Category: Pro QC

We attend several trade fairs each year and find the experience of being present and talking with people one-on-one to be invaluable. Each show provides us with an opportunity to learn more about the current trends and connect/reconnect with individuals in the industry. In addition to expanding our network, we are able to use feedback received and respond to the market’s needs.

Tomorrow, we leave for the World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Nashville, TN.  There, quality professionals from around the world will gather to talk shop, be inspired and learn something new. We’ll be in Booth 338!

Three of the most common questions we receive when exhibiting at a trade event include: 

There are a considerable number of benefits associated with outsourcing.  As a third-party quality assurance provider (3PQ), we ultimately seek to be an extension of our clients’ organizations.  In reducing sourcing risks and cost, this partnership has significant value:

We reached out to a few of our key clients and asked for their opinion regarding the value of outsourcing quality…

Managing teams is a core leadership subject within the CMQ/OE certification body of knowledge.  As a CMQ/OE and Education Chair of the local ASQ section in Tampa, Pro QC’s Communications Director recently instructed a webinar related to Leading Teams Effectively.  Similar training was also recently conducted for our team in China.  At Pro QC, we understand the benefits of effective teams as it relates to the delivery of value-added quality services that reduce our clients’ risks and cost.

With experience managing teams across 38 countries, our takeaways for managing effectively include:

The Right People – Selecting team members that have the right experience, skills and attitudes is critical.

Navigating Team Stages – Understand the five team development stages of forming, storming, norming and performing.  Leadership within each stage ensures smooth transitions and maximizes productivity throughout the process.

Approach to Problem Solving – Understand the team problem solving steps, but more specifically ensure that each team member is knowledgeable regarding quality tools that can be incorporated throughout the process. The Quality Toolbox is an invaluable resource here.

As the first Monday of the New Year has arrived and productivity once again gains momentum, so too has the responsibility for resolution follow-through.

Over the years, we have written a few articles that we think quality professionals in particular will appreciate.  We use quality tools from start to finish to ensure not only success, but continuous improvement (kaizen).

The first area of troubleshooting when it comes to making a change is effective planning. It’s not enough to say that you’ll exercise more or that you’ll start doing something about that one supplier that’s consistently late with shipments.  Strategic planning needs to take place, and S.M.A.R.T. goals should always be the result.

“People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” ~ Earl Nightingale 

Getting your brain on board with change can be the biggest challenge.  It’s one thing to want something, but it’s another entirely when it comes to getting your behavior to respond accordingly.  We’re wired for short-cuts and efficiency, so real effort is required to get things rewired.  With a negativity bias also at play, it’s often too easy to give up.