I__. - International Military Testing Association

problems sent to/~+ATs could be easily solved by management in half
the time.
Training. Ty>ical TQM training programs consist of lectures on
-m----w
the philosop;lies of Deming, Juran, Crosby, and other well-known
quality advocate 8 . There should be additional training on such
Subject8 aq participative management, customer interface, process
control application8 to non-manufacturing activities, and
statistical analysis.
Process Action Team8 need training on group participation skills,
brainstorming, CaU8e and effect diagrams, and other TQM tools.
Most expert8 orient this training toward8 the task at hand, Tather .,
than toward8 people'8 feeling8 and personalities. Training in OD
intervention techniques comes after management ha8 decided which
OD techniques to apply. Unless people receive specialized
training in OD and TQM, they do not know how to get underway.
Communications. Good communication is fundamental to the 8UCCe88
---------T----
O! any TQM program. Yet, many organization8 have poor
communications. Upward communication is poor because manager8
fail to listen. Downward communication is poor because managers
want to protect their worker8 from what they con8ider to be
irreievant information. The result is a communication gap between
manager8 and workers. Change8 to this pattern can come about by
recognizing the problem and training new behavior8 through
Cla88rOOm di8CU88iOn and leadership example.
Some organization8 increase communications, openne88, and teamwork
by uaing newsletters. AFHRL started a newsletter halfway through
it8 TQM program. The newsletter was distributed each month and
invited everyone'8 participation. Informal conversations
indicated there may have been more TQM di8CU8SiOn8 in the
laboratory because of the newsletter. A newsletter keep8 the
importance of quality and productivity gain8 visible to management
and employees.
Measuring ---a---- Quality ----s e-w and --------M-e Productivity. One way to measure quality and
productivity in an R&D organization is to establish customer
requirements, set goals, and measure progress toward8 reaching
those goal8 in cooperation with the customer. Although this method
i8' more appropriate for applied R&D project8 than for basic
research, it can be used for both. In an R&D organization, there
is usually le8S emphasis on measuring scientific progress through
use of the traditional TQM statistical process control techniques.
Surveys can be used to measure customer satisfaction.
Resistance ------e--m to -- TQM. --- Some people resist any type of organizational
change. They do not want to start a TQM program or any other
program. They jU8t want to be left alone to do their work.
Others fear a 1088 of responsibility while still other8 fear they
may get some. Reactions range from outright argument against TQM
to stonewalling and simply waiting out current management.
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