hi there let's take a look at a concept from quality management this is quality circles if a business is looking to improve and assure its quality one of the best places to seek help is from the employees the people who actually deliver the goods and the services and that's what we mean by quality circles these are circles or groups of employees who meet to try to identify potential improvements in the process the production process the delivery process perhaps perhaps for a service and then also to identify and resolve issues of poor quality typically a quality
circle will involve between six and maybe up to 12 employees often or usually working in the same area meeting regularly for example once a month and their task is i say to search out these improvements in quality whether they be through a change in a process or whatever it is that it takes to improve the level of quality and if you can address quality in this way by using quality circles effectively there are some potential potentially significant business benefits obviously right up there is better quality essential for so business so many businesses but that might
also result in improved productivity and those are perhaps two the two most tangible benefits of quality circles however there are other spin-off or perhaps more intangible benefits not the least being bringing employees together for a specific purpose of looking for quality improvements and as a consequence of that they feel as though they are working perhaps more effectively as a team improving and promoting the use of teamwork that in itself can help develop more positive attitudes to work amongst employees and in general promoting a more positive working environment are there any downsides or drawbacks disadvantages of
quality circles well to be honest with you if you get them right it's hard to think of many but in theory if quality circles aren't set up in the right way then employees may be meeting once a month but not really aware of why they're meeting perhaps also they're not properly trained in the process of identifying quality issues and working through the implications and the necessary steps to address the the required change in quality it could be that they're forced to get involved in them so it's not voluntary unlikely but it's possible i guess but
also i think and perhaps more importantly with quality circles it's one thing meeting and coming up with suggestions but what that team needs is action they need the management of the business to follow up and support the findings the recommendations that they come up with really important so there we go that's just an introduction to this concept called quality circles you
