Continuous Quality Improvement is about
...
- People seeking opportunities to improve,
- People collaborating and working together to improve,
- People stimulating change while working to improve, and
- People creating workplaces that welcome change.
Continuous Quality Improvement has spread...
across most Penn State locations. Since
1991 when Penn State first committed to study and implement continuous
quality improvement initiatives, almost 500 improvement teams
have been formed at Penn State. Why? Because continuous improvement
promotes teamwork, improves customer service, and increases efficiencies.
One of the primary concepts...
in Continuous Quality Improvement is
that no one works in isolation. The work you do contributes to
the larger picture or system. An organization is a system made
up of parts that, together, are stronger than they would be separated.
In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
All parts, functions, activities and processes depend on one another.
Focusing on how all the parts work together will improve a system.
Cooperation and teamwork are...
also important elements of Continuous
Quality Improvement at Penn State. Cooperation means working together
for mutual benefit. Teams can outperform individuals. Teams can
reduce costs and improve performance in many ways. Teams often
make faster and more reliable decisions. Teams can generate more
creative solutions because they often represent diverse points
of view.
To sum it all up... Continuous Quality
Improvement:
- Depends on people,
- Applies to every level of an organization,
- Is designed to improve organizational performance,
- Focuses on exceeding stakeholder or customer expectations,
- Uses data to improve processes over time, and
- Values team information and input.
