A Total Quality Management System: 12 steps to follow

The success of every business lies in satisfying the consumers. This is the biggest truth of every business. Managers need to plan and implement different strategies to achieve higher consumer satisfaction and a Total Quality Management System is one of these ways. The term Total Quality Management System indicates implementing different strategies for maintaining the quality of the product or services so that the consumers feel satisfied. The goal of every business person should be to uplift the quality of the service or the products and increase the satisfaction level of the consumers. 

With time, different types of tools and technologies are taking place for reducing loads of labour, producing more within a shorter period, and improving product quality. So, managers also need to implement modern strategies and keep on improving the experience of the consumers. 

Serving higher quality products within a shorter budget is the secret of many successful businesses in the modern days. The owners need to implement the right strategies after researching well in the market. But this is also not enough to get the best result in improving and maintaining the quality of the product and services. Rather you need to follow some effective ways as described below to get the desired result.

Implementation of a Total Quality Management System 

The customer-focused culture of the company, understanding the requirements of the customers, and meeting and exceeding the expectation of the consumers all these points should be considered under the total quality management system. The following steps can lead you to achieve this goal successfully. 

  1. Clear the vision and mission of the organization 

The employees need to be conscious of the long-term and short-term goals and strategies of the organization. The employees should plan their tasks as per the value and the mission of the company. They should know what they need to achieve by when and maintaining what rules. 

So, it is important for companies to communicate with employees at a certain interval to remind their goals and strategies. When they implement a new strategy or set a new goal then also they should convey it to the employees on time. So, that they can plan their work accordingly. 

  1. Critical success factors 

Identifying different factors that influence the productivity and the quality of the products or services is important to improve the overall performance of the company. Moreover, the company should disclose these factors to let the new joiner understand the facts. 

The measurement of the performance of the employees also helps the managers to understand how they are moving towards their goals. The reports on financial performance, customer satisfaction, market share, and process improvements help the organization take further decisions.

  1. Identify the group of key customers 

Every company produces products or services to meet the demand of consumers and satisfy them. The employees should recognize the key customer and for whom they are producing the products or serving the service. It makes the planning more accurate to meet the growing demand of the key customers.

The service or products of the company should be designed in such a manner that the key customers get what they need. It is obvious that managers can plan strategies to satisfy the key customers once they recognize them and follow their requirements. 

  1. Collect and analyze the feedback of the customers 

The best way to understand the requirements of the consumers is by collecting and analyzing their feedback. Now, most companies ask consumers to provide feedback immediately after receiving the services. The customers can leave the rate to the service or the products and a short description of their experience. This feedback helps the company to understand where they need to improve. 

This is a strong tool for measuring the performance of the company. The company needs to set a goal to satisfy more consumers and improve productivity in every way. The total quality management system can improve the overall rating in the global market when it can satisfy the highest number of audiences. 

  1. Survey tools

Applying a total quality management system is possible when the position of the products and services is clear. You need to compete with other companies to secure your position in the market. So, you need to know how the consumers are feeling about your brand.

For example, you may assume that your consumers are comfortable with the price of the product or services at your company. But in reality, they may expect a discount or find it in other places at a lower cost. So, you need to conduct a survey among your consumers to understand what they are expecting. 

The questions of the survey should be to the point, easy to understand and answer, and time-saving. You should keep in mind that consumers don’t have much time to answer the questions. They can spend only a few minutes so keep questions objective. You can also keep one or two questions to answer in a few sentences like what improvements they suggest.

  1. Customize the survey

Identify the group of customers and prepare the questionnaire for the survey depending on the group of consumers to get the best report. You should remember that when you are preparing the questionnaire for the employees it differs from the questionnaire for the external consumers. 

Depending on these reports, the managers can set the plans for the Total Quality Management System. They can set different plans for retaining employees and attracting more consumers to hire the services. In both cases, you can not set the same plan. So, customization in the survey for different groups of consumers is important. 

  1. Create a developmental plan 

The management needs to create a developmental plan depending on the survey reports collected from different key customer groups. The managers need to understand different scopes for improving the experiences of the key customers before implementing a plan. Different companies may apply for several product development programs.

These developmental plans for improving the quality of productivity may include improvement of the entire process, development of the leadership, training the employees, and more. The managers should set a goal and plan to achieve it. The requirements for achieving the goal should be clear to the manager. 

  1. Resurvey to check the effectiveness of the new strategies

After implementing the new strategies, it is important to check whether it is working or not. You should never depend on the assumption that the new total quality management system will be effective. The management may need to customize the plan or change a bit to uplift the quality of the product and services more effectively. So, surveying the applied developmental plan is important after a certain interval. If you find the feedback is not positive among the consumers then you need to change it. 

  1. Check CSF regularly

The factors that leave an impact on the productivity of the company should be checked in detail on a certain interval. For example, depending on today’s critical satisfactory factors you decide to arrange communication training for your employees. After one month you need to check if there is any other requirement. Like the employee may need to get behavioural training too to leave a strong impact on the consumers. So, you need to keep the total quality management system upgraded as per the requirements. 

  1. Use your strength as a marketing strategy 

The result of implementing the total quality management system may earn you some positive results. This positive result can be an effective marketing tool for you. It is important to let the target audiences know what you do best. This promotional activity can secure your position in the competitive market. 

For example, after implementing the total quality management system you may have retrained the highest number of employees in your company. You need to highlight this point when you are going to hire quality employees in a valuable position. The high employee retention rate reflects you take the requirements of the employees seriously and implement the best strategies to retain them. 

  1. Use current technology

The modern market is improving day by day with the help of technical implementations. There are different types of technical tools available in the market to measure different reports and track the employee’s activities. Measuring the activities and progress of the projects or collecting feedback from the consumers has become easy with the implementation of the technologies today. 

So, when you are planning to develop products and services, you should be aware of the implementation of the current technology. The result becomes accurate and effective. The technical implementations also help in saving time while understanding the progress. The entire measurement process becomes easy and satisfying. So, implementing the current technology is important in developmental plans and quality management. 

  1. Don’t stop

Development programs are never-ending. You can not stop the implementation of a Total Quality Management System. This should be an ongoing process to keep on improving customer experience and securing your position in the market. 

With time, different strategies are taking place to improve the product quality and the experience of the consumers with the product and service. You should never think that getting positive feedback from the survey means you need not improvise the strategy for improving product quality. 

So, you should remember that you need to measure the feedback and improvement at every certain interval and alter the strategies accordingly. 

Importance of total quality management system 

Following different strategies for a total quality management system implementation has become common to get the best result in improving the experience of the consumers. But you may think is it really important to measure and implement a total quality management system? The answer is yes in all aspects. Be it a small or a large-scale business, you need to keep on improving your performance in the competitive market. In this case, nothing can help you to understand what you need to improve other than the feedback of the consumers. The people who use your products or services can criticize them the best and collecting their feedback is important for improving performance. 

Final thoughts 

So, collecting feedback and analyzing the scope for improving performance is the best practice that managers need to do. They can indicate where you are lacking or what may make your consumers more satisfied. This information can open your future scopes in the market. The managers should have analytical skills to implement the right strategies for development. They should check the details and accordingly arrange developmental programs for the employees so that they can serve the best consumers. 

The leaders should play an active role in developing the team members and making them successful in achieving the goal of the company. They should be able to set goals, develop interactive communication among the team members, set strategies, and execute them successfully.