How do you prove you need resources?

[lday38]

I need help in the quality department. I have thought of logging my time and such, lisiting duties, etc.. None of which I have time for. I am not the only deparmtent that has been left too thin. We are trying to get QS-9000 registered and this company has been operating as a MOM and POP shop

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Hi Iday,

Not an unusual situation in the era of anorectic organisations… I think many of us recognize the feeling.

I may not be able to provide you with an answer as it would depend on your companys culture and size, but I can ask a few questions:

I have seen quite large companies where the quality dep. consisted of just one person. So… what I’m really asking is if you may be stuck with matters that could/should be handled by other parts of the organisation?

As for the QS-9000 registration: Getting it creates an extra work load, apart from the ordinary job. Is it possible for you to turn it into a project with a budget of its own?

/Claes

 

[Al Dyer]

Part of getting your own budget might entail details of your job and where you allocate resources.

I have found that keeping track of time is not all that time consuming. Design a spreadsheet of your choice (I don't know the details) and track how much time is spent on each individual activity. From there you can quantify where and when time is spent and where time is lacking.

Possibly

Excel spread sheet with duties and work along the left column with some type of score along the horizontal bar noting where and when your activities are pointed.

You might be surprised! I did this onece and found out I was spending 42 minutes a day getting and drinking coffee, and/or soft drinks.

With Mom and Pop shops we all wear multiple hats and the most beneficial thing to learn is time management.

 

[lday38]

thank tou all for your responses. Yes, they do want to run this as a one Quality Manager department. This company about 40 employees is actually owned by a large corporation known for its thriftyness. It is true that I seemed to have other duties that should be another's department such as document control consisting ofd customer part pritns and pan tags. it's also true that soemtiems I get up and just walk around tryign to ease my frustration but more lost minutes.

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Hi again,

I have tried to keep track of my time in the same way as Al did. Actually, I do it every now and then, and yes: It can be quite revealing, and even downright embarrassing at times. (The first time I did this I ended up doing a major “house cleaning”: Clearing the desk, tidying up the structure in the PC, and scrapping a lot of the stuff in the bookshelf. My log had showed me that I used far too much time looking for things… Errrr).

Please, don’t get me wrong, iday, I’m not saying that this is your problem. It’s just such a good and simple way to gain a bit of extra time. However, Al’s discovery about the coffee and your getting up and walking around a bit may not be such a waste of time after all. It can’t be all bad to leave your desk every now and then to let your head clear itself a bit. After all, we’re not machines, are we?

Finally, I’d like to share this link with you: https://www.mindtools.com/ . I keep coming back to that site. It is very good, sporting lots of well explained methods suitable for (probably ) every imaginable situation. Time management is just one of the topics.

/Claes

 

[rak]

Claes,

Thanks for the website. It's excellent !

Thanks once again.