A manager can have a lot on their plate which makes it hard to focus on your work. A steady stream of emails, phone calls, employees and tasks all demanding your attention. Will all this how do you focus on your work to reach your goals?

1. Plan Ahead to Better Focus on Your Work

The first key to staying focused at work is planning ahead. With any task or goal success is determined not by what you have to do, it is how you do it.

• Staying focused at work begins the night before at home. Before you go to bed email yourself at least three goals for tomorrow. Keep those goals in front of you as much as possible to remind you of what you need to focus on.
• Many studies show not getting enough sleep will impair your focus and concentration the next day. Even getting one hour less sleep can affect your productivity the next day.
• When you arrive at work review your goals for that day. Prioritize them and decide how much time you have to devote to them. Check your calendar and create blocks of time to focus on your work. For a manager free time doesn’t just happen, you have to make it happen.

2. Avoid Distractions

I can relate to a scene from the movie “The Social Network” [1] is being “wired in.” This is when you are completely focused and concentrating on the task at hand. You won’t get away with headphones, but you need to eliminate as many distractions as possible.

• When you sit down to focus on a goal prepare yourself first. Go to the bathroom, get a drink, make yourself comfortable, do anything that would cause you to break your concentration.
• Email is a big distraction and time killer. When you are focused on your work ignore your email. Set your instant messaging to busy. Avoid getting caught up in long conversations. If you can, find a quiet place to work.
• Avoid the illusion of multitasking. You can’t fully focus and concentrate on your goal while you do something else. Multitasking creates distractions that overload your brain causing it to “brownout.” This will diminish your brain’s ability to do the critical thinking needed to complete your goal or task.

“When you perform multiple tasks that each require some of the same channels of processing, conflicts will arise between the tasks, and you’re going to have to pick and choose which task you’re going to focus on and devote a channel of processing to it,”(2)

3. Develop a Routine

• To consistently focus on your work develop a routine. This will train your brain focus your cognitive abilities when you trigger the routine. Repeat step 1 each day until it becomes routine.
• Positive reinforcement will help you overcome procrastination and help your mind accept the routine of focusing on your work. Do this my setting milestones and reward yourself for reaching them. Take a break, walk around and chat with colleagues or go grab yourself a snack. It’s your reward so do what you want to do.
• The more you do it the better you will get. If you are having problems give yourself smaller chunks of time to work with, then increase them as your brain learns the routine. If you find your mind starting to wander take a break and come back to it. You want to this to be a pleasant task, not a burdening chore.

The key to developing a routine is repetition. You need to train your brain to enjoy working this way.

Do It: How to Focus on Your Work

1. Plan ahead: Set your goals, get enough sleep and create time to better focus on your goals.
2. Avoid distractions: Prepare your setting, ignore email and other distractions and don’t multitask.
3. Develop a routine: Use positive reinforcement and train your brain to enjoy working this way.

Reference:

[1] The Social Network. Columbia Pictures, 2009, DVD, Ben Mezrich The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal

[2] Joe, Robinson. “The Truth About Multitasking: How Your Brain Processes Information.” Entrepreneur, November 20, 2012. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224943.

Photo credit: Conway, Neil. “Research.” April 16, 2011. Online image. Flickr. March 15, 2014. http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilconway/5625707813/

Kaizen is a Japanese word that roughly translates into “slow improvement”. It is a perfect method to use to perfect a process and begin the practice of continuous improvement. It makes tasks easier and more effective. Isn’t that what a good productivity system is meant to do?

Here are the three key steps to use Kaizen to improve productivity.

1. Break It Down Into Smaller Tasks

Regardless of what you have to do, small or large the best way to get it done is to break it down into smaller more manageable tasks.

Putting It Into Practice

Let’s say your task is to paint a room. You don’t start by grabbing your paint and roller and hit the walls. You have to break the goal of painting the room down into small steps. Here is a short task list that breaks down the goal into small steps.

1. Select the color you want to paint the room
2. Buy the paint and supplies you will need
3. Remove everything from the room and clean it
4. Prepare the room for work
5. Fix any areas on the walls that need it
6. Prepare the room for painting
7. Paint one wall at a time, one section at a time
8. Let the paint dry then clean up the room
9. Place everything back in the room
10. Task completed

2. Eliminate Waste

Another principle of Kaizen is to eliminate waste wherever you find it. You do this by reviewing a process and asking yourself “is this step needed”. If the answer is no then eliminate it. If the answer is yes the ask yourself “can it be improved”.

You can improve your productivity by eliminating Muda or waste. Using the painting example you will examine each step and look for waste. Waste of time, motion, unnecessary steps and other forms of Muda.

There are 7 categories of Muda. Learn ways to eliminate waste from the workplace.

3. Continuous Improvement

Everything can be improved. From the simplest to the most complex you should always be looking to improve the processes of how you get things done. From personal productivity to departmental productivity, it all can be improved.

Take the example of painting a room. Each time you paint a room you may learn a better way to complete one of the tasks. You refine your process to include the improvement. These refinements will improve your productivity.

See Deming’s PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) cycle.

Why Kaizen Will Improve Productivity

This method can be applied to any task, goal or initiative you have to do. It is simple and effective.

• Smaller tasks are more manageable, easier to plan for and allocate time for.
• Each task you complete is an achievement which is encouragement that you are achieving your ultimate goal.
• This method eliminates waste which will improve productivity.
• Using continuous improvement you will improve the process.
• It is simple to use, simple to plan for and easy to follow.

Another way to improve productivity is by implementing a 5S System.

Do Your Job Well

The most important thing you can do to advance you career within your own company is to do a kick ass job. Show that you can deliver results with ever task and role you have. Be the best at what you do and people will notice.

• Strive to be the best there has ever been at your job
• Have a passion for your job
• Do more than is expected of you

Develop Yourself

Learn your strengths and your weaknesses and improve both. Don’t just look to improve your weaknesses. Build your strengths and so you can do what you do well even better. Develop talents that others in your department or company do not have. These will make you indispensable.

To advance you career and do your own job well you need to constantly improve yourself.

• Become a great communicator
• A master of time management
• A Jedi master of technical skills and knowledge in your field or one you want to advance in

Build a Network

Build a strong network within your department and your company. Not the butt kissing kind of network, but one where you have peers you can go to for advice and help when you need it. Learn what they do well and what you can learn from them.

• If you have the opportunity to help one of your peers take it
• Show that you are a “one company, one team” type of person
• Show you are collaborative and can work with others to solve problems

Have a Career Development Plan

Plot a course for your career and take the steps you need to get there. If you know where you want to go you stand a much better chance of getting there. Find out what skills you need to improve on, what knowledge you need to learn to move to the next stop on your career path.

• Develop a career plan
• Start taking the steps needed to advance your career
• Commit yourself to continuous improvement

Commit Yourself to Advance Your Career

It is not likely someone is going to knock on your door and advance your career for you. The key to advancing your career is YOU. Commit yourself to taking the steps needed to make it happen.

• Commit to your department and company, not just your career
• Commit to improving your skills and knowledge
• Celebrate your achievements as you make them

If you want to advance your career remember the key is YOU. You have to take the steps to make it happen.

All employees will benefit from development, but you should concentrate on those who show the most potential first.

The 5 Keys to Employee Development

There are five areas you should focus on in employee development. The goal is to develop their skills, increase their knowledge and to uncover their talents.

Coaching

Coaching involves regular discussions between a manager and the employee with the goal of improving their performance. Coaching is often used as tool for dealing with poor performance. With employee development the role changes to raising the employees performance to a higher level.

• Discover and discuss areas the employee needs to improve in
• Get buy-in from the employee that they are committed to improving
• Develop a plan to improve the employees skills and knowledge
• Meet regularly to discuss how the development is progressing

Counseling

Counseling is a discussion for the purpose of helping the employee to sort out any personal difficulties. In employee development there may be added pressures or stress that can arise.

If you see the employee is struggling with a development task sit down and talk with them. They may have fears or other emotions that are interfering with their development. Teach them how to deal with these emotions so they can progress and learn how handle them on their own in the future.

Mentoring

Mentoring differs from coaching in that mentoring is about overall career growth and guidance. You want to motivate the employee and help them to understand their potential and how that potential can be achieved.

Show them why they should develop a career plan and help them see their future role in the organization. Your manager or another manager can act as a mentor, but you have a role to play since you interact with the employee on a daily basis.

Teaching

With employee development teaching revolves around soft skills. These skills lay a foundation on which the employee can build.

Focus on:

• Communications skills
• Inter-Personal skills
• Problem solving skills
• Professionalism

Training

Expanding your employees technical skills are an essential part of employee development. These are on-the-job skills as well as specialized technical skills. The focus should be on gaining expert knowledge in their area.

This is an area where a manager can help by advising and encouraging the employee, but the real work should be done by the employee. It can involve taking classes, obtaining certifications or gaining knowledge from experts in your department.

Where Do I Find Time?

As a busy manager you may wonder where you will find the time to do all of this. Remember your primary role in employee development is to guide the employee. Most of the work should be done by them.

Everything can not be done at once so focus on key areas. Use delegation to give real world experience and in the process help get your own tasks done. Remember that their success is your success, so as a manager you will benefit as well as the employee.

Observe The Performance Issue

Before you counsel an employee about a performance issue you need to observe their on-the-job behavior. This way when you meet with them you can describe the situation in detail and clearly communicate to them why it is a problem.

One technique you can use is management by walking around. When you practice this on a daily basis you can be proactive in dealing with a problem before it even becomes a performance issue. By using this technique you will be able to observe and record the specific performance issue you need to address.

How To Counsel

Once you gather all the facts about the performance issue you need to have a one-on-one meeting with the employee.

Most people do not take criticism well so be tactful in how you communicate with the employee. You want to create a constructive dialogue that will lead to a resolution of the performance issue. Do not berate, raise your voice or intimidate the employee. Instead start with a positive tone by highlighting their good work, then lead into the issue.

1. Clearly communicate what the issue is and explain why it is a problem. Be very specific.
2. Ask questions about the issue to make sure you have all the facts. Use open-ended questions to give the employee an opportunity to explain things in their own words.
3. Ask the employee what they think is a solution to the issue. Having them come up with the solution will help create ownership and get their commitment to solving the performance issue.
4. If their answer is not satisfactory clearly communicate to them what they need to do to correct the issue. Ask them to repeat back the solution so you both clearly understand what is expected of the employee.
5. Get a commitment from the employee to the plan to improve the performance issue.
6. Set a time frame for resolution of the performance issue and schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss their progress.
7. Continue to observe the employee to be sure they are correcting the problem and give immediate feedback if needed.

Document the counseling session in the employees performance log. You can refer back to it in future meetings and should further disciplinary actions be needed you have supporting documentation of your attempts to resolve the performance issue and the outcomes.

photo credit: Marmot

By aligning the goals and objectives of your company with the goals and objectives for your employees and by setting goals that can easily be measured you will establish an alignment of employee performance that with the company. When managers understand that their success is dependent on the success of their reports they will look at performance management in a new light.

The Keys to Building a Strong Culture of Performance

Performance management strives to optimize results by aligning all of the parts of an organization. With a well designed plan and good training you can build a culture of performance that will improve every part of your organization.

Performance management is the process of assessing progress toward achieving predetermined goals. Performance management is building on that process, adding the relevant communication and action on the progress achieved against these predetermined goals.

Develop Clear and Measurable Goals and Objectives

The starting point for performance management is to review the goals your organization from the top to the bottom. Every department should have their own goals that align with the overall goals of the company. The goals should be clear and in terms that can be measured such as time goals, production goals, spending goals and improvement goals.

Align Organizational Goals with Individual Performance

Now align the company and departmental goals with the employee goals. Once the goals are determined you must communicate them to each employee. This is an important step for the employee. You should make sure that your employee knows what is expected of them and how they fit into the department and company.

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it”

Goals must be measurable or you and the employee will not know how well they are doing. Doing a good days work is not a goal. “Increase system efficiency by 15%” is a measurable goal. “Decrease departmental spending by 10%” is a measurable goal. Some performance management programs allow the employee to set their own goals. Regardless of how they are set, without goals and objectives you cannot measure if the employee has been successful.

To Measure You Must Record

Since goals are measurable, performance must be tracked. Baselines may need to be established. Using the results from the previous year is a good place to start. Whether the measure of the goal is time, quality, quality or dollars it must be recorded so it can be measured.

Always Look For Coaching Opportunities

“A failure is an opportunity for growth”. Never pass up the opportunity to improve your employees. Note I said IMPROVE, not berate! You will improve the performance of your employee better if you teach them about a mistake rather than scold them for it. Regularly review the record of performance to see if the employee is on track. They may require additional help or training to be able to meet their goals. Creating a culture of learning is an important part of creating a strong culture of performance.

Change the Review Culture

Performance reviews are usually dreaded by manager and employee alike. For performance management to work you must work to change that culture. Performance reviews are when the results are weighed against the goals. The review should include the original goals, the record of performance and the current results.

Review Often

Typically performance reviews are given once per year. To build a strong performance culture in your company you need to perform a review at least twice a year or even once every quarter. Goals may need to be adjusted due to circumstances beyond the control of the employee. By reviewing performance on a regular basis the employee is not surprised at the end of the year by a poor performance review. Nor does the company suffer due an employees poor performance that has not been corrected.

Recognize Achievements and Reward Performance

At the end of the year the expectation is that the employee meets expectations. While it sounds underwhelming it means the employee performed as was expected of them. If the employee meets or exceeds expectations they should be rewarded for their achievement. If you expect employees to strive for better performance they need to know they will be rewarded for their hard work.

Performance management is often met with resistance. People do not like change and many will not like the measures placed on their performance. Over time both employees and management will see the benefits. Performance management focuses on results. It focuses everyone on the goals of their department, their company and themselves. It is a long-term initiative that puts focus on continuous improvement. In the long-term the benefits to the employee and the company will make it well worth the effort.

Photo Credit: JoshuaDavisPhotography

Resources

• The Secrets to Motivating Employees Part 1 – The Psychology

• The Secrets to Motivating Employees Part 2 – The Managers Role

• What to do With Under Performing Employees

IT is charged with providing an ever-increasing line of products and services to the business. In our nanosecond world the quality of those products and services is paramount. To meet the desired level of service quality management needs to become an essential part of IT.

Many best practices have the goal of improving the quality of these services and products delivered by IT. They are essentially, quality management systems. There are certain basic principles of quality management that every best practice should follow.

Just as the keys to successful IT Service Management is “It’s The People Stupid”, the keys to customer focused quality management is, “It’s the Customer Stupid”.

The first principle in a quality management is to be customer focused. IT serves many customers, both internal and external. Each uses different products and services. Each will have different uses for those products. Each will have different requirements for those products and services. IT must meet the needs of everyone and to do this IT must be customer focused.

There are four keys to becoming customer focused. Since quality management needs involvement of every person enlist your department heads to direct their managers to help in each of these steps for their department.

Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations.

Identify All of Your Products and Services

The first step is to create a catalog of all of your products and services. In IT this catalog will be vast and should be broken down by department to simplify your system.

This catalog should include any product or service that a department within IT produces. Products include data products such as reports. Services include tasks such as technical support.

Identify Your Customers

Now you must identify all of the internal and external customers who use your products and services. You need to go beyond “the business” as being a customer and identify the specific parts of the business you serve.

Some services are used by everyone so you need to be smart about what to include. For instance your network infrastructure is the backbone of IT and everyone uses it. However some customers may have requirements such as increased bandwidth so you will need to identify them because they have specific requirements.

Rich Schiesser is an article “Optimizing IT Customer Service” has some good tips on how to identify your customers.

Now match your products and services to the the people or departments who use them.

For example:

• Product: Network Infrastructure
• Customer: ABC Data Storage
• Product: Service Desk SLA Scorecard
• Customer: Director of Customer Service, Service Desk Manager

Determine Your Customers Requirements

A key part of good customer focused service and a quality management system is defining the needs and requirements for all of your customers for each product or service they use. One may use a product or service differently than another.

For example with a data product one may need a complete listing of IP addresses and  locations for every router in your company. Another only needs a count of how many routers are used in the company. Same data source, but each customer has different needs.

The best way to define the needs and requirements for each customer is to talk with them and ask them what services and products they use, how they use them and if they have special requirements. For off site customers and vendors you can create a survey form that can be emailed to them.

Obviously you can not do this with every service and product. You are not going to email everyone in the company and ask them what their requirements are for the network infrastructure. You already know their requirement is a fast connection that is always there. Once again be smart about who you need to ask for requirements.

Meet or Exceed Your Customers Expectations

Now you know who your customers are, what products and services they use and what their needs and requirements are. Providing outstanding customer service means you need to meet or exceed the expectations of each customer for each product or service they use.

An IT department should do no less than meet the expectations of every customer. They should strive to exceed the expectations. Needs and requirements will change so you must stay in touch with your customers and update your products and services as needed. The ultimate goal is to find how to improve IT customer service.

Benefits

• By aligning your IT products and services with your customers you will find not everything your produce is used. You may find A report that takes 15 minutes to produce for a DVP is deleted as soon as it hits their inbox because they no longer need it. You will be able to trim some products and even services and save valuable resources.
• By learning the needs and requirements for each customer you are better able to tailor them so they are more useful. A report may be missing important information the customer can use. You will provide better customer service and your customer will get more from what you do produce.
• Each customer has expectations. By meeting or exceeding their expectations you are providing excellent customer service. Your customers are more satisfied and better able to use your products and services. As an IT department you are more aligned with the needs of your customers so you do not waste time and resources.

Eight Part Quality Principles Series

Read our eight part series on the principles your quality management system can be based on.

Lead Article: Quality Management Principles for IT

1. Customer Focus
2. Leadership
3. Involvement of People
4. Process Approach
5. System Approach to Management
6. Continual Improvement
7. Factual Approach to Management
8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

It does not matter if you have been with the company 20 years or 20 months you could be laid off. Many highly skilled IT professionals have gotten the pink slip and have been laid off for the sake of cutting the bottom line.

For the business this is a strategic move to cut costs and improve profits in the worst economy since the great depression. For IT professionals it is a nerve-racking experience with many wondering if they will be next to be laid off. There are steps you can take to help make yourself more valuable to the company and less likely to see the pink slip.

10 Ways to Avoid The Pink Slip

1. Be Dependable – Good attendance has always been important and now it is more important than ever. Be on time for work and don’t leave early. In the past you may have called in sick when you felt bad. Now only do so if you are unable to work. Companies need people they can depend on to be at work every day, on time and work the full day.
2. Be Passionate About Your Job – Having a true passion for your job, being driven and motivated to always do your best is a good way to avoid the pink slip. If you have lost your passion read “How Passion For Your Job Can Lead To Success” to get it back.
3. Be Likeable – If you are one of those people with a rough edge you need to soften up. Companies want employees who are able to work together and get along well. Refrain from expressing your displeasure over something. Don’t be that person who always says no or has the dark negative cloud over their head. Treat co-workers with respect and try to help others when you can.
4. Be A Team Player – “One Company, One Team” is a mantra you should live by. Companies want employees who are team players. When approached with a problem don’t respond with “It’s not my problem”. If you can’t help find someone who can. Look for ways you can help others to reach their goals and make their jobs easier.
5. Align With Company Goals and Objectives – Do you even know what your company goals and objectives are? If not you had better find out quickly and make sure your work is aligned with them. In this tight economy cutting costs is a top goal. Look for ways you can improve a process or do the job with less to save money.
6. Learn to Handle Pressure – With job cuts many are asked to take on extra duties. This can add to an already high level of stress and pressure to get the job done. Knowing how to deal with working under pressure shows you can handle the heat.
7. Stay Positive – Maintaining a positive outlook can be difficult during times like these. It is important that you be able to stay positive even in negative situations. If you fly off the handle when something goes wrong it means you need to learn to control your response. Maintaining a positive outlook about your job and your work is far less stressful and in times like these is what others need to see from you.
8. Learn What Your Employees Want – If you are a manager keeping your employees happy makes them more productive and shows you are a good manager. Companies want high performing teams and the best way to do this is to start by focusing on the needs of your reports.
9. Make Your Employees More Productive – Once again if you are a manager your performance is tied to how well your team does their job. The more time you spend coaching them, training them to do their job better and to do new task is time well spent. Remember their success is your success.
10. Be the Best at What You Do – This last tip is the most important. If you want to avoid the pink slip. Simply do your job better than anyone has ever done it. The best advice I can give you for this is to read this great article “Be The Best at What You Do”. It shows you how the power of being positive and being passionate about your job, regardless of what your job is will lead to success.

Bonus Tips

The stress and worry about loosing your job is like a daily drum beat in your head. It can distract you from performing at your best and possibly end up causing the exact thing you are trying to avoid. Another tip I can give you are some “Formulas For Success”. Read about eight steps you can take to not only help secure your job, but help boost you up the company ladder.

During tough times like this you should look at your career. Are you heading in the right direction? Is your career path on track? If you have never considered these much this is a good time to start. Read “How to Develop Your IT Career Plan and Why You Should Do It” for tips on developing a career plan and ways to advance your career. Should things not work out for you and you do get the pink slip and be laid off it is important to know how to handle a detour in your career road map.

As a manager you probably already know who your rising stars are. Those who have  a passion for their work and show management and leadership capabilities. Your job in developing them is to improve the skills and knowledge they will need to become future managers and leaders.

Teach Them

Education, classes and seminars are great, but nothing beats real world teaching. Teach your rising stars about the business and the industry you work in. Set aside some time during your day to show them how you do something. Then let them do it on their own. Hands on training is the best kind development practice you can use.

Coaching them regularly will aid in the development of both their soft skills and their technical skills. Strong skills will be needed to be a good manager and a good leader. One of the best teachers they can have is a manager willing to spend time with them to show them the ropes.

Be An Example

By being a powerful role model for your rising stars you will show them by your words and actions what they need to become a manager and leader. Most managers can think back to someone who had a great influence on them that has made them a better manager. Be that influence for your rising stars by helping them develop their skills.

Seeing how you work under pressure, how you deal with difficult challenges and how you interact with others will aid in their development. For your influence to have a lasting effect you must have their trust and respect. Earning that is the first step in setting a good example.

Teach The How to Handle a Crisis

As managers we know a crisis is only a breath away. Being able to handle a crisis is one of the most important developmental experiences your rising star needs. Show them first by watching you handle a crisis and then allow them to handle one on their own.

Let them call the shots and let them know you are there if needed. Be ready to step in, but let them feel the heat of a real crisis to temper their composure under pressure. A crisis is a real test of your rising stars. If they thrive under pressure you have a good one. If they buckle coach them and let them do it again. Show them how they can be proactive and avoid a crisis.

Allow Them to Fail

We all know being a manager is sometimes difficult and the job comes with failures and setbacks. This is a valuable lesson for a rising star to learn early where the impact can be controlled. Delegate a task to them. Don’t set them up to fail, but do not rush in and save them all the time.

Let them fail and learn the lessons that come with it. When they do fail teach them how to learn from their mistakes and overcome it. Later in their career when the risks are greater they will be better able to cope with the challenges that come from failures and setbacks.

Teach Them About Failure and Success

When they do fail step in and coach them so they can learn lessons from their mistakes. Don’t let them become discouraged. Teach them that failures bring opportunities for improvement and growth. That if they learn from their mistakes they will be far less likely to make them again. In the future when failures do occur they will be better able to cope, learn and move on.

Rising stars may be used to success but not used to dealing with it. Just as with failures there are lessons to be learned in success. For instance sharing the success with those who helped you reach it will ensure their support for future success. Taking all the glory and basking in your own magnificence will alienate others and they will be less likely to help you in the future.

Most best practices used in IT today define a quality management system (QMS). A QMS defines the standards of quality used within the organization. Regardless of what best practice you follow there are certain quality management principles you should use as a guide.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards. The ISO 9000 family of quality management standards and guidelines are used by companies around the world to establish and improve their quality management system.

You do not need to fully implement the ISO 9000 standards to have a QMS in your IT department. However these eight principles can be guides to set up or improve your present quality management system.

ISO 9000 Quality Management Principles

This eight part series will look at the ISO 9000 quality management principles that can be used as a foundation upon which you can build your quality management system. Here are the eight ISO 9000 quality management principles.

1. Customer Focus

Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations.

2. Leadership

Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives.

3. Involvement of People

People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit.

4. Process Approach

A desired result is achieved more efficiently when activities and related resources are managed as a process.

5. System Approach to Management

Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes as a system contributes to the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its objectives.

6. Continual Improvement

Continual improvement of the organization’s overall performance should be a permanent objective of the organization.

7. Factual Approach to Decision Making

Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information.

8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create value

Eight Part Quality Principles Series

Read our eight part series on the quality management principles your quality management system can be based on.

1. Customer Focus
2. Leadership
3. Involvement of People
4. Process Approach
5. System Approach to Management
6. Continual Improvement
7. Factual Approach to Management
8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships