By that measure, the UICI Insurance Center quality process is off to a solid start, because much of what has happened and what's on the drawing boards is, to put it gently, nonstandard. Instead, it's a gathering of more than 20 people, including not only all directors and above but also several managers and supervisors and a couple of frontline employees. Meetings are held every Thursday morning, usually for less than 90 minutes.
Discussions are lively, and the topics are widely varied.
Early conversations have included hammering out the content of the quality team leader course, determining what the launch celebration should include, setting up a contest to choose a name and logo for the process and agreeing on the basic scheme of teams who have the authority to make decisions commensurate with their responsibility. These activities were followed by efforts to define those teams and designate team leaders. A major focus of the quality steering committee has been communications with the employees both to build interest, both rational and emotional, in the upcoming quality process and to teach basic quality principles. One approach has been a steadily growing number of signs on the walls throughout the offices. Each message is designed to get a serious point across, but in a way that just might draw a laugh.