Initiate your own TQL to compliment and continue your TQM

"Leading focus through operations"

Mr. Guttman's quote references production and TQM but the same equation holds true for services and TQL - Total Quality Leadership.  To deliver a top quality end services requires first-rate workplace relationships and experiences put through first-rate asking processes.  Important points here being: 

• Services are as a rule more people oriented requiring soft skills to deal with workplace relationships and experiences.

• In daily operations, associates' workplace experiences and relationships blend together and go hand in hand.  

• Associates are influenced by three primary areas of workplace relationships and experiences.  Those areas are between customers, fellow associates, and partners (support groups) both internal and external to the enterprise.  In daily operations these three areas most often converge simultaneously. 

• Processes are merely sets of actions.  They can exist within systems and programs or on their own

• Unlike programs and systems, processes need not necessarily flow from the top of the enterprise  down to the frontlines.  They may, as a set of actions, be initiated directly from the frontlines of operations as a skill or tool.

• Asking/inquiry/questioning is basic to human nature and central to communications, thought, emotion, and learning which are mostly non-verbal and unconscious.  All become important in the people-part of the enterprise and the informal aspects such as learning which often become the majority over time.

• Asking processes or actions help associates develop one of the most critical and often missing types of feedback in operations - that being feedback from their own daily activities.  This is necessary for individuals as well as teams to stay involved over time and develop high performance.

Front-line supervisors and managers need leadership activities and skills to compliment their managerial activities and skills.  They also need these activities to occur simultaneously during daily operations.  Without this, the maintenance of operational programs and systems becomes an ongoing struggle.  Anxiety between getting something done or in place (PLAN) and holding the people accountable to do it (LEAD).

An analogy would be:

• Just as - the introduction of TQM recognized and created the processes and tools by which front-line managers had the opportunity to ask "How are we doing?" by learning managerial activities such as cost controls, scheduling, ordering, forecasting, training, orientation and evaluation. Creating ownership and learning experiences by taking the "what" needs to be done operationally from Management and participating in the "how" to get it done operationally with ongoing feedback.

• So to - the implementation of a TQL can be created with processes by which front-line managers can ask "How are we doing?"  Learning leadership activities key to relationships and performance such as intentions, assessments, confidence, and recognition. These leadership actions compliment (can be executed simultaneously with) managerial activities during daily operations. They too create ownership and learning experiences by taking the "what" needs to be done operationally from Management and allow participation in the "how" to get it done operationally using ongoing feedback.

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