How to make total quality management or TQM work

Posted by AmandaTom on August 22nd, 2013

Total quality management is nowadays very important in all kinds of companies and organizations. However, not all managers know how to implement this process in order for their firms to become more successful. Fortunately, there are some steps that can be followed in order for TQM to be effective anywhere. Mainly, these are represented by a participative form of management, by the improvement of the continuous process and by team utilization. In order to obtain best results in a company, regardless of its purpose, these three are a must.

The first step which is represented by participative management should deal with the personal involvement of all the company’s members in the process of management. This way, the traditional method of management, also known as the top-down method, can be de-emphasized. This TQM method allows and even encourages subordinators to guide and offer their opinions to managers, in order for the decisions and the set policies to be created with the help of everybody.

This means that the subordinates will have their chance to adhere to and to implement new directives which in turn will help the organization in which they are working to become more successful. In addition, this technique of total quality management can also improve the way the upper management grasps operations and makes decisions. More importantly, this way simple workers will begin to feel like having more control over what they do, which in the end will only determine them to work and think more efficiently.

Another way of making TQM work is by a continuous process improvement. In turn, this will determine for smaller gains to be recognized when it comes to the total quality goal. It is a well-known fact that large gains are only made through small gains that have been sustainably improved over a longer period of time. This total quality management process requires managers to make a longer term approach. In addition, it makes them to also become willing to invest in present actions and methods that will have results in the future. Moreover, by making continuous improvements, managers and workers too will become more appreciative for the TQM techniques, and they will also gain more confidence in them.

Working in teams is another must in order for the total quality management techniques to succeed. Cross-functional teams formed of different people working in an organization can help employees share their knowledge in different fields, identity problems and find solutions, make use of opportunities, understand better their role in the company and in the manufacturing process, and most importantly understand the goal of the company and make it their own as well. Working in a team can prove to be much more effective than working individually, and this is why this is a very important step that total quality management insists on, regardless of the organization’s purpose.

If you want to take your company to the next level, you should have your top Management—including yourself—take an online course in Totalm Quality Management, also known as TQM from a trusted online Project Management school.