5EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
aionS
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Minnesota,
Ohio. Wisconsin
WINTER 1993
"Great, another something I dont have time to read."
Maybe that thought ran through your mind as soon as you saw this newsletter in your mailbox.
We hope that after you read this issue, though, you'll change your statement to, "This newsletter
could be really useful, and I think I know how they could make it better.*
Welcome to the first issue of Quality Environment, a quarterly newsletter to help Region 5 and
the regional State environmental agencies better implement total quality management. The article
written by Lynn West of IDEM explains how this newsletter came to be and what we hope it will
accomplish.
There aren't many of you who have a lot of extra time to spend reading a newsletter, no matter
how useful it may be, so we'll keep Quality Environment to just four pages and we'll pack those
pages full of information and advice that you can use. Even if it takes you only 10 minutes to read
the newsletter, we don't want those to be wasted minutes.
Most important to the success of Quality Environment is that it meet your needs. We think we've
taken a good first stab at doing that, but we want to hear what you think. The last page of the
newsletter is The Coupon" (an idea we stole from another EPA newsletter, NPS News Notes).
Use it to give us feedback on how we're doing, to share TQM success stories, and to pose ques-
tions/doubts/gripes about TQM or its implementation. Or, give us a call; our phone numbers are
listed on the back page.
Even if you plan never to read Quality Environment again — especially if you plan never to read
it again — we would like to hear from you. We're all newsletter novices, so there must be ways we
can improve.
by Lynn West, IDEM
Each issue will highlight some TQM successes In the Region and In the States. If you have
been part of one, please let us know about It so others can learn from your experience.
Everyone has heard the expression, "That's an accident waiting to happen." For this article, I'd
like to alter that to, That's a OAT (Quality Action Team) waiting to happen." Very few times in my
life have I been in the right place at the right time, doing what I should be doing. (In TQM terms,
that means "right things right.") However, regarding this newsletter, that1 s exactly what happened.
During a week-long facilitator training in Chicago last May, our dass formed a "pseudo-QAT*
to look at barriers to implementing TQM in our agencies. Our dass induded two people from
Region 5 (Marcia Damato and Jeff Ketey), five people from the IrdKOTaDeoartrnerrtd Environmental
Management (Bemadine Rhodes, Jean Stem, Lynn West Rob Duncan, and John Hale), and Rich
Nichols from Illinois EPA.
Using the FADE problem-solving process and other TQM tools, we developed a problem
statement, collected data, brainstormed for ideas, and developed a workable solution. We deter-
mined that with a TQM newsletter, we could take a major step in improving TQM understanding,
acceptance, and use.
Around noon on Thursday, a strange phenomenon occurred. We stopped acting like facilitator
trainees and began functioning like a real OAT. The enthusiasm was so contagious that our
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instructors, Jodi Traub from Region 5 and Jim Mangino
from EPA headquarters, became excited about the idea
We had the feeling that if our solution was implemented, we
could make a difference.
We divided into two data collection teams. Our data
showed there had been extensive TQM training at EPA
headquarters and Region 5, although training levels varied ,
in the State agencies. We analyzed a headquarters survey
which documented some of the reasons people were not
using TQM. A Pareto analysis illustrated that three barriers
— leadership, resources, and culture — accounted for
nearly 80 percent of the problem.
We determined that by using a Region 5 newsletter to
remove these barriers, TQM philosophy and techniques will
be better communicated at all levels of the Region and
states. Improved communication of TQM philosophy, tools,
and successes should help promote TQM use. Our
customers will be better served, and the environment will
be better protected. The newsletter will increase aware-
ness of the benefits of using TQM, educate staff and
management about various TQM issues, and ease commu-
nication between TQM users in the Region and the states.
After the facilitator training, a presentation was made
to our instructors and other senior EPA managers. They
loved the concept, and a decision was soon made for the
team to continue work on the newsletter idea with Jodi's
sponsorship.
The OAT met several times during the summer and fall
to work through problems, develop and define the news-
letter, and prepare a presentation. Considering the team
was made up of trained, certified facilitators, there were
no problems with particiDation or ignorance of TQM procedures.
Will the newsletter be a success? Only time will tell,
but I fully expect that it will be since we took the time to
carefully go through each step of the FADE process.
Did TQM work for us? Absolutely. We were a group of
staff-level employees who, upon identifying a problem, felt
empowered to find a solution and, eventually, implement It.
How does it feel to be part of a team with a suggestion
implemented? Very Special.
by Bi Sanders,
Regions
You have undoubtedly heard
someone of late toss out the
term 'customer alignment."
Although it sounds somewhat
akin to what we might do with the
wheels of our automobiles, it has
more to do with how we commu-
nicate with each other. It is in
fact, simply a way to a meeting of the minds between one
who provides a service (supplier), and one who receives it
(customer). We are often surprised to learn — indeed
chagrined to discover—that there often is not a full
understanding between the two parties. To counter this,
we need to ask our customers three questions: what do
you need from me, what do you do with what I give you,
and are there any gaps between what I give you and what
you need?
As we have delved more deeply into TQM and, in
particular, as we have begun to practice TQM principles,
we have learned to embrace this key tenet of developing
and maintaining a customer/supplier dialogue. But to begin
any discourse, one needs to first identify one's customers.
For a public agency such as EPA, this is not nearly as easy
as it may seem to be at first view.
The fact is that we have myriad 'customers," both internal
and external, to whom we must relate. And how we relate
to our customers has a lot to do with how our actions are
perceived and what actions we are allowed to take. Our
ultimate customer is, of course, the public, which speaks to
us not only directly, but also ihrougn elected representatives.
Congress, as well as the Executive Branch, passes the
laws and provides the resources to accomplish our mission.
But to accomplish that mission, we must deal not only with
Congress, the Executive Branch, and the general public in
assessing our performance, but also with the news media,
environmental advocacy and activist organizations, industry
and trade associations, State and local government agen-
cies and elected representatives, and other special interest
groups. Not only is this list not complete, it reflects only our
external customers.
CALVIN AND HOBBES aoofl&*
tKVtm»nan.a*. by UNIVERSAL PRESS SY»OCaTCH^i1r
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Figuring out who serves whom and for what purpose is
fundamental to implementing TQM. It is the step necessary
to begin the process of customer/supplier alignment. It is
what we need to do to ensure that our efforts are on target.
^
The QuaK MvanaB
by Jodi Traub, Region 5
We usually
think of a
customer as
someone who
buys some-
thing. The word
"customer" has
taken on new
meaning: the
beneficiary of
our work.
Beneficiaries can be people, organizations, or the environ-
ment. It is our customers, both internal and external, that
define Quality for us with respect to what we do and how
we do it. When we are doing what the customer expects,
we add value to a process. Without customers, our work
would have no purpose.
The success of the customer-supplier relationship, and
ultimately the success of the organization in meeting it's
goals, rests upon a foundation of core organizational
values. An underlying assumption of TQM is respect for
people; another is trust, and another honesty. In a Quality
culture, we start with the assumption that customers and
suppliers, including subordinates, are honest and compe-
tent, and we treat them that way. As customers and
suppliers of each other, we become collaborators, sharing
and promoting the overall goals of the organization.
It's easy to overlook or neglect internal customers and
suppliers, including our employees; we have had a captive
audience for so long that it's easy to take them for granted.
However, Quality begins at home, with our own coworkers.
The way they feel in an organization is the way our external
customers will also feel.
Whether within a OAT, an organizational unit, or during
a Quality course, we can assist our peers and staff subordi-
nates by helping them to identify internal and external
customers, the importance of each group with respect to
our work, and their specific requirements. We can help them
understand the concept of "value added," with a goal of
increasing the amount of value-added work we do each
day, as the amount of rework, or unnecessary work de-
creases. Finally, we can help make the link between our
core values and customer focus. By seeing everyone as
customers and suppliers of each other and as collaborators
with shared goals and by aligning requirements with
capabilities, we can ensure a Quality advantage that im-
proves the work life of all employees and results in the very
best environmental protection!
There are sonw skeptics out there,
who, for various reasons, wit coo
vkmed about TOM biijjtoiiwcrtoUon.
Skeptic's Forum will address some
of the questions and concerns that you may have. For
this first Issue, we selected a question that we have
heard many times; In future Issues, however, we would
like to hear from you. If you have doubts about TQM,
send us a note. Jodi Traub wrote this issue's answer.
(§) TQM talks a lot about meeting a customer's
needs, but what am I supposed to do when
I have multiple customers with conflicting
needs. I write permits, so one of my
customers is the permittee. If I give them
what they want, though, I may not
be meeting the needs of my other
customer, the environment How do I
choose which customer to serve?
® Identification and analysis of external
customers presents us with a unique set of
probtems.To treat the public as undrfferen-
tiated is not very helpful; different people
different needs, and frequently the same
person will have different needs vis-a-vis
particulars or programs. As in any organi-
zation, there will be multiple customers for
our services, with different, often competing
needs; we often find ourselves engaged in
struggles over important values, such as
human life and protection of our natural
resources. Both sides cannot be
satisfied at the same time.
To deal with these conflicts, we must be able to identify
our most important customers in terms of our work and
our ability to meet our organizational and environmental
goals and their needs. Unless we know the importance
of each customer group, we may simply have a knee-
jerk reaction to the most recent, or the loudest,
complaint.
QUALITY
QOOTWT10N
"It is time to radically change
the way government operates—
to shift from top-down
bureaucracy to entrepreneurial
government that empowers citizens and communities to
change our country from the bottom up. We must
reward the people and ideas that work and get rid of
those that donl"
- President Bill Clinton
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Work
by Kathy Gunn,
Regions
Quality Coordinator
The dictionary defines work as
"physical or mental activity
directed toward the production or
accomplishment of something.*
This definition makes sense, but
it's not complete.
There are few times when any
of us work alone to produce a service or product. Instead,
we work with many others, in a process that serves our
external customers. The dynamic nature of work as a
process, missing from the dictionary definition, is what this
article will explore.
A "work process" is a chain of activities in which internal
customers receive inputs from their suppliers, add value
to those inputs, and then pass outputs to their own internal
customers, forming a chain until the external customer is
served (see dagram). We are aB involved in work processes,
as both customers and suppliers. The work we do is the
value-added activity which adds to the final product or
service.
Processes are improved when non-value activities are
eliminated from the chain or modified to better meet
customer needs. It is important to give the customer just
what he/she needs: giving too much is not any better than
giving too little.
Once we understand that work is a process, we can
begin making improvements, For instance, we can each
examine our own work activities to identify opportunities for
improvement. We can also begin dialoguing with others
along the chain to better understand customer expectations.
These process improvements help us more effectively carry
out our mission.
TQM Terms
J
TQM
Total Quality Management is a
management philosophy. It is not an end in itself, but a
way of doing business that helps us achieve our mission
and improve the quality of our work life. Key areas of this
management philosophy are customer focus, employee
invotvemert, and commitment to contirwous improvement,
FADE
The methodology used by QATs to identify problems in
a work process, pinpoint casues, develop action plans,
and ensure implementation. FADE stands for the Focus,
Analyze, Develop, and Execute components of the
problem-solving cyde.
OAT
A Quality Action Team is a 6-12 member problem-solving
team whose goal is to identify areas of improvement and
develop modifications that improve work processes.
Dysfunctional OAT
A term coined — somewhat seriously, somewhat in jest
— to describe any OAT not functioning at full capacity.
This is not uncommon as we are still in the learning
stages of team problem solving. Some symptoms
include: lack of participation, toss of direction .infrequent
meetings with sponsors, jumping to solutions, and stagnation.
Pareto Diagram
The Pareto diagram is named after Italian economist
Vitfredo Pareto. The diagram (which is basically a bar
chart) is used to identify the areas that contribute to a
particular problem. Once a key cause is identified,
resources can be directed at the root cause.
CopyngM 1M1 OiytnaMtonl Dynamic*. Inc. RtprfciM vriUi pwntosion. All rtgnu rvtwcd.
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The Coupon
r " ~ i
Quality Environment Information Exchange Coupon
(Clip or Photocopy and Mail or FAX this coupon to us)
Our Mailing Address: Quality Environment (PI-19J)
U.S. EPA Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Our FAX Number: Quality Environment, (312) 353-1155
Use this Coupon to:
(check one or more) O Share your TQM Experiences, OR
O Ask for Information, OR
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Write your story, ask your question, or make your suggestions here:
(Attach additional pages if necessary)
O Please add my name to the mailing list to receive Quality Environment.
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Quality Environment Is a quarterly newsletter dealing with the implementation of Total Quality Man-
agement in Region 5 and the regional State environmental agencies
Quality Environment Is published by U.S. EPA Region 5, but the views of authors do not necessarily
reflect EPA policy. No permission is necessary to reproduce contents, except copyrighted materials.
Comments and suggestions are welcome; the coupon on the other side of this page is provided for
that purpose. Or, call one of the editorial board members listed below:
Jeff Kelley Marcia Damato Kathy Gunn
(312)353-1159 (312)886-6297 (312)353-3405
Quality Environment
U.S. EPA Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Printed on recycled paper.
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