The Role of Leadership in Quality Management

The Role of Leadership in Quality Management
August 29, 2011 isowebseousr
leadership_management

The role of leadership in quality management forms the backbone of any improvement strategy. Leaders provide a unity of purpose, while also establishing the direction of the organisation. As such, the responsibility of leaders consists of creating and maintaining the internal environment. In this environment, employees are able to become completely involved in achieving the organisation’s goals and aims. In this way, good leadership is essential in order to improve quality across the organisation, as the leading force that sets objectives and assists employees to implement these objectives.

The below graphic illustrates Why Effective Leadership is Critical. (Click To Enlarge)

Effective Leadership

11 Tips to Improve Quality Management Leadership and Management

  • Be proactive and lead through example rather than dictating – true leaders lead in a way that is active in implementing and following through on actions, rather than simply dictating actions without leading by example.
  • Understand and react to fluctuations in the external environment – the external environment is every bit as important as the internal environment, which is why leaders need to fully comprehend and correctly react to various changes within this environment.
  • Consider the wants of ALL stake holders, from customers to owners, employees, suppliers, local communities and the general public – these stake holders form a vital part of the quality management process, and can greatly affect the organisation’s success if there is no relationship and understanding from a leadership point of view.
  • Establish a clear view of the organisation’s prospects – a clear view of the organisation’s future is essential in order to accurately plan ahead, by continuously changing goals and milestones in the future.
  • Establish common values and ethical role models throughout the organisation – leaders instil a sense of values and ethics that are entrenched in the organisation’s mission statement, acting as role models to inspire employees to be a part of quality management initiatives based on these common values.
  • Develop trust and eradicate fear – a good company relies on effective leadership to develop trust across internal and external environments, without the need to use fear as a motivating factor.
  • Equip employees with the needed resources and freedom to strive for duty and accountability – with a well-developed range of strategies that include all levels within the organisation, along with resources that equip employees to meet the organisation’s goals, the entire organisation can be involved in improving quality across the board.
  • Inspire, motivate and recognise contributions from all levels of employees – the ability to inspire and motivate staff across all levels allows employees to be actively involved and invested in quality management initiatives.
  • Foster open and honest communication – communication is essential in order for all levels within the organisation to work together to implement improvement strategies, and as leader, the role is to foster open communication from all employees.
  • Teach, train and coach employees – through learning and coaching on various improvement strategies and other initiatives, employees are able to garn a better understanding not only on what they are doing, but why they are performing their tasks.
  • Develop challenging objectives and targets – through goal setting, leaders are able to foster constant growth and development across the organisation, by continually improving the standards of goals within each department.

Moving Quality Management and Leadership Forward

Implement clear initiatives and strategies to bring these goals into fruition – once goals have been set, leaders implement these goals accordingly to involve all levels in quality management campaigns across the organisation.

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Manage compliance for ISO 9001/13485/14001/17025/22000/45001 & IATF 16949.

 

Contains document control, training, complaints, audit, non-conformance, risk & CAPA modules.

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