Starter Questions
- What is preventing your organization from investing in quality?
- Does your organization view “quality” a process, a result, or both?
- Is “quality” clearly defined at your company?
Quality as a Process
Many individuals and organizations view “quality” as a process – tasks and tools that stand alone from the rest of our daily work. Design or construction quality programs – like safety and scheduling – are contract and insurance requirements, yet they lose focus when a project team is under pressure. When we think about quality as a process, it becomes extra administrative work from a project team’s perspective, perpetuating their feeling that they “don’t have time for quality.”
A note for the Industry Quality Professional: Time is a real constraint on the jobsite. When you go to a jobsite and pitch quality as a process, you set yourself up for failure. The project team will then think of quality as something extra to do on top of everything else.
Quality as a Result
Quality is also viewed as a result of doing all the right things. If we plan enough, if we have enough money and time, and we communicate effectively – all these management elements come together resulting in a quality product.
Quality as a Decision
I understand both viewpoints. There is no right or wrong answer. Regardless of your viewpoint, we all can agree that quality is also a decision. A commitment. In Integrated Management Systems for Construction: Quality, Environment, and Safety, Alan Griffith notes: “The establishment of a quality management system (QMS) is a strategic business decision of the company” (70). A design or construction organization must decide to commit to quality.
The intent of creating a business case for focusing on quality is to influence this decision and establish a plan for integrating quality into everyday operations.
The Elements of Success
Implementation of quality at any organization requires the following:
- Being the right person. To lead the implementation of quality, you must be enthusiastic, persistent, and resilient. An active listener and selfless when challenging conversations arise. Always assuming positive intent.
- Having the right plan. The actions in your plan must address issues and concerns specific to your organization. Gathering and analyzing feedback across your organization will help you create the right plan while accommodating the context and culture of your company.
- Implementing quality at the right time. Each organization has only so much capacity for change. Do not promote a business case for quality when team members are already over-burdened with other change initiatives.
- Establishing a support network. A robust support network is the result of effectively gathering and of analyzing feedback throughout the organization. You will need team members who believe in the vision of quality you intend to create, and who you can call on to ask for feedback and guidance on how to deal with the inevitable challenges.
- Creating value. Your business case for quality must clearly articulate how investing in quality will help your organization create value.
Forthcoming Challenges
Short-term thinking, a perceived lack of time, and an unclear definition of quality are global obstacles to investment in quality. The jobsite atmosphere is one of constant problem solving and firefighting. Under the normal pressures of delivering a design or construction project, major issues unconsciously get elevated to leadership, preventing them from thinking strategically.
A perceived lack of time is another barrier to quality – especially when quality is perceived as a process. Navigating this obstacle requires active listening and approaching quality as a decision and a result.
Defining quality is the final impediment. This is an industry problem, which is why your organization needs a clear, tangible definition for quality.
Business Case Framework
The intent of this framework is to provide any design or construction professional with the tools and tactics to draft a business case for quality at their organization.
- Introduction: How to Build a Compelling Business Case for Quality
- Integrate Quality and Strategy
- Achieve Executive Buy-In
- Gather Feedback Across Your Organization
- Establish Actions for Your Business Case
- Deliver a Compelling Business Case for Quality
- Implement the Actions of the Quality Business Case
- 5 Essentials for Success
Notice the amount of pre-work involved before drafting the business case (steps 1 through 4). I often think of these steps as the climb to the summit, there steps 5 and 6 are your descent – which, in mountaineering, is the most difficult segment of the journey.
A Disclaimer
There are many paths to success. This framework is but one, and it is based on my experience in my organization and may not directly apply to your situation. Like any business or self-improvement book, you must modify the approach and apply it to your own specific situation.
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