Assignment 3 CET765
Sandy Nightingale
Problem-Solving Tools of TQM
The problem-solving process has two
stages: analyzing a problem and
identifying a solution. When we take our
time to analyze a problem, we increase our chances of solving the problem
correctly the first time, often more effectively and cost efficiently.
The book gave an example of a problem with
scheduling gifted and talented students in a pull-out program for one hour a
week. Maria Virgili,
the gifted and talented education teacher, was upset about the lack of
cooperation with scheduling that she was receiving from the classroom teachers. She went to Principal Eamonn
Black to voice her concerns. He had
received complaints from other teachers and parents and decided that it was
time to address the issue and calling a meeting with Maria and a small group of
teachers. The purpose of this meeting
was to determine the extent of the problems associated with scheduling G/T
students. He wished to have the group
come up with a list of realistic suggestions for addressing the problems.
They started with the generating and
organizing ideas phase by using the Affinity Diagram. This method helps to generate large amounts
of information, and organizes them into categories. It is often used when there is much
disagreement over the topic at hand. If
ideas were given orally, there would be a greater risk for arguing and blame. Wanting to minimize the chances of that
happening, Principal Black chose this method to generate and organize ideas.
Teachers were given large Post-It Notes
and markers. They were asked to
summarize their responses to the problem by writing one idea per Post-It Note. The notes were then attached to a
blackboard. When all the ideas were
represented on the blackboard, they moved on to where each idea was clarified in
groups of 5-6 members to be sure that everyone understood what was meant. After that was finished, the group members
were asked to organize the cards into similar categories by moving them around
on the board. Each group member was allowed to rearrange, without talking until
stable columns were formed.
They moved into analyzing the problem by
using a Relationship Diagram to help determine which category had the greatest
impact on the other categories. This
type of diagram is used when root causes must be identified, there are a number
of interrelated issues that need to be better defined, or data is not available
to identify root causes. They looked at
one category at a time and determined if it had a cause-effect relationship
between each of the other categories. If
it did, they drew a line from the cause to the relationship, with the arrow
pointing at the relationship. From this
activity, they discovered that lack of consistency, followed by kids’ morale
and politics, was the driving force of the problems involved with scheduling
the G/T students. They agreed to begin
with lack of consistency, but would also try to come up with solutions to the
issues of kids’ morale and politics.
This is the A + B = C tool for problem solving. They decided to try solving the issues
together to avoid an either/or situation.
At the end of the meeting, the group
members were asked to solicit ideas from other teachers on solutions to lack of
consistency before the next meeting. To
do this, they used Break-Time Brainwriting. They used this method because they wanted to
solicit ideas without a meeting and to create awareness of others’ ideas. They wrote at the top of a large sheet of
paper who was soliciting the information, why, and how long they will have to
respond. Those responding did not have
to sign their names, and the brainwriting paper had
to remain in the Break Room. The results
were summarized and placed in the Break Room.
A week later, they met to find solutions
to the lack of consistency problem.
Nominal Brainstorming was used by soliciting ideas from participants by
order of seating. This was done to draw
out reluctant participants, minimize influence of overeager dominant
participants, and to solicit input from all team members. After two turns around the group, Popcorn
Brainstorming was used by opening discussion to all participants for other
ideas.
Through the brainstorming activities, they
came up with ten suggestions for solutions to the problem. This is the Planning and Decision-Making
stage. They evaluated the ideas based on
two criteria, impact on the problem and ease of implementation, by placing them
on a Matrix Diagram. The evaluation was based
on a low, medium, high rating system. The
votes were tallied on the diagram and placed on a Measurement Map. Matrix Diagrams are used to reveal the
strength of relationships between sets of items, tasks, or characteristics. This method was used because it visually
showed the relationship between ease of implementation and impact, and it also
made it easier for the group to prioritize the solutions. After reviewing the map, the group agreed
that limiting the number of programs made sense for impact and for ease of
implementation. It would also free up
some time for Maria to administer her programs and give teachers more advanced
notice on offerings.
Because TQM is a process of continual
improvement, the members of the group decided to see if other faculty members
would be interested in trying to tackle some of the high impact issues that
would be a little more difficult to implement.