corporations: Process Is More Than Politics

Many people have been distracted by the ultra-cynosure factor of recent ceremonies. Keeping our minds looking forward, realize that it doesn’t take much analysis to see how aspects of common corporate nomenclature as well as company processes apply to typical government operations across industries, sectors and regions. Recent articles about business apply to the functions of government, too.

As many government employees and those interested in comparative politics are looking at “what comes next,” it may help to consider that these two seemingly disparate private and public organizations have quite a few similarities in certain aspects.

• Both entities (government and corporations) are focused on progress, though they take different routes to achieve their missions (such as public benefit versus profits). 
• A large population determines success: democratic governments have voters, corporations have consumers.
• Jargon of industry experts is typically only understood from the insider’s club (think of acronyms in your own sphere).
• A well-tuned machine has a routine maintenance schedule, seen in annual reviews for employees and elections for governments, with various levels of “intensity” depending on “miles travelled.”
• Everyone answers to someone, and it can be changed when it doesn’t work. 

These two groups also have organizational similarities.  In corporations, stockholders/shareholders vote on board recommendations (who may have committees) that select leaders to guide or direct management teams to coordinate resources that create products to resolve a consumer’s complex problems. For government, people vote for an elected leader who serves on committees to lead a democratically formed management team by participatory governance in order to coordinate taxes and resources to resolve the community’s complex problems.

Last week’s article showed the sales funnel’s six stages to convert buyers. Government processes utilize this same stepwise action—public officials are voted into office (or not) by using (or ignoring) the same corporate sales funnel nomenclature and internal promotional opportunities resulting in make-them-or-break-them outcomes.

Read these stages verbatim from last week this time with a government lens in brackets, and consider how internal operations of a government department or program apply the same benchmark principles:

• Awareness -  this opportunity [for a candidate or program] may be achieved through organic or paid email marketing, search engine placement or social media messaging where you are identifying prospective consumers out of the entire client opportunity
• Consideration - once the connection has moved to interest, consumers [voters or civil servants] begin searching for information to evaluate how they can meet their identified needs through website research and eCommerce reviews
• Preference - this stage cultivates relationships and can influence perceptions on the value of your solution, where informed consumers [voters or supervisors] make a well-timed decision for the best product or service for their [interests or departmental] situation
• Purchase - once the conversion has been made for the consumer [voter or supervisor], using a systemized follow-up methodology that doesn’t rely on human memory improves opportunities for touch points and increased positive interaction
• Loyalty - repeat business is essential, though if ‘forced’ or achieved via lack-of-choices, your business [job] is contingent on satisficing needs
• Advocacy - leading to increased revenue [votes/support], the best funnel is supported by word-of-mouth endorsement

The same word “satisficing” applies in government processes, too.  You aren’t satisfying everyone all of the time (except - again - maybe a short-sighted manager who is short-term), but in many ways working for the good of many.  Undoubtedly, you won’t be listening to your constituency if you are elected or acting on the mission of your department if you are always having budget cuts or hiring freezes or making deals to scratch multiple people’s backs and hitting the Doorway Effect (“forgetting what you came for,” as an old song goes).

This is satisficing — it makes the citizenry pick something they don't 100% want to get an option they don’t necessarily want, where they are not being totally satisfied with the process or prospects even if they voted for a candidate or work as a civil servant for you as a supervisor. 

In the government realm, here is when your government team could be satisficing (again, nearly using the verbatim corporate sales funnel process to apply to the government processes):

• Awareness satisficing - providing a limited opportunity [i.e. limited time for staff or voters] for learning [and research] about your products [programs] or (perhaps worse) giving the right message on the wrong channel where your future loyal customers don’t listen [not only voters, but those interested and active on a grassroots level in your realm of expertise]
• Consideration satisficing - having inventory [staff or resources] available immediately, though it doesn’t meet the specifications the future loyal customer [voter] wants (this is a needs-based miss), or having gaps in your communications strategy for web research
• Preference satisficing - frequently involving delayed or delinquent responses to inquiries [from constituents], or involving a top-heavy sales pitch [campaign] without reliable facts and outside endorsements
• Purchase satisficing - shoddy packaging, generic (or absent) thank you messaging, or not having the right suggested complementary purchases [additional community steps] that exceed expectation stop your sales funnel [voter recruitment] dead in the water
• Loyalty satisficing - a one-time customer [voter] will not return to your company [specific candidate] for future needs 
• Advocacy satisficing - the [largest] impact here is negative if you’ve failed in any previous step [and negative governmental results are heard much louder than supportive ones - just like corporate reviews you can find on Yelp, Glassdoor, Twitter and more]

Even for government personnel as well as corporate programs, strong strategic branding addresses the first three errors. Do not confuse branding with spin factor, though, or you will suffer a whirlwind of your own creation.  Remember that you are your own competition with respect to government process; the quicksand is created by setting your own expectations high and not working hard to follow through on the right steps in the process.  Continue to set your expectations high and keep growing - it’s the way we achieve progress!

As a closing observation and return to the title of this article, you know that politics plays strongly in all realms of work, regardless of the “type” of employment. Merriam-Webster provides a definition of politics as “competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership.” Emphasis is added because the process of getting the job done still occurs regardless of government, corporation or non-profit organization as the employer; it’s the competition among people and groups that stirs the pot. 

Make a conscious decision to either be someone who stirs the pot or grow as a thoughtful leader that solves complex problems wherever you work every day.

Heather M. Hilliard is Principal and Chief Strategist for R. Roan Enterprises, LLC, a professional services consulting firm supporting businesses in pointed areas of expertise as well as with individuals for targeted projects or career development. For more articles like these, visit her posts on LinkedIn or on G+. 

#seizetheday, #makeithappen