I have just been promoted to Quality Manager 1 week ago and am under pressure within the new operations management team to perform and sho immediate results etc I also have to provide a 17+ page powerpoint presentation on:

Organisation chart.
Existing operations budget
Any planned changes/improvements already in progress.
Improvements you suggest we should make as a team
Training needed for us and our people.
What KPI’s we presently report.
How we will support extra LINE OPERATION.
Your suggested schedule to implement.
Suggestion for what goals we should set for us as a team.
GMP project - document gmp's
implement cip system

I am on holidays at present and have to have all this complete by next week! I think that because I have so many challenges ahead of me that I can't see for looking at the moment and am finding it hard to break it down to present to senior management.

That's a lot for anyone's plate.

All problem solving really breaks down into the process of defining priorities and "cherry picking" the factors which are easiest to accomplish.

Cherry picking has a dual advantage:
some of the work is completed
you get a psychological boost from having accomplished even a part of the task.Another big factor is to determine as far as possible ahead of time EXACTLY what criteria need to be met to declare that portion of the problem "solved."

In your listOrganisation chart.
Existing operations budget
Any planned changes/improvements already in progress.
Improvements you suggest we should make as a team
Training needed for us and our people.
What KPI’s we presently report.
How we will support extra LINE OPERATION.
Your suggested schedule to implement.
Suggestion for what goals we should set for us as a team.
GMP project - document gmp's
implement cip system
It seems to me the ones I highlighted in blue are already in existence and need only to be transferred to a PP slide to serve your need. GMP is a much-discussed topic. Using the search engine at the FDA home page http://www.fda.gov/ (use "GMP +food" as the search term) will produce lots of pertinent information which you may read through and freely copy to make your point.

For example, I found this excerpt which was meaningful to me - perhaps it will fit into your thinking, too, as you visit the GMP for your soft drink operation:The most commonly identified of these processor level problems is also shown in Figure 1 of the results section:
Biofilms
Ineffective training of employees
Ineffective employee hygiene practices
Niche environments
Plant renovations
Ineffective use of sanitation principles
Lack of sanitary equipment design
Reactive instead of routine maintenance
Insufficient temperature control
Contamination of raw materials
Post-processing contamination
Excess or mistaken addition or spillage of chemicals/ingredients
Cross contamination (including food allergens)
Incorrect labeling or packaging
Contamination by reworked product
SOP for processing failed
Unknown
Other We reviewed a total of 1307 food recall actions, of which 648 (50%) were Class I and 659 (50%) Class II. Of these recalls, we found that 1146 recalls (88%) occurred because of a GMP-related problem (including labeling problems). Most telling of all, is a chart which shows your industry to be pretty compliant in GMP as far as it relates to being the cause of a recall

Table I: Number and percent of recall actions by industry (N=1146)
Industry .......................# of recall actions ..............Percent
Bakery products ...........................217 ......................18.94%
Fishery/seafood products ...............135 ......................11.78%
Bean/vegetable products ................88 .........................7.68%
Multiple food dinner products ...........85 .........................7.42%
Non-chocolate candy products ........75 .........................6.54%
Fruit products ..............................66 ..........................5.76%
Ice cream products .......................62 ..........................5.41%
Chocolate products .......................50 ..........................4.36%
Snack food products .....................48 ...........................4.19%
Beverage/beverage base products ...38 ...........................3.32%
Cheese products ..........................29 ...........................2.53%
All other products ........................253 .........................22.07%
Total .......................................1146 ..........................100%
and a final line which should go toward your thinking on some of the other points you are tasked with addressing
Recall actions were generally categorized as involving labeling problems (65%), microbiological contamination (17%), unapproved color additives (8%), poisonous substances (3%), and foreign objects (3%).
The majority of specific processor-level problems related to the root causes of recalls were due to incorrect packaging/labeling (Figure 1). Ineffective employee training and failure to follow established SOPs for processing also contributed to many recalls between 1999

...I have just been promoted to Quality Manager 1 week ago and am under pressure within the new operations management team to perform and sho immediate results ...

JJ- my first thought upon reading your post was that you already have a lot of good "meat" for your presentation identified. You need to decide upon an orderly sequencing of the information (a lot easier than thinking up what to put into the presentation:) ) As Wes indicates, some of it only has to be gathered. For the remaining, although time is short, it would be good if you could get one or two other members of the team to brain storm answers/ideas for some of the questions (ex: improvements to make as a team, training needed, how to support extra operations, implementation schedule, team goals). I suggest involving others because, in addition to needing substance for your presentation, you also need buy-in from the team members. While you may feel that they expect you to come up with all the answers (& perhaps they do:nono: ), success will be limited if you do it all yourself.

It may simply be how your post is worded but I got the feeling that they are putting you on the spot to see how you perform. Be careful about giving into the temptation to show "immediate results". What they are really looking for is Leadership. You have some good stuff that needs to be developed. Part of your presentation may be presenting how and when THE TEAM will develop it.

I would add one topic to your list, how will the Team monitor progress and react to results (ex: who meets, how often, etc???). Perhaps a mgt review type meeting with you guiding everyone thru the defined agenda.

Just some thoughts.
ctb

I have to agree with ctblalock. I faced a similar situation, 2 years ago. Without giving me any rights, I was asked for results. As facilitator, is more difficult to get results, if you don't buy in at least the production , but better logistics, and HR as well. I would first organise a meeting with department leaders, and agree roles. I would ask them if they have something to add to that presentation ?( e-mail, agenda on topics etc). I made the mistake, trying to put together all the issues, but they didn't feel that is their issue. Nominate responsible persons for tasks. Don't try to do everything by yourself, lead it. If there are "low hanging fruits", and you were told to catch them, I would ask myself first why they are there. And don't forget, your nomination was the latest one, so the company is satisfied with other's work. Good luck, and no harry.
Gyorgy

JJ- 1. my first thought upon reading your post was that you already have a lot of good "meat" for your presentation identified. You need to decide upon an orderly sequencing of the information (a lot easier than thinking up what to put into the presentation:)
2. I suggest involving others because, in addition to needing substance for your presentation, you also need buy-in from the team members. While you may feel that they expect you to come up with all the answers, success will be limited if you do it all yourself.
3. It may simply be how your post is worded but I got the feeling that they are putting you on the spot to see how you perform. Be careful about giving into the temptation to show "immediate results". What they are really looking for is Leadership. Your presentation SHOULD be presenting how and when THE TEAM will develop the imporvements.

ctb

The thoughts of CTB mirror my own, so that's why I liberally quoted as above. Please accept the ever so slight modification of the quote to numbered points. I also wanted to reiterate the last point that your presentation is about how the team will work together. My mantra is that every manager (and every employee) acts as a quality manager, and as such should support the efforts to improve quality -- after all, that's part of your job. It's kind of like rowing one of those large barges back in the days of old -- if all the oars weren't pulling at the same time, and barge didn't get anywhere fast.

Final thought -- when quality was dumped in my lap 11 years ago at a company here in the US, the first thing I did was set up the important quality metrics to measure (based on customer needs). Then we went about implementing changes to improve the metrics according to the plan the management team implemented. Even though I was the chief plan writer, the annoying follow-up person (are you done with your corrective actions??), and sometimes even the lead engineer, I never took the credit. The TEAM did it.

Best of luck to you, and Happy New Year!

--QG

So much good advice so far.

I want to plainly advise you to select only a couple or few factors for prompt improvement. Doing a widespread rework of systems invites a push-pull effect between them--we want to minimize potential chaos through undesirable, unforseen impacts on Process B and C of Initiative A.

It's been suggested you are being tested but it is also quite common for managers to view a new QA Manager as the local wizard: "Now we will see something happen here!"

But there's no magic wand for what you seek to do.

Rather, I see a request for structure that should have existed already but you are now set upon to establish. Start at the beginning, with what exists and note a few humble sources for quick data management aids I can provide:

1. Identify who does what (org chart, probably exists but if not, here's a quick trial version of SmartDraw http://www.smartdraw.com/exp/org/home/ ). Your accountant should be able to provide current operations budget.

2. List current initiatives (data should be available) and their status.

3. Suggest a plan for Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) on one or two suggested improvements you already know about, if any. If there are none, declare a plan to target and pursue factors for improvement. Here's a guide, maybe you can base a slide's visual on it: http://www.hci.com.au/hcisite2/toolkit/pdcacycl.htm.

4. Training is potentially a part of PDCA. For target improvements you know about you might suggest training you have already thought of, but it's premature to conjure effective comprehensive plans otherwise. You can mention designing a training plan structure based on a source like this one: http://www.managementhelp.org/trng_dev/gen_plan.htm

5. Present KPIs should be available to you for listing.

6. How to support extra line operation--I am not clear on this. Can you elaborate?

7. Suggested schedule is just that--a suggestion, and you can identify it as such. I suggest a Gantt Chart using Excel http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=343 Here's a source for Mac interface: http://pw.english.purdue.edu/ganntt

8. Suggested goals are part of PDCA: the Plan part.

9. GMP project--please elaborate, I don't know what that is.

10. Implement cip system--I don't know what CIP is but I suspect implementing it would require a plan rather like the one listed above.

Let us not get caught up in a feeling that you must quickly promulgate and produce a fix for whatever your management thinks ails them. That's the Old Way of thinking. the New Way is to give various members a part of the process so fixes are wise, buy-in better achieved and benefits can be widely celebrated. It's a fine idea to lay out the structure for doing so, in which the organization's caring talent can become a team of improvement drivers. You merely facilitate the thing.

I hope this helps!

All good points, Jennifer.

All good points, Jennifer.You are very kind, as always. I aim to serve.

you may wish to consider a couple more fundamentals:

What does the top management (manager, executive, owner etc) want from the organization - to be the 'best/benchmark' or what? (based on custmer perception, maybe) Can you actually be that, or is a 'me too' 'best of the rest' situation good too?
Do the management team know that? Are they on the same page?
Do you have 'Process Ownership' by those managers.

Without these basics being agreed, IMHO, the rest will work, but begin to fall down as soon as there's some 'maintenance work' like an audit, or management review or some similar issue rearing it's head.

Anyone?

Andy

Many thanks to all that have offered me advice. It has been most helpful. I am now processing all information offered and applying to my situation. Many thanks once again.

JJfoyster:bigwave: :thanks:

I came across the attached. It may be helpful to you. Although you haven't mentioned ISO 22000, you may want to use it for your system.

Putting together the action plan for these improvement initiatives should not be too difficult as everyone has provided so much insightful advice. Way to go, Covers!

I'm assuming, JJ, that you've been with this company but in a different position prior to the promotion (what an awesome Christmas gift!). If not, I will pass on words from my boss that he said to me yesterday during my performance appraisal.

"It's all about having good support and you've really helped me adjust to my role." Hopefully, you've got a great team to work with, JJ.

"It took me my first year just to understand what the heck was going on here." If you're new to the company, JJ, or really in a position that is different from what you had before, it may take you some time before improvements will be seen. Hopefully you and management understand this.

Best of luck. :)

Hi
Yes I have received some great advice and I think this forum is fantastic!!!

I have been with the company for 4years and have been wearing many caps in that time including the Quality cap. I was involved as an assistant, then as Team Leader. Unfortunately the previous QA Manager's were fence sitters and didn't like stepping on anyone's toes and make a stand for Quality. There are so many internal politics that it tends to cloud the vision...........I am not one for playing silly games and am here to do a job, therefore bugga the politics, lets get down and dirty and lift our game!!!:applause: Yes I know.....I just clapped for myself..............but somebody has to!! hehehhehe

I will get there, it is just that our new Operations Manager has requested a lot of info so early in the peace and I haven't even had time to adjust to the new role as yet!!! All fun and games hey?

JJ

Hi Al

thanks for the attachment. We work to the ISO9001:2000 standards, but I have been advised by external IFS Trainers/Advisers that we should look into the 22000 standards. He said that it was a good combination of 9001 and HACCP??? I will have a good look through this attachment and learn some more?

Thanks

JJ

Looking at the issues of "Improvements to the Team" and "Training".

I presume that your business has some form of 'Performance Management Assessment' in place? A system to monitor development and identify training needs, a place to set objectives and measure performance against the corporate visions and core competencies?

If not, then this is something that you should implement to help provide data to answer the above Issues.

If you do, then what you need to do is review the PMAs for your Team and establish what human capital you have available, what skill sets you have and how effectively it is being put to use. By conducting this Gap Analysis you will identify areas that you need to make Team improvements and also elucidate possible areas for Training.

If you have no system in place a quick and simple way to do it is to sit down with your staff for 15 minutes and to ask them the following:

Do you consider our working relationship to be effective?
How can it be improved? Or where do you think the strengths are?
Do you believe you have any specific skillsets that benefit the business?
Do you think they are effectively being employed in your existing role?
Can you identify any skillsets you should have or would like to have that will facilitate the business in meeting its corporate vision?
Do you get enough support from Management?

Once you have business objectives set for the year, you can then align your Departmental objectives from those. Following this, the approach should be to cascade those objectives downwards with each level of management taking responsibility for the development of their direct reports. This transparancy of information drives 'ownership' and responsible input to help you 'do your job'.

Regards

Martin.

Hi Martin

Many thanks for your input.

We don't have actual Performance Management Assessments in place but we do have other KPI's etc. I really like your suggestions that I can massage and customise with my team though. This will also get 100% buy in and participation. thanks for your help


JJ

You're very welcome JJ and I hope that the suggestions were genuinely of some use.

Good luck with your new role.

ive recently had an audit and my auditor really liked my training matrix
hopefully this attaches4671

Simon

I have just been promoted to Quality Manager 1 week ago and am under pressure within the new operations management team to perform and sho immediate results ...


I am joining this thread late. There is much good advice. When I consult, I look for a few quick and easy projects to fix. It makes a splash, buys some credibility, shows people that this is not just for show...and the best part is it draws many people out with their pet projects. Kind of opens the floodgates, as it were.

That buys time to wade in deeper, but with more support.

Good luck to you.

I have just been promoted to Quality Manager 1 week ago and am under pressure within the new operations management team to perform and sho immediate results....

hi JJ, in addition to the great advices by the others i would like to recommend reading the book "The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels" (by M Watkins) because its a good guide to career transition. your situation is not only about "quality" but also involves "leadership", as mentioned by some folks above... i am reading this book now and found it a good reference...

more info on the book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591391105/102-8619981-8604900?v=glance&n=283155

hope that helps :)