Quality System – options paper, Nov. 2004

Assurance that we actually are doing what we aim to do, and not just complacently patting ourselves on the back.
Better communication of what we do across the organisation.
Easier for management to get a handle on how we are doing.
Sense of achievement and job satisfaction for staff.
Better service for end users.
Assurance for funders (= better chance of obtaining funding!).

A number of key ideas (“criteria”), e.g. leadership, resources.
For each key idea, a number of smaller “criterion parts”.
Evidence or good practice required for each criterion part.
Guidance on all the above.
Can be holistic or single focus, descriptive or prescriptive, self-assessment or certification.

EFQM Excellence Model – “PhD of quality systems”, covers everything, self-assessment, descriptive, for all sectors, mainly used by large organisations.
Investors in People – just people development, externally assessed, prescriptive, for all sectors.
Charter Mark – just customer issues, externally assessed, prescriptive, public sector.
Quality Mark – covers nearly everything, externally assessed, prescriptive, for legal services, with special version (developed in conjunction with Mediation UK) for mediation services.
PQASSO – covers everything, self-assessment, prescriptive, in 3 levels, for voluntary and community sector (VCS).

Excellence Model – very good theoretical basis, but complex and time-consuming to implement. NCVO publication “Excellence in View” provides introduction for voluntary sector organisations.
Investors in People – popular, but limited remit, and seen by some funders as something of a rubber stamp.
Charter Mark – well-regarded, but limited remit, and not much used by VCS organisations (12 out of 2,500 users).
Quality Mark – very high profile a few years ago, but take-up now seems to be slowing; very prescriptive, and mediation version requires a lot of work from mediators to compile portfolio of evidence.
PQASSO – very popular (4,500 users) in VCS, graduated approach, low cost, but currently no external assessment.

The system needs to fit the organisation; it needs to be as relevant as possible to the whole of the organisation’s work.
Attempting to use multiple systems can lead to problems.
Management as well as staff need to be involved in and genuinely committed to quality issues, and demonstrate this by their actions.
The journey is as important as the end product; quality is about setting goals, and improvement usually comes in small steps.
It is important to get beyond the idea of box-ticking or getting an award; quality needs to be seen as part of the way the organisation does things.

Start with PQASSO level 1, progressing to higher levels.
PQASSO standard 4, User-centred service, to be completed separately by each department.
At least for Community Mediation, develop a PQASSO-style extension covering the Quality Mark criteria for mediation work.
Can make use of theoretical insights from the Excellence Model.
No decision required yet; see recommended process below.

A recommended process

Start with participative exercise for whole staff (plus MC member) on “What quality means to me”.
Set up cross-sectional quality task group, covering all levels and all departments, to continue communication with staff and management, to draw up selection and implementation plan, and to make initial selection.
Attend appropriate further training, e.g. 2-day CES course on implementing PQASSO.