Being the Best

For the past ninety years successful organizations have subscribed to some or all of the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM). Most of these organizations were for profit and many in the manufacturing sector. Indeed, it was for these organizations and within them that the theories were devised and in which they have best and most often practiced.

Over the past twenty five years the base of the world’s economy has shifted from the predominance of the manufacturing sector to the service sector. Many areas of the world have seen the disappearance of manufacturing firms in favor of technology companies and the growth of service industries, such as, hospitality, education, entrainment, the arts, retail, health and social services.

At the same time traditional nonprofits (501)©(3) have struggled for survival, and some have not prevailed. We read and hear monthly of symphonies that have either reduced their offerings or folded. Museums have reduced staff, programming and visiting hours. Arts organizations have competed for new audiences; some sacrificing their mission to “win the battle”. Social service agencies have competed for diminishing government, corporate, and philanthropic resources. Nonprofit boards and staffs in attempts to address the situation have hired consultants, merged with other organizations, and downsized; all in the name of survival.

This book is written in an attempt to address the very real challenges facing the (501)©(3) nonprofit organizations. It posits that the principles of total quality management which were designed for the manufacturing sector of the past century, have relevance and significance for the nonprofit today. It further takes the position that the solutions to many of the contemporary challenges nonprofits face can be found in the tenets and practices of total quality management.

First and foremost, the preeminence of a focus on the customer/client and her/his needs is essential to an organization’s quality performance. All systems are designed to meet and exceed these needs and to make it easy and pleasurable for the customer/client to approach the organization and to benefit from its services and offerings.

This customer focus informs all of the other principles and practices; hence, is essential. It often requires systemic restructuring to ensure that all facets of the organization are equally committed to the customer/client orientation and the quality delivery of the organization’s services and offerings.

The second principle governing a quality organization is the concept of continuous improvement. Simply put, an organization that commits to quality management can never be satisfied that what service it offers and how the service is delivered is perfect, and therefore not in need of any improvement. Often this aspect is frustrated by a chorus of “we’ve always done it this way”. Rather, today’s success is but preamble to tomorrow’s new or improved service, or its revised and improved delivery. This function should not be relegated to a particular department to oversee, but be ingrained in the organization’s culture, for while there are technical aspects to the process; it is an attitudinal characteristic.

In addition to the attitudinal support of the organization’s associates and leadership, continuous improvement requires systemic support in terms of developing, implementing, and monitoring a process driven by the customer focus and its changing needs.

Change is a constant in an organization truly committed to continuous improvement. Not everyone is comfortable in such an environment, but if the connection to customer satisfaction is made and those associates most engaged in the development and delivery of services are involved in the process, change can actually be a liberating and enhancing experience for the associates and the harbinger of the organization’s quality performance and its ultimate success.

Organizations committed to the principles of customer satisfaction and continuous improvement support these goals structurally by the development of operational teams. Ideally, these teams should be interdisciplinary or cross functional. Membership on cross functional teams is determined by who in the organization has information that is critical to a decision and who will ultimately be most affected by the decision.

Formal reporting arrangements are abandoned in favor is a sharing of knowledge. The quality of the decisions these teams make is directly relational to the people who constitute the teams. Such a structure allows for the easy and regular flow of information that is essential to the continuous improvement process.

For these teams to be effective, and not just an administrative restructuring, they need to be truly empowered to make decisions and implement them. Such “ownership” is the foundation of a quality organization and needs to be valued and rewarded accordingly.

Organizations driven by total quality are equally concerned with the quantitative aspects of their services and offerings, as well, and therefore use assessment data as the basis for all decisions. In such an environment, decisions are made based on fact and not any individual’s or group’s hunch, or worse, whim. Quantitative analysis will ensure that these decisions have objective bases for implementation and improved customer satisfaction as their goal. An open sharing of the data will also facilitate organizational support for any changes proposed.

Obviously, the organizational transformation that an adoption and a commitment to these principles requires the organization’s leadership to consistently think and act with a strategic focus on long term success. This coupled with the constant espousal of the organization’s mission and core values, and a systems approach to the organization’s operations, will provide the direction and support needed to develop and sustain a quality organization, one that will do more than survive; it will excel!.