Greetings, List -
Oh dear, I must strongly object to John Bing's comment, as follows:

"5.  Project Management  is my field and it, like the museum consists
of producing individual  activities or projects, (in my case design
and build chemical plants).  TQM in its purest sense, does not apply,
however, that does not mean one cannot improve quality in doing one of
a kind projects.  "

of course, I do not object that project management is his field ;-)........
Total Quality Management most certainly applies to processes, specifically
project management, as well as
products and services. Museums are replete with processes, not the least of
which  are all
the service activities performed for the public. In fact, TQM focuses on the
myriad processes that result in a product!

The fundamentals of TQM are: establish, for your organization, what
"Quality" looks like. Every museum has an enormous host of processes and
outcomes that will define it as either achieving customer satisfaction...or
not!  From exhibit fabrication to fundraising, to media presence, to phone
answering, all the above can be done with quality. TQM requires that you, as
an organization,  define what good performance looks like. Then write it
down.

Measurement is another plank of the TQM platform. Once you define what a
label, a phone call, a meeting, a project management plan looks like when it
is done with quality, then you must define meaningful measurements. For
simplicity's sake, lets use the phone call. This one easily comes to mind
because I called 11 museums that are members of this list last week, and the
phone answering certainly has a wide range of quality....by my personal
measurement :-)
Imagine that the standard is : answer within 5 rings, voice mail present if
no human available, if human, then answer identifying museum and department
reached, no audible food or gum chewing, clear elocution, appropriate use of
hold or mute such that caller does not hear museum staffer hollering around
the office for answers to the questions.
TQM requires that the person to perform the task is given adequate training
on what good performance looks like.  This is vital! Notice of regular
assessment is made.

Then that assessment is in fact made, with regularity. Establishing the
standard but not measuring performance is  wasted effort. A staff person
calls the museum, and evaluates performance.  So, if phone answerer misses
two of those points every week, then a performance improvement plan is
established. Training is repeated, with an improvement schedule established.
"You now miss two of these checkpoints at each assessment. Within 4 weeks,
you need to have reduced it to one point, within 6 weeks, no points missed,
or you will be considered  not meeting the performance  requirements for
your position, which may result in termination. "

Ok, that last seems a bit harsh, but it is the basic reality of TQM.  Define
Quality, document  your agreement, create meaningful measurement, then
plan/effect continuos improvement. ....Then set the bar a tad higher...

Obviously this is vastly simplified explanation.  I have been using TQM
practices for 12 years, and found that their application was worth the
effort. In some cases it resulted in dramatic improvement of customer
satisfaction,  efficient staff operation (read:improved bottom line), and
surprisingly, after the initial resistance by employees, actually became an
attraction to new staff. One prospective employee told me that she wanted to
join my department because she had heard that under my management she would
learn more about her profession and become a better employee than in any
other position available to her!

Understanding of TQM in its various flavors,  can be gained through reading
(see list of books below), attending
the hundred of seminars, or through hiring a consultant to facilitate
through an initial assessment, then proposed implementation plan.
Personally, I believe that some judicious reading, then a limited consultant
engagement is the most efficient way to implement. Without the consultant,
you can spin your wheels and lose focus, damaging the initial acceptance by
management and staff.

If you would like to discuss your particular circumstance and goals, please
feel free to call  or email off list...I have had many years experience in
bringing TQM and Demmings processes to a variety of staff types.
Good luck to you in your search for excellence and efficiency! They are
admirable and fulfilling objectives for any organization, certainly,
museums, galleries and science centers among them.

Beth Macdonald
Big Head Interactive
415/752.6511
www.bigheadinteractive.com


Books on TQM

Quality Without Tears : The Art of Hassle-Free Management; Philip B. Crosby
 Quality Is Free : The Art of Making Quality Certain; Philip B. Crosby
Running Things : The Art of Making Things Happen; Phillip B. Cosby,
Juran on Leadership for Quality : An Executive Handbook; Joseph M. Juran
A History of Managing for Quality : The Evolution, Trends, and Future
Directions of Managing for Quality ~
J.M. Juran
Keeping Score : Using the Right Metrics to Drive World-Class Performance by
Mark Graham Brown
Vital Signs : Using Quality, Time, and Cost Performance Measurements to
Chart Your Company's Future; Steven M. Hronec
The Balanced Scorecard : Translating Strategy into Action; Robert S. Kaplan,
David P. Norton
 Measuring Performance; Bob Frost
The Basics of Performance Measurement; Jerry L. Harbour

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