‘Quality is not an act, it is a habit’, quoted Aristotle. Quality- a seven letter word that decides how good a product is. Everybody wants quality in life. Be it in professional or personal front we all strive for quality until it becomes a habit. What is quality? Why do we need quality and how does it help an organization especially leadership-these questions once answered can help in the better understanding of Quality Assurance(QA) and how it helps and supports good leadership.
What is Quality Assurance?
Quality Assurance by definition is any and all activities—especially activities that cut across departments—that we do to make sure that we do our quality work right (Kemp, 2005, p.355). It helps checks the accuracy of a particular job as well as the system. It focuses on solving problems pertaining to quality. We know that Total Quality Management consists of defining, planning for, controlling, assuring and delivering quality and Assurance therefore plays a major part.
What does Quality Assurance comprise of?
QA includes cross-departmental communication about quality, communication with vendors, redesign of the product or process to prevent error, and a variety of audit processes to make sure that work and management are being done to standards or in accordance with best practices (Kemp, 2005, p.103). With this we understand that QA not only makes sure that we are adhering to the best practices but also suggests various ideas for improvements and also makes sure that those ideas are met.
How does Quality assurance support Leadership?
It is we who define quality- what we want, plan it- how we it- whether the want is being met as per the desired standards. It is people that make up and manage organizations and lead teams with quality. Thus, the need for good leaders with quality grows tremendously as they make substantial differences in organizations and their respective teams. QA ensures that every team has good people with great quality in it which in turn supports leadership. How does it do it? According to Kemp (2005), QA helps define and organize ideas through: Product re-engineering, Process re-engineering, Evaluation of customer satisfaction and customer service information, Communication across departments and Communication with vendors.
QA helps us to examine the defects in a particular product or a process, through scientific analysis and various audits, providing sufficient data that are objective. This in turn ensures fewer errors and defects. It also helps us find better ways of doing the same work and that the consistency is met. It helps leadership decide whether the product or the process has to be redefined. QA helps identify various quality problems that occur due to lack of communication- be it communication across departments or communication with vendors. This supports leadership in identifying the minimum communication that is required to resolve these problems. It also helps in making sure that the individuals are updated and have sufficient knowledge. By identifying and ensuring the above, QA not only helps individual development, but ensures that customer feedback reaches the leadership. This feedback is then evaluated and used for redefining the product or the process in the organization.
QA when supported and sustained can add real value to the organization (Kemp, 2005, p.126). By identifying the skills that an individual possesses and the skills that are needed, by making sure the process requirements are met, by providing various ideas that can reengineer the process or the product and by calculating the necessary plan of action, QA helps leadership take better decisions as well as deliver excellence and customer satisfaction which is the primary goal of any leadership in management. Thus, we can successfully conclude that QA helps and supports leadership by ensuring that quality becomes a habit and not an act.
Reference
Kemp, Sid. 2005. Quality Management Demystified. Retrieved from Google Books
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Sk21HQAACAAJ&dq=Quality+Management+Demystified&cd=1
