SharePoint is a great tool for managing and collaborating on documents and as an intranet to disseminate information across the company. In fact, we use it at Minitab for those exact purposes. Some organizations have taken SharePoint a step further, transforming it into a homegrown solution for project management. Sound familiar?

Bridging the gap is a popular idiom derived from Old English. In its earliest use—and not surprisingly—bridge meant “to make a causeway” and gap meant “an opening in a wall.” So, to the drywallers, civil engineers, and road construction crews of the early 14th century (Ha!), bridging a gap was quite literal.

Successful management and leadership of the quality department for an organization involves an integrated approach that includes a communication network that extends both horizontally and vertically within the organization as well as outward to customers and suppliers.

In business it’s easy to become complacent. Manufacturers can fall prey to continually repeating the same mistakes, disrupting production and damaging profitability.

We’ve all heard about or experienced the blame game. The customer is upset because a product doesn’t meet expectations. Once notified, the manufacturer apologizes, makes restoration, but blames a supplier for poor workmanship. Soon the blame game between manufacturer and supplier restricts the flow of meaningful information.

If you have a problem, you want to have Katherine Cox around. The senior quality assurance director of medical device startup Procyrion is known for her calm problem solving manner, collaborative attitude and straightforward approach to quality.

When faced with a situation, whether it be a problem or a decision, we typically need the right answer, and quickly! There are many tools, techniques and processes that are at our disposal, such as Six Sigma, but many of these take time.

William Israel hired T.M. Kubiak more than thirty years ago and says it was one of the best hires he’s ever made.