This temporary training team was commissioned to identify an
opportunity for improvement within their own processes for which they could apply the ALCOA Eight Step Quality Improvement Process.
Today it's the "Excellence in Communication Leadership Award." Maybe there's still
opportunity for improvement.
Despite the criticism, several respondents expressed what is undoubtedly the view of most executives: "The continuing need and
opportunity for improvement does not require more government regulation!"
They don't see feedback as negative criticism; they see it as an
opportunity for improvement. Team players never stop learning.
For all of the years that physician practices have been using practice management systems, there remains significant untapped information that would allow the practice to identify areas of
opportunity for improvement. Most practices never get beyond the scheduling and billing.
Seeing an
opportunity for improvement, attempting to do something positive, and failing in the attempt.
* Define the team's mission: What is the
opportunity for improvement the team will address?
It is between these two points that
opportunity for improvement exists.
This classic diagnostic and therapeutic approach exactly parallels the FOCUS methodology of TQM, in which an organization's management Finds an
opportunity for improvement, Organizes a team to address that opportunity, Clarifies knowledge of the underlying process, Understands that process, and Selects a specific intervention designed to improve the outcome of the process.
Flowchart subprocess or "loops," a form of redoing what was done previously, present an
opportunity for improvement because they may present chronic deficiencies that need to be resolved.