7 Quality Principles you should consider
7 Quality Principles you should consider
7 PRINCIPLES TO CONSIDER WITH ISO 9001
ISO 9001 establishes seven basic principles from which quality management systems are built. Considering and following these principles is critical to adding customer value and implementing a robust system that benefits your company and ensures total customer satisfaction.
1. CUSTOMER FOCUS
The customer is the beginning and the end of your company’s value chain. Therefore, it is vitally important to know your customer’s behavior and needs, how their buying process evolves and how it impacts your business. In this way, you can predict, meet and exceed customer expectations at all times, as mentioned by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization.
It is imperative to always keep in mind that it is not only about attracting new buyers, but also about knowing how to build a lasting and valuable relationship with them, adapting to their new needs and offering them specific solutions; in this way, your company will be able to maintain their trust and your customer will feel satisfied at all times, which will probably lead to a close business relationship.
2. LEADERSHIP
In the first instance, it is necessary for your company to have an organized, unified direction that is consistent with your company’s mission. This will ensure that objectives are specifically set, measurable and achievable within realistic timeframes.
Those responsible for the management of your company must know how to be leaders who motivate and encourage communication at all times, so that all personnel involved understand the objectives set and work together to achieve them.
3. STAFF COMMITMENT
Generating value for customers is easier when leadership has succeeded in generating a culture of responsibility and commitment in its personnel. The sense of belonging to a common goal is paramount to achieve it; therefore, it is essential to engage and motivate your employees.
With an empowered and engaged workforce at all levels, meeting objectives and customer satisfaction is highly achievable.
4. PROCESS-BASED APPROACH
The activities that take place within your company are not isolated from each other; instead, they are linked processes that function as a complex system; so that, if all activities are performed in a timely manner, they will enable you to achieve consistent and predictable results.
Everything within your organization is intimately linked and dependent on another person or activity. That’s why it’s important to plan processes, track them, guide them and act accordingly.
5. IMPROVING FOR QUALITY
To achieve success, it is important that you have a constant focus on continuous improvement. You have to consider that the internal and external contexts of your organization are dynamic, which requires that processes evolve and adapt to always maintain the added value perceived by your customer and satisfy their needs.
Currently, these changes occur very quickly, which forces you to constantly change and adapt your processes and services to new market demands.
6. EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION MAKING
It is important when making a decision to base it on verifiable facts rather than speculation. While decision making always involves some degree of uncertainty, having solid evidence reduces the risks and optimizes the results of the choices made.
Another benefit of having hard evidence about an event before making a decision is that the resulting consequences can be measurable and analyzable, allowing you to make more specific decisions and reduce the degree of uncertainty.
7. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Just as it is important to procure and motivate your personnel to favor a quality process, it is important to maintain and cultivate good relationships with external parties related to your company’s activities, i.e. suppliers, external personnel, among others. Maintaining open channels and a continuous flow of communication will allow relationships to become solid and based on mutual trust.
The context of your company will always influence its economic activities, that is why it is relevant to consider all the links that are established between your company and society, maintain and cultivate them in the best possible way to generate a solid quality management system and full customer satisfaction.
Learn more about quality management systems in our blog and contact us to provide you with the information you need to start your certification process, in QAlliance we have qualified staff to support you throughout the process.