Deming's 14 points

Through 14 Deming points, we have explained what are the duties of the top management of an organization to support transformation and to support change.

The management's commitment to quality must be total and must be expressed through a leadership capable of creating a work environment in which people can improve and feel proud of what they do.

In his writings, Deming argues that more than 90% of problems are attributable to poor management by management. Let's see together these famous 14 points and what questions an organization must ask itself to understand if what Deming requested has been correctly implemented or not:

1. Create consensus and firmness of intentions in the direction of a common goal, represented by continuous improvement (of processes, products and services) with the aim of remaining competitive and creating jobs.

Managers must be able to face the daily reality but also to foresee the future one. A firm commitment to quality is required and this commitment must be expressed through continuous innovation, the provision of the necessary resources, the training of collaborators, etc.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

has the direction to follow been clearly identified?
If so, which one? If not, what are the obstacles that prevent us from identifying this direction?
Where would the organization want to be in 5 years?
Do the collaborators know the direction in which the organization wants to move?
Have the leaders explained and illustrated this direction to everyone?
Is there an example, relative to the past, in which the firmness of purpose has failed?

2. In the new economic era, the only certainty is that there are no certainties. The quality of processes and products requires a constant and continuous commitment on the part of management who must take responsibility for managing change which is important and often not accepted in the right way. A new philosophy is needed: mistakes, lack of professionalism and negative attitudes are no longer acceptable and can no longer be attributed only to collaborators.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

do the collaborators know the main quality tools?
Are collaborators trained in their use?
Do the top management recognize themselves as champions of quality?

3. Dependence on 100% inspection for quality achievement must be eliminated by reducing repetition of errors. Inspections are done when it is already too late, they are often ineffective and, above all, they are expensive. Quality must be built upstream, where the product is designed and built and depends on the improvement of the process and on how the collaborators support this improvement.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

what types of inspections exist within the organization?
Are controls carried out during the manufacturing process or at the end?
Are there any examples of inspections that always find errors?
Are there any cases where different people control the same thing?
How do we know if a process is stable or not?
If the process is stable, who is responsible for implementing future improvements?
Can clients provide suggestions regarding our way of working as quality?

4. Suppliers should not be chosen on the basis of price alone. Total costs must be minimized as low prices do not automatically mean lower total costs. If you use only one supplier for each asset (to reduce variance) and set up a long-term relationship of mutual trust and mutual trust, there is a good chance of lowering your final costs. It is very important to reward suppliers for quality, reliability and commitment to improvement rather than low prices.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

how are the total costs of supplies calculated?
How is the reliability of a new supplier assessed? When can we be sure what to expect from that supplier?
Do we have long-term relationships with our suppliers?
What is the variable that weighs the most in making decisions about supplies?
Are the suppliers we usually use aligned with our way of understanding quality?
What types of controls do we carry out on supplies?

5. The system of planning, production and services must be constantly improved, making them more efficient also through the application of statistical methods. The constant improvement of productivity and quality leads to the constant reduction of waste and costs.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

do we take customer feedback into account regarding the way we work?
Are we always trying to improve our quality level?
How can you always improve?

6. On-the-job training should be established and should be a part of daily activities for all. Too often, people learn the job from their colleagues, who are often not properly trained. Operating in this way helps to create a class of frustrated people because these people, despite accumulating experience on an episodic level, are unable to put it to good use. People need to be trained, training is an investment.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

Is the training formalized through courses and seminars or is it done in the field?
Which type of training was most useful?
Are people also judged by what they show they have learned?
Are managers trained?
Has the training budget been cut recently?

7. Managers need to exercise strong leadership with the aim of helping people do a better job. People who don't work well are simply in the wrong place. The leader must be, first of all, a coach to understand which collaborators need individual attention.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

Are our leaders managers or leaders?
What things are expected of a leader?
Do our managers know the processes carried out by collaborators?
Do our leaders play an active role in teaching others?

8. To work effectively, it is necessary to sow trust, to wipe out fear. This point is very important. We must not establish processes because they are not needed, on the contrary, we must focus on the involvement of everyone so that an organization achieves and maintains success. Fear blocks communication, forces people to get defensive, and increases business costs. People need to feel safe to work well and to honestly collect the data they need to improve.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

what actions cause fear?
What keeps people from collaborating?
Do our leaders accept suggestions from the grassroots?

9. We need to break down the barriers between departments and between categories of workers, we need to promote vertical and horizontal communication. Often the different departments compete with each other and pursue conflicting goals. We need to think in terms of an internal customer. There must no longer be a culture of "I have won-you have lost" but a new culture of "win-win". The right way to work is that of teamwork. If the barriers between functions are not broken down, it will never be possible to think globally for the good of the organization.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

do you often think in terms of "my area", "your area"?
Are there work teams made up of people who come from different areas of the organization?
Is there a good collaboration between the departments?

10. Slogans such as "zero defects" and "do it right the first time" must be eliminated. This type of exhortation leads to unrealistic targets because a variance, eliminating the special causes, always exists. Most of the causes that lead to poor quality levels are beyond the control of employees. Rather, focus should be on reducing variance through well-structured plans. Slogans with no plans to implement them are counterproductive. At this point Deming attacks Crosby's philosophy even if he does not say it openly. According to Deming, it is the system that produces errors, not the people.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

do we habitually use slogans that are far from reality?
Are there well-planned procedures capable of transforming slogans into reality?
Are our goals few, well-defined and measurable?

11. Numerical objectives and the quantification of performance as a criterion for evaluating productivity must be eliminated because they force us to deal with numbers and not with quality. Employees could try to achieve goals at any cost to the detriment of efficiency and cost containment. Numerical goals must be replaced with leadership actions and motivation.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

do we follow a goal-oriented approach?
Are there any incentives to improve the standard of performance?
Are any awards linked to excellence rather than the achievement of objectives?

12. People must be proud of their work. All barriers that prevent you from working well (non-functioning equipment, defective materials, managers unable to play the role of guide, etc.) must be eliminated. When something doesn't work, you have to understand that it is the system's fault, not the individual's fault.

We need to hire the right people, train them in the right way, motivate them, make them responsible, urge them to be proactive. If people work poorly, the cause often lies in one of the following reasons: conflicting and unclear objectives, arbitrary decisions by managers, lack of time, lack of resources, poor coordination, devaluation of the efforts made, fear of making mistakes, insufficient training or little feedback on performance.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

what makes us feel proud of our work?
What makes us feel proud to belong to an organization?
Are the processes stressed in achieving the goals?
Do customers play an active role in setting our goals?
What are the barriers that prevent us from improving our work?

13. A training, self-training, motivation and improvement program should be established for everyone. Point 6 refers to the training of new staff, point 13, on the other hand, asks to train all the people who work in an organization regardless of whether they have been in the organization for a short time or for a long time.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

are there any training plans for the coming year?
Are our managers trained regularly?
Are those who have been working in our organization for a long time still subject to regular training courses?

14. It is necessary to put everyone in the conditions to bring about the change. Transformation is a long process to be faced all together. "Total quality management" means that quality is everyone's job. Management must have the courage to change and draw up a plan for the change that is to be implemented.

The questions to ask to verify if this point is applied or not within our organization are:

do people work trying to achieve a common quality goal?
Are there any impediments that prevent change?
Are we proud to pursue improvement even in a non-traditional way?