The ASQ "café" - is there hope?

[Wes Bucey]

Today at the Quality Expo, I attended the ASQ "café" to see what it was all about.

I'm not quite sure of the reason, but the attendance was
REALLY S P A R S E!

The two ASQ Staffers, Rebecca Marquardt and Paul Malek, promise to update the interested attendees with a "compendium" of the points the group came up with at the end of the session. (I'll post mine here when I get it.) Think of this as about a 15 or 20 person "brainstorming session" with a little help from the two facilitators.

Since the event was held at the very end of the exhibit day, it was easy to understand why more folks (unless you had a burning desire to attend this specific event) chose to head for home, dinner, or hotel instead.

the Format:
The format was set up to accommodate at most 50 folks at this event, but the two staffers proclaimed ASQ had hosted "cafés" with up to 800 attendees. I find it difficult to believe anything other than chaos would result with such a large number using this format.

Opening:
A number of tables with up to six chairs each were set up in the room. Snack mix and popcorn plus beer and water were provided for refreshments (plenty of each!)

Facilitators showed a brief PowerPoint about "Exploring the Future of Quality - Focus on Manufacturing." (apparently there have been or will be "cafés" with focus on health care, education, etc. - it wasn't clear from the presentation.)

ASQ's stated "Vision":
"By making quality a global priority, an organizational imperative, and personal ethic, ASQ will become the community for everyone who seeks quality concepts, technologies, or tools to improve themselves and their world."

What followed were a couple of slides which attempted to purport that when folks think of SPC, Taguchi, ISO9000, Baldrige, and 100 other Quality "buzzwords" like Poka Yoke, Six Sigma, Kanban, etc., they naturally think of ASQ. The presentation then implied that ASQ was "responsible" for all those things. [At this point, "Gadfly Bucey" said, "No CEOs normally make the connection between ASQ and those terms, IF they had ever heard of either those terms or ASQ. In fact, few ASQ members would make the connection."]

Following the interruption, the presentation went on to claim:
"What brings ASQ here?

• We're here to listen . . .
• We're here to share a glimpse of the futire.
• We're here to enable a meaningful discussion.
• We're here to learn from you.
• We're here to share "café" work with you.

BUT THE POINT OF TODAY IS YOU, NOT ASQ.

However, the presentation then went on for a number of slides talking about ASQ studies and how "prophetic" they were and to outline their conclusion of "Seven Forces Shaping Change" derived from a "global study" of 100+ quality leaders. I'll talk about the Seven Key Forces in another thread.

Next the presentation turned to how the facilitators expected this particular café to proceed. (I'll share that in another thread apart from the topics.)

Finally, we got down to the nitty gritty of attendees actually "brainstorming." By this time, our group had whittled down to a mere three tables of about 5 attendees each. Each of the tables had one topic (chosen by them) to hash over and then shout out points for a group collection at the end of the session.

This group collection is apparently what ASQ will share with the participants.

The ASQ staff left us with this statement:
Next Steps
These cafés are intended to engage all stakeholders in an ongoing dialog about the future of quality and ASQ. Your feedback will be used by the Board to help set ASQ's strategic direction.

The experience is immensely helpful for ASQ in understanding the challenges you face.
The "patterns and themes" we're hearing across the country will help shape ASQ's strategy.
We also believe that sharing the future of quality and providing the "reflective" time to consider the implications is a valuable service to our stakeholders.
If you are interested in obtaining the feedback report from this café, please contact rmarquardt@asq.org.
(Please indicate the Quality Expo Café in your request!)

[I suppose they mean by date - April 20, 2005 - Rosemont, IL]

Both Rebecca and Paul seemed stunned when I asked when we could expect feedback and a list of action items from the Board after they had reviewed the notes from the various cafés and a list of the suggestions they (the Board) refused to follow and why.

There will be another café at the Seattle WCQI - if you are attending the WCQI, please make an effort to include the café in your schedule and be armed with your own input!


Did I mention there was plenty of beer?

[qualeety]

i wonder....from what you wrote Wes, i think beers were WARM AND FLAT!!!!!!

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by qualeety

i wonder....from what you wrote Wes, i think beers were WARM AND FLAT!!!!!!

Actually, the beer was cold and on ice. The folks I met at the Café were bright and interesting people, but the process of winnowing down ideas to discuss ONLY ONE at each table didn't appeal to me at all.

[Wes Bucey]

I apologize for not posting this when I got it. I was involved in something else at the time and the Café didn't have high priority with me.

I got this email with the attachment.

Good morning Mr. Bucey,


Last week’s café at Quality Expo was intended for customers (including members) interested in discussing the future of quality within their business, organization, and within the manufacturing industry. Our focus and future development of ASQ services and products to meet the needs of our core customers depends on our knowledge of the issues and trends within the manufacturing sector. We already have an extensive collection of data from our membership, but now we’re seeking to add additional listening posts in order to gain more information from our customers (specifically non members). These sessions are intended as a forum for knowledge exchange and sharing rather than a discussion of ASQ, its benefits or lack thereof.


To that end, our goal is to continue hosting cafes with customers (and members) to gain this insight and knowledge, regardless if we have 15 or 50 people in attendance. We still believe it can be beneficial if the participants are engaged and actively discussing issues of concern with their peers. For additional resources on the café experience itself, you can visit www.theworldcafe.com.


Per your request, attached is the feedback from the session itself. As stated during the café, the feedback from these dialogues is also shared with the board members; however, I cannot speak to specific actions of the board. If you wish to have additional information related to Board action, you should contact Paul Borawski or a member of the Board directly.


Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.


Kind regards,


Rebecca Marquardt, CQIA
Market Development Manufacturing
American Society for Quality
rmarquardt@asq.org
414-298-8789 X8914
1-800-248-1946


ASQ. Make Good GreatTM

[RosieA]

ASQ used the "cafe" model in the Member Value Summit this week. the group was about 250 people strong, and it worked well. Again, it's just a new package for what is esentially brainstorming, prioritization, analysis and corrective action, but it's a nice package.

No beer, though.