Quality Team happiness: History and Now
Pressure from all sides
This graphic shows a major problem in quality management. It displays how different teams avoid taking responsibility for quality issues. The diagram is split into three sections: Supplier, Internal, and Customer.
Everyone is saying “We did not cause the problem!” No team wants to take ownership. The Quality Expert stands in the middle with standard tools but can’t solve the communication gap.
Meanwhile, customers simply ask, “When is it fixed?” They don’t care about blame – they just want solutions. The diagram reveals why quality problems often remain unsolved. Teams protect themselves instead of working together.
This picture perfectly captures how finger-pointing creates gridlock in solving quality issues. It shows why many companies struggle with quality management despite having experts and tools in place.
Under pressure
Quality managers and their team work already under “normal” conditions under high pressure due to
Time pressure
Production plants often operate under tight schedules to meet demand and get products to market on time. This can lead to tight schedules that put pressure on quality managers to keep production efficient and defect-free.
High and changing production volumes
High volumes in large manufacturing plants make monitoring and ensuring product quality a challenging task.
Complexity of processes
Production plants can have complex manufacturing processes that require close control to avoid defects or quality deviations.
Security aspects
Some industries, such as food or pharmaceutical, have strict safety standards that must be met, which can put more pressure on quality managers to ensure compliance.
Safeguarding new product projects and launchs
Because of their expertise, quality managers and quality experts are also often involved in the development and ramp-up of new products, thus balancing between series and industrialization phases.
... and more pressure from Incidents
Quality problems add additional – mostly unplanned – pressure to the quality teams
When defects or quality problems occur, quality managers must act quickly to contain the defect, identify root causes and find solutions to get production back on track as soon as possible.
If the problem-solving team only has a large number of manual processes and tools at its disposal, this can quickly lead to a vicious circle: Causes of errors are not identified correctly, and thus errors are not eliminated in the long term. Or that the continuous improvement process or lessons learned process is omitted. This leads to the Q-Team suffering from the amount of old and new errors
The nature of Spreadsheets
While spreadsheets and slides have their merits for certain tasks, they fall short in efficiently managing incidents and problem-solving in today’s dynamic and rapidly changing business environment. The limitations in collaboration, data analysis, automation, integration, and scalability can result in operational inefficiencies, increased costs, and suboptimal decision-making.
Spreadsheets and slides were not designed with real-time collaboration in mind. In the context of incident management, timely communication and collaboration are crucial for swift issue resolution. Relying on these tools often results in siloed information and slower response times. Team members must continually send files back and forth, making it challenging to maintain up-to-date incident data.
Incident data often spreads across various spreadsheets, creating a fragmented and disjointed repository of information. Multiple spreadsheets or slide presentations may be generated to address different aspects of an incident, leading to confusion and errors when attempting to consolidate information. This fragmentation can hinder an organization’s ability to gain a holistic view of the situation, thereby affecting decision-making and response times.
For quality teams it is very annoying being forced to look for different file directories and file shares to get the complete picture of a situation or to complete the entire process.
Incident management demands automation to streamline processes and workflow integration. Spreadsheets and slides lack the automation capabilities required for quick data entry, trend analysis, and workflow automation. Modern incident management systems often come equipped with tools that enable process automation, alerting, and streamlined workflows, which are essential for efficient incident resolution.
Managing incidents through spreadsheets and slides introduces version control issues. Multiple team members may work on different versions of a file, leading to confusion and errors when trying to reconcile changes. This version control challenge can exacerbate delays in resolving supply chain disruptions, affecting both time.
Spreadsheets are not suited for complex data analysis. Incident data may require advanced analysis and visualization to identify patterns, trends, and root causes. Using spreadsheets and slides hampers the organization’s ability to perform in-depth analysis, which is critical for proactive incident prevention and resolution.
Supply chain management usually involves various software systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools. Spreadsheets and slides do not seamlessly integrate with these systems, leading to data transfer challenges. The lack of integration between incident data and other aspects of the supply chain can hinder comprehensive management.
As organizations expand and their supply chains become more complex, spreadsheets and slides become inefficient tools for managing a growing number of incidents. The sheer volume of data and incidents can overwhelm these tools, making it difficult to scale operations and meet the demands of a larger supply chain network.
Consequences for Quality Teams
Broken quality processes often result in inefficient incident management. Quality experts find themselves grappling with increased workloads, trying to navigate convoluted procedures and manual tasks. This added stress takes a toll on their happiness and overall job satisfaction.
Increased Workload and Stress
Broken quality processes often result in inefficient incident management. Quality experts find themselves grappling with increased workloads, trying to navigate convoluted procedures and manual tasks. This added stress takes a toll on their happiness and overall job satisfaction.
Ineffective Problem-Solvin
Quality experts rely on effective tools and methodologies to resolve incidents and problems promptly. When these tools are insufficient or outdated, they face considerable difficulty in finding timely and accurate solutions. This inefficiency can lead to frustration and reduced job satisfaction.
Impact on Team Dynamics
Additionally Quality experts often work in teams to resolve complex incidents and problems. When processes and tools are inadequate, team dynamics suffer. Confusion and miscommunication can lead to tension among team members, further eroding the happiness of quality professionals.
Lack of Recognition and Personal Growth
Quality experts play a pivotal role in ensuring product and service quality, but their efforts may go unnoticed when processes and tools are subpar. The lack of recognition can lead to a sense of unfulfillment and adversely affect their happiness and morale.
Quality experts with broken processes and insufficient tools may face challenges in advancing their careers. Their professional growth may stagnate, leading to frustration and a further decline in happiness.
FAQ
Why do quality problems often remain unsolved?
Quality problems remain unsolved because teams focus on protecting themselves instead of working together. This finger-pointing creates gridlock in solving issues.
What pressures do quality managers face under normal conditions?
Quality managers face time pressure, high production volumes, complex processes, strict safety standards, and new product launches. They must balance all these demands while ensuring quality.
What additional pressures come from quality incidents?
Quality incidents create unplanned pressure. Teams must act quickly to contain defects and find root causes. With poor tools, this creates a vicious cycle where errors aren’t properly eliminated.
Why are spreadsheets inadequate for quality management?
Spreadsheets have seven major limitations:
- Limited real-time collaboration
- Data fragmentation across multiple files
- Lack of automation
- Version control problems
- Limited analysis capabilities
- Poor integration with other systems
- Poor scalability as organizations grow
How do broken quality processes affect quality teams?
Broken processes lead to:
- Increased workload and stress
- Ineffective problem-solving
- Poor team dynamics
- Lack of recognition
- Limited career growth
Why are quality experts important?
Quality experts ensure products meet standards and address problems effectively. Their work directly impacts customer satisfaction and company profits.
How has the importance of quality changed over time?
In ancient times, quality determined survival. Today, quality determines customer satisfaction and company profitability. The stakes remain high, just in different ways.
