Overview

Commitment to continuous improvement is a cornerstone of total quality management. Even the best organisation needs to improve to keep pace with the developing needs and expectations of its customers and with its competitors who will themselves be moving forward.

Quality is really nothing more, therefore, than meeting customer needs. To do this, you must improve work processes, because it's the result of these processes that the customer cares about.

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It follows then that the starting point for continuous improvement is to take stock of what it is that your customer needs and expects and to evaluate how well the quality of your product or service measures up.

In this theme, we look at how you can take a planned approach to continuous improvement and at how you can involve your team in making a similar commitment.

You will:

• Identify your customers and how to gain feedback on their needs and expectations

• Consider approaches to quality improvement and how you can apply them to the products or services you provide

• Explore a range of analytical tools and techniques for problem solving and quality improvement

• Consider how you can involve your team in improving quality and customer service.

You and Your Customers