Principle 3 (ISO 9000): Involvement of People
People generally perform better when they know what their job is, have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The typical obstacles that befall many small businesses disappear when there a team member understands not only their role, but also the role of their team and every team in the organization, and how it all comes together to deliver exactly what the buyer is expecting.
A quality culture is motivating. Defined procedures liberate the mind to innovate. They take ownership. People ask,
“I understand my job, how can I make the process better?”
“Can I substantiate (quantify) the benefits of what I propose?”
“How can I learn more about what I need to do my job better?”
When there is an entire company focusing on their work this way, people are empowered to create, innovate, and be accountable for their own performance. People get excited about participating in and contributing to continual improvement.
When things go wrong (they always do), the entire team contributes to coming up with solutions. The solutions come from those most likely to create them. After all, no one knows a job better than the one who has been doing it for some time.