Achieving ISO 9001 certification requires a great deal of change within your organisation, from day to day improvements all the way to effective quality management systems that are designed to ensure that quality goals are met across the board.
What you may not realise however is that the move towards obtaining this certification also offers a chance to grow leaders within your organisation, providing teams with improved ways of getting things done to align each strategy with your quality goals. Much like sports teams, military units and any other high powered team, when people in the workplace are empowered and are able to trust their leaders to command, the real value of teamwork becomes apparent.
Making a living and achieving career growth is important, but contributing towards the growth of the company is equally important to each employee – especially those who show the potential to lead.
Using ISO Quality Management Strategies to Boost Teams
How can your ISO and quality management strategies be used to build a powerful team that fosters future leaders? Here are some of the areas that can be incorporated into your efforts to grow a culture of leadership and teamwork:
- Enable a simpler way to collaborate on projects with tools such as document control. A team approach to creating, editing and reviewing documentation helps to improve quality on all documents while also giving each team member a better sense of responsibility. Visibility and accountability are also improved with a clear, easy to use document system.
- Involve managers and senior employees in your audit review process. This is especially useful in the case of third party or external audits that are done by registrars or certification boards, as well as informal surveys and feedbacks provided by customers. Giving key employees a sense of ownership for their departments is essential.
- Create an open door platform for ideas and innovation. Encourage suggestions and ideas from all employees from entry level upwards, and provide feedback on why their ideas are not used and credit when ideas are used.
- Create action teams for ongoing problem areas. A diverse team that is dedicated to dealing with issues that continue to hamper quality management will help to provide a fresh perspective. This is even more useful when the team has a mixture of levels, specialities and job roles; whether dealing with customer complaints, design flaws or even non-conformance.
- Pair line workers with Production Engineers to analyse workflow and production processes. A team such as this helps to provide insight from both perspectives, which in turn provides a far better chance of feedback that is genuinely helpful.
- Publish key metrics and revised quality goals across the organisation. By showing employees a scaled down, visible report on objectives, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page.
- Put a mentorship programme into place. Experienced workers have plenty of insight to offer newer employees. Giving older employees the chance to share their skills helps boost relations while also building a culture of shared knowledge.
Do not underestimate the value of even regular informal feedback meetings for their ability to encourage teamwork and participation. By opening up channels for growth and leadership, you will not only build strong teams but also ensure that your ISO quality management compliance is easily achieved.
