Delegation of Quality Manager responsibilities

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Welcome back, Julia. Good to see you again

I've learned one useful lesson form the situation. When the system became worse I could see all weak points in it and improve them!

Yes, that's true enough. The weak areas will be a lot easier to spot when the system is under pressure. Glad to hear that you got it back on track now.

/Claes

 

[Wes Bucey]

In fairness to Juliasun and the system, a realistic trial does not put the burden on busy people after a "crash course" in 'how to. . .'

The term is "delegation," not "abdication." Delegates and surrogates have to be groomed to step into the shoes of another. Most organizations wouldn't dream of making the company file clerk the sales manager after giving the person a list of prospects and 60 page pamphlet on "how to sell." Yet, I see organization after organization elevate file clerks to Quality Manager on the theory "it's just 'record keeping', isn't it?" and adding a derisive laugh.

In another thread, a Cover asks for clarification between 6 sigma courses taught in days versus courses taught over months. Quality Management may not be brain surgery, but it sure took me more than a few days of training to be a competent Quality Manager. Even though I know the theory and where to get references, plus have years of "part-time" experience, I still haven't mastered statistics or DOE (design of experiments) to the point where I would turn down advice from a professional.

The key for Juliasun would have been an off-site "expert resource" for the two delegates to use as reality check during her absence. I suspect the two delegates felt like they were left to drift in the wind and did either

1. nothing
   or
2. plowed barren ground (made mistakes)

when the unfamiiar situation reared its head.

The moral of the tale is we should never allow ourselves or subordinates to feel abandoned and alone, but should plan for human resources on-site or off-site where we can ask for reassurance we are on the right path, and who can steer us to the right one if we stray. The Cove is one of those resources, but it still pays to start building a personal network now, not just for Quality issues, but for other aspects of work and personal life as well.

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Yes, the lasting impression is that those two never really stood a chance:

I delegated my responsibilities to two persons selected by General Manager. They both were very busy with their work and couldn't do quality work properly.

The General Mgr selected people who were already fully occupied....

/Claes

 

[Juliasun]

The General Mgr selected people who were already fully occupied....

/Claes

In fact all personnel in our company is fully occupied. That's why it was very difficult to delegate my responsibilities to someone. I expected the future situation and try to encourage them to simplify quality work and prepared checklist for them not to omiss anything. They tried but didn't manage the situation. I can't blame them for this because quality work is not easy as somebody can see.
Anyway, we are learning company and can gain experience from such cases.

 

[harry]

Hi Julia,

I like your positive attitute - it will help you to go a long way.

With regards to your job situation, let me just say its quite common in my country also. I supposed its prevalent among developing economies/countries.

Regards.

 

[Denis9001 - 2007]

The ISO9001 "Management Representative" doesn't really have any functional responsibilities beyond collating info from the various sections and reporting to management. But as "Quality Manager" you may have responsibilities covered in other sections of the standard. The problem of delegating tasks is simple (to me). If you have authority to give other people work then they have to do it just like any work given by their boss(es). If not then that's the problem. So you simply report to top management that when you go somebody else needs to do the work and recommend who is suitable/qualified to do it. Top management should then redefine responsibilities and the work responsibility instruction comes down the normal "chain of command" ie Top Boss to Dept Head to Staff Member. If I were you given the ease of communication with internet, I'd be looking to see how much work I could do remotely and negotiate a deal with my boss to continue doing (some) work remotely for a fee.