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Note from the
Newsletter editor
: This is the
first and second of a three part article submitted by ASQ
Montreal
Section 0401 member Hélène Giroux who is an
Associate Professor in Operations and Logistics Management at HEC
Montréal.
By
Hélène Giroux, Associate Professor, Operations
and Logistics Management
HEC Montréal,
Senior member
It’s
a funny thing about quality professionals. Most of them
didn’t set
out to build a career in quality – after all, very few
colleges and
universities have diplomas in quality assurance or quality management.
Yet many of those who fell into quality also seem to fall in love with
it and spend years, often their whole career, in various quality
functions. What does it take to be a quality professional? What kind of
aptitudes and personal dispositions make for a successful and
satisfying career in quality?
As part of a larger academic research project, I had to opportunity to
interview 29 seasoned quality professionals with combined experience of
more than 800 years. These professionals from the North-Eastern United
States and Canada have held a wide variety of positions related to
quality assurance and quality management. They have worked in diverse
industries such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing,
construction, aeronautics, software and services. All are or were
members of ASQ, and most have accumulated many years of service to ASQ,
either in their local section, in one of the society’s
divisions, or at
the regional and national level.
I asked the respondents to list the key traits of a quality
professional. This article summarizes what this amazing group of people
had to share on the subject, in the hopes that younger professionals or
those that are still struggling with their role as quality
practitioners might benefit from their seniors’ insights.
Knowledge,
knowledge and more knowledge…
Even though you do not need a college degree to become a quality
professional, nowadays it is a definite advantage. Two thirds of the
participants in this study have a college diploma, mostly in
engineering or science. Many also pursued an MBA or a
master’s degree,
often through night school. In fact, the principles of quality control,
assurance and management are seldom taught in colleges and
universities. Knowledge related to quality methodologies and tools has
to be actively sought by employees, once they find themselves in a
quality related function. Most interviewees added to their formal
education by taking courses and attending training sessions on
different aspects of quality and management. More than half have at
least one ASQ certification, and a few more mastered the required body
of knowledge without getting certified.
Knowledge does not stop with formal education or training. Reading
books and journals is a good way to stay in touch with the latest
techniques, ideas and buzzwords. Most consider the ASQ to be an
excellent source of information and continuous learning. Conferences
and networking are also good ways to learn from the experience of
others. More generally, successful quality professionals share a thirst
for knowledge, an unquenchable curiosity. They have inquisitive minds
and keep asking questions. They genuinely want to know more about
products, systems and customers. As one interviewee puts it,
“you never
outgrow your need for learning.”
What kind of knowledge is important? According to many interviewees, a
strong technical base is extremely useful, and at least a basic
knowledge of statistics. Analytical skills are essential, along with a
keen interest in data management and presentation. Statistical software
and automated control systems may have freed quality practitioners from
the tedious tasks of gathering and compiling raw data, but they have
exponentially increased the amount of available information. The role
of quality professionals has consequently shifted to data mining; they
must learn to quickly identify and analyze pertinent information, and
translate it to make it understandable to non-specialists.
Even though technical skills are the backbone of a good quality
professional, they are useless without an in-depth understanding of the
organization where you work, and of the business world in general. You
need to thoroughly understand your company’s products and
processes, as
well as your customers’ needs and competitors’
actions. One of the
professionals that I met described an illuminating experience: the few
weeks he spent ‘in the field’ interacting with
customers and watching
them as they used his company’s products. Several
interviewees
emphasized that one of the main competitive advantages of the quality
professional is that he or she is often the only person in the
organization who has a good practical understanding of all the
organization’s systems and their interrelations. As one
respondent put
it, “you need to be a jack-of-all-trades.” This
ability to cross
functional silos and see the big picture is what makes quality
professionals indispensable to management.
People skills
Being able to get along with people is an advantage in almost any type
of work. However, for quality professionals, interpersonal skills are a
key success factor. All too often, quality professionals are the ones
who uncover problems: defective products, out of control processes,
systems failures, inefficiencies, non-conforming documentation, and so
on. Detecting these flaws, however, is the (relatively) easy part of
the job. As one interviewee pointed out, “frequently you are
in a
position of telling people what they don’t want to hear, that
all
their hard work was for naught.” This is where communication
skills and a good amount of diplomacy become essential. You need to be
able to get the message across in a non-threatening way if you want to
be able to help those ‘responsible’ for the problem
find
solutions, and then make sure that the solutions are implemented and
that the changes are enduring.
The best quality professionals are good listeners, and have
successfully established relationships based on trust and honesty. They
have slowly built their credibility and reputation as people who are
there to help, not as policemen lurking in the dark corners to catch
other people’s mistakes. They may also get caught between
parties
attempting to blame each other. One interviewee used the analogy of the
Blue Berets (the United Nation’s peacekeeping forces), whose
role
is not to conquer but to act as on-the-ground diplomats, to try and
foster reconciliation and change in the direst of circumstances.
Good communication skills are also required to convince management that
quality matters, a feat that cannot be taken for granted and must be
repeated on a regular basis. A convincing case for quality is backed by
solid data, but it seems that many quality professionals –
particularly those who are more technically oriented – have a
hard time getting out of their own world to present information in a
way that is both palatable and useful for decision making.
Juran’s exhortation to learn how to speak the language of
money
still applies: to most executives, no argument is more convincing than
dollar signs. Moreover, several interviewees suggested that successful
quality professionals are good strategists who know how to pick their
battles and when to spend their personal capital. “A little
touch
of being clever doesn’t hurt,” says one, while
another
contends that “you have to be a little sly to bring about the
necessary improvements without ruffling feathers or rattling the cage
too much.”
A good balance
between flexibility and meticulousness
Being rigorous is one of the staples of quality professionals,
particularly for those with roots in statistics and quality assurance.
Good quality practitioners are meticulous and pay attention to details.
As a couple of interviewees put it, “you have to be a little
anal.” Precision and conscientiousness are particularly
important
when you’re trying to build a case: the credibility of
quality
professionals is founded on their ability to provide accurate results
and analyses and to avoid ‘management by
impressions.’
Quality professionals are also expected to have integrity and to act as
gatekeepers – even though they are often resented for doing
so.
However, there is such a thing as too much rigor. Several experienced
quality professionals that I met have noted that excessive rigidity is
a major flaw in some of their peers. Procedures and quality manuals
must provide clear guidelines, but they should also be commonsensical,
not punctilious. Here again, you have to pick your battles and focus on
what is essential. Don’t aim for perfection. Sometimes,
it’s okay to settle for ‘functional’ or
‘reasonably good’, even though you know that things
could
be much better. Flexibility goes a long way in establishing your
credibility and making allies instead of enemies. This is where good
knowledge of all aspects of your organization is useful: to decide when
to compromise and where to invest your time and efforts.
Persistence
The quality profession is not for the faint-hearted or the
hot-tempered. Patience and tenacity are the qualities that were the
most often mentioned by the professionals that I interviewed.
“You need to have a thick skin,” said a few,
because people still tend to shoot the messenger. No one likes to hear
that they have made mistakes or that the methods that they have been
using for years may not be the best ones. They might argue that the
tests you performed are inaccurate, that your analyses are flawed, or
that the specifications you set are impossible to meet.
They’ll accuse you of slowing production, increasing costs or
delaying shipment. You need a level head to face that kind of criticism
without firing back or backing down. As one interviewee put it,
“you got to be tough. If you want an easy job or if you
don’t want to fight for what you believe in, then
don’t go into quality.”
Tenacity and patience are also essential when you have to contend with
management’s wavering support. “You’re
constantly fighting the uphill battle in the organization,”
said one interviewee, while another observed, “you know that
they’re driving the thing into the gutter and all you have to
do is hang on long enough until they’ll come and ask you to
help them get out of the gutter.” Management ostensibly
expects you to stop poor quality from going out the door, but they will
sometimes overturn your decision when you try to do so. A good dose of
humor, coupled with unfaltering optimism helps you cope with these
difficult moments: “quality is about seeing the good in the
bad… you have to deal with the negative, but from a positive
perspective.” Stay humble and realistic. Quality
professionals usually are in a staff position: you work hard to build
your case, you do your best to be persuasive, but ultimately others
will make the decisions. You have to be able to let go, like the
physician who has to accept that she will not be able to save all her
patients.
If you are the sole quality professional in your organization, all
these challenges can take their toll and make you feel isolated and
estranged. Attending conferences and meeting fellow practitioners may
then be a blessing. You will find that most quality professionals face
the same difficulties. Sharing war stories and being able to laugh at
them in a friendly atmosphere will reenergize you for a few months
– and perhaps you’ll learn a few tricks at the same
time. In the meantime, try to find the good in the people you work
with. Even if they still tend to see quality as a hindrance, most of
them are dedicated, hard working people who want to do things right but
are faced with conflicting goals and the need to achieve short-term
financial results.
A passion for quality
Almost all of the professionals that I met during this study share a
deep passion for quality. They genuinely enjoy spending hours solving
complicated problems or discussing with customers to better understand
their needs. They take pride in being able to help others make all
sorts of improvements. Most of them derive great pleasure from teaching
and mentoring others. Simply ask, and they’ll tell you
everything you need to know about how to calculate the costs of
quality, when best to use design of experiment, or how to outsmart
people who are reluctant to change and perpetuate poor quality.
They’ll share horror stories and success stories. One of them
even dressed up like Juran for a Halloween party, bowtie and fake
eyebrows included!
Fighting the good fight for quality can be
frustrating and exhausting, but for those who are up to it, there seems
to be nothing better: “You have to put your mind, body and
spirit into quality (…) You have to be Don Quixote. You
really need to be a champion. You really need to be out there
(…) And I accept that role. So, fine! Bring it on!
I’m up to the challenge. I will be the spokesman. I will
talk. I will be out there. I will do the hard work.”
Is anyone interested in joining him?
Hélène
Giroux can be reached at: helene.2.giroux@hec.ca
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