ASQ Middle Tennessee Section 1118,   

The recent changes at ASQ headquarters illustrate just how hard change is – even for an organization whose BOK emphasizes the necessity for Change Management Employee Buy-in.  Whether you’re for or against the centralization of ASQ management it’s clearly a difficult undertaking but hopefully one that will allow ASQ to change along with the landscape.

While we can focus on team buy in, Change Management, KPIs etc. the human touch will always have a critical role in a successful change effort.  When altering a process I’ve always found you can generate powerful alliances just by listening.  Especially in IT there is always a fear that improvements in automation mean layoffs.  If this is not the case my job as a change agent now as an added human dimension – assuming the role of Floor Therapist and understanding the anxiety of the floor level employees.  Putting an empathetic face on stressful changes can be the spoon full of sugar that helps the medicine go down.

World Conference on Quality and Improvement (WCQI) 2020 is in Columbus, Ohio, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, 400 N. High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, on May 3-6, 2020.  WCQI 2020 will inform and guide you in your mission to assess, increase, and leverage your expertise in the quality field. This year, WCQI is poised to help you Realize Your Impact through 100+ sessions focused around four critical pathways:  Quality Foundations, The Lighthouse Series, Beyond Technical: Driving Quality through Soft Skills and Sustaining Innovation.  Early Bird sign-up deadline is March 30, 2020.

Jamie Supica

Chair@ASQ-MiddleTN.org