In my books “The Quality Letters” I frequently explore this topic.

Communicating Quality to your boss, or Getting to Yes

Greetings to all colleagues that frequently have to obtain approval from their bosses (but don’t always do).

Quality be with you!

Once (just once) in my career I had a boss who was very moody. You’d never know if you were going to meet Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. So, I developed a special technique:

• Every time I had an important issue where I needed his approval, I would bring another far less important question first, just to gauge his mood.
• Then I would decide whether or not to present the important topic.

Another educational experience I had with another boss was the following:

• I would prepare several arguments to support my plea.
• Sometimes, after my first argument, he would agree with me.
• Many times I would continue to present my additional arguments (just because I had them).
• More than once he would stop me and say:
  1. Ed, I already said yes. Presenting extra arguments can only make me change my mind.
• He went on to give me a book called “Getting to Yes,” by Roger Fisher.

One more “boss experience” was when I needed to buy a new CMM because the old one died:

• I told my boss I needed him to approve a $150,000 investment on a new CMM.
• He immediately asked if there was a cheaper solution.
• I told him with about $10,000 we could build a little chapel behind the plant, and we could take turns going there to pray the parts we were producing were in specification, because I would not have a way to know for sure.

I guess those examples are enough to demonstrate you need to know your boss to get what you want.

• By the way, some of these techniques work with your spouse as well.

Knowing your boss is key!

Communicating Quality to Shop Floor Workers, Or A 30 Second SPC Lesson

Greetings to all who have tried to explain Statistical Process Control to operators who insist the parts are still in spec.

I hope I was not misinterpreted on my previous article (Who Invented Quality)

I didn’t mean to say that SPC has no longer any value. It does. 

When stable processes are moving within the normal variation, this tool allows us to monitor the signals that might indicate we need to react before we make bad parts. 

It is a good tool to prevent that a drifting process goes unnoticed.

Despite its vulnerability in case of intermittent special causes, it can still be valuable for scrap prevention.

That said, my biggest challenge with SPC implementation has been to convince the operator that when parts were outside the Control Limits, an intervention was necessary. An adjustment needed to be done to bring it back within the normal boundaries of the process variation.

• “But the parts are still in specification!” was the argument used by the employees to justify no action was necessary.

So, I came up with a story:

“Picture this:

You are on a road that has two lanes in the direction you are driving.

In the center you have the dashed lines separating the two lanes.

Each side of the road has a shoulder, separated by a rumble strip.

After the shoulders there are 100 feet deep cliffs

You may be sometimes on the right lane and sometimes on the left lane

- Those are fine

If at any time you hit the rumble strips, you need to make a correction

- You need to bring the car back to the road

- You are not dead yet, but you need to correct your trajectory

If you ignore that warning you will be driving towards the cliff

• Then you will be dead

SPC is exactly like that:

• When you hit the Control Limit you are not dead yet 
• But you need to make a correction in your process
  1. You may need to enter a small offset
  2. You may need to adjust a pressure or temperature
  3. You may need to replace a tool
  4. …
• If you don’t, you will fall over the cliff 
  1. You can’t just make an adjustment at that time: you are already making bad parts”

That’s my story, and I am sticking to it.

Control is key!

Communicating Quality using a Presentation

Greetings to my fellow colleagues who were brave enough to enter the challenging world of Quality.

As Quality professionals we may carry a big backpack full of tools of our trade: Statistical Analysis, Scientific Problem Solving, Six Sigma, Ishikawa, Red X…

But few of those are used as frequently as the good old “storytelling” (aka “public speaking”).

Do you know someone who always has an interesting story to tell? In every party people are around that guy or girl who can describe the most mundane situations in a captivating way.

In Quality, we frequently put together presentations and, since most of us are engineers, we love to fill those with data.

That is obviously not a bad thing. It is what gives our presentation the necessary credibility. It is not a fairy tale.

But it is not enough!

Every information we share has an objective: we are trying to guide the listener towards a conclusion.

If we only present data, it will be up to each person to interpret that information, which may not be desirable.

The trick is to use the data to tell our story (assuming you do have a desired conclusion, which is in itself quite desirable):

• Possibly demonstrate a concern is less critical than initially thought
• Maybe show that our products are compliant to the specifications and are not the cause of the concern
• Prove that our actions are adequate to protect the customer
• Make recommendations for the next steps
• Etc.

If the presentation is designed that way, it will do at least two things:

1. It will force you to think ahead of time what will likely be the effect of the information you will be presenting, and prepare yourself to determine if the way it is laid out makes sense
2. Allow you to “control the narrative” in the meeting, instead of allowing wild discussions

I always prefer to take the initiative to present the information (be it in a customer meeting, an audit, or other situations where we may be presenting), than sit there and ask: “what do you want to know?”

That gives me the opportunity to put the facts in a frame that favors our desired conclusion, while also minimizing the risk that the other side will come with a question out of context, that we would be less likely prepared to answer.

Obviously, this will not change the reality in tough situations, but will for sure give you a better position.

Controlling the narrative is key!

Communicating Quality to pretty much anyone

Greetings to all my Quality colleagues who have to convince people your information is credible.

I remember well a quality engineer I had in my team years ago. He was very competent and hardworking, but he had difficulties being taken seriously.

The reason?

• He lacked assertiveness.
• His presentations were hesitant.
• People would naturally feel unsure about the information he presented.
• If he didn’t seem convinced of what he was saying, why should anybody believe him.

We had several conversations about it, where I tried to help him.

Assertiveness, when used in the right dosage, smells credibility.

• Know your information and present it in a way that transpires that knowledge.
• Practice it, if you need. It is too important to be neglected.

Now, I can’t stop here without warning about the risk of overdoing it.

• That’s when it starts to sound like arrogance instead of assertiveness (I have seen that many times)
• While it may not be perceived as hesitation, arrogance will generate negative reactions in the audience you are trying to convince.

It is a fine line between these two approaches, but it is important to do a self-examination to fine tune your demeanor (I was going to say “speech”, but it is more than that, so I used the word “demeanor”, to account for speech, body language, and any other form of expression you may use).

By the way, this works when you are writing as well, not just when speaking.

Assertiveness is key (arrogance closes doors).

Conclusion

I could bring several additional examples, but I hope I passed the main message: Communicating quality is a priority.

Do it well, and you will certainly increase your effectiveness as a quality professional.

I am glad you allowed me to communicate this to you.

Quality be with you!