It’s been said that failing to plan is planning to fail. But sometimes we’re paralysed by the prospect of getting started and the time it takes to plan. Besides, there’s that other adage of “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. So you can only take these sayings with a grain …read more »
You might have heard about the latest Sydney-centric communication stuff-up. It involves the Spaghetti Junction of the Rozelle Interchange. One reason for the traffic chaos came from poor signage. This miscommunication meant that there were extraordinary traffic jams and hours of lost productivity! It shows how a lack of communication can lead to frustration. It’s …read more »
written by Maree Stuart I had a conversation with someone recently where we discussed what was meant by the concept “Quality”. The discussion quickly reached the subject of quality control and it was clear that there was a lack of understanding of what this term meant. We recently wrote about Quality Basics and included some …read more »
written by Maree Stuart Do you make new year’s resolutions each year? A survey found that in 2022, just 23% of survey participants intended to make new year’s resolutions. The most popular resolutions for 2022 were living healthier (23%), personal improvement and happiness (21%), and losing weight (20%). Anyway, who really cares? By the time we …read more »
written by Maree Stuart We’re starting to get that sense of a new year right around the corner. The Melbourne Cup has been run and won. Hints of slightly warmer weather are appearing. Unless you’re in Melbourne and then you have our sympathies and hopes for warmer temperatures from now. And the sounds of Christmas are …read more »
written by Maree Stuart It’s World Quality Week and this year’s theme is “Quality Conscience: Doing the right thing”. It’s a good opportunity to pause for thought. What does it mean to act with a “Quality Conscience”? Our conscience is our moral sense of right and wrong. We develop this from birth, with influence from our …read more »
We’ve been speaking to lab managers and leaders about their roles and their challenges. These conversations have been collated into a series of articles that will probably resonate not only with lab leaders, but those across other businesses as well. While their pathways may have been somewhat different, all our respondents have clocked up well …read more »
We’ve been speaking to lab managers and leaders about their roles and challenges. These conversations have been collated into a series of articles that will probably resonate not only with lab leaders, but those across other businesses as well. While their pathways may have been somewhat different, all our respondents have clocked up well over …read more »
We’ve been speaking to lab managers and leaders about their roles and challenges. These conversations have been collated into a series of articles that will probably resonate not only with lab leaders, but those across other businesses as well. While their pathways may have been somewhat different, all our respondents have clocked up well over …read more »
written by Maree Stuart Since accredited or certified labs have solid systems in place, you could be forgiven for thinking there’s nothing much else that needs to be done. After all, your existing business processes are tried and true and mean that you can navigate those accreditation or certification visits relatively unscathed. But (there’s always a …read more »
Imagine having all the documents you deal with in a week piled on your desk. If you were to include print outs of your work and personal emails the pile would probably be too high to see over! Clearly, you’re not going to do this (no time, waste of trees) but thinking about that pile …read more »
written by Maree Stuart Welcome back! In our last episode, we explored how to enhance Quality Management through automation and digitisation with a little help from Marvin the Paranoid Android. We discussed how digitisation and technology could help with managing people, documents, and QC. This week we’ll look at facilities, equipment and purchasing. Facilities management Facility …read more »
written by Maree Stuart In the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Marvin the Paranoid Android is a robot and has a ‘brain the size of a planet’, but he is seldom asked to use this capability. Instead, people ask him to perform simple tasks, like opening doors and picking up pieces of paper. Back in the …read more »
We believe in seeking out information and ideas that will support your business to be better and smarter. Different perspectives on quality and business practices may provoke conversations in your workplace. This could lead to new and better ways of doing things. Paul Davies, Principal of Think Sustainability shares his thoughts on how sustainability, testing …read more »
If someone were to ask whether your business had a Quality focus, how would you answer? Would it be an enthusiastic, “Well of course! Quality is at the core of everything we do!” Or would it be more like, “Sure. We’ve got that document thingy we follow. We put it in a glass cabinet, so …read more »
written by Maree Stuart It’s a new school term and that means it won’t be long before students receive their next report card. If your lab were to receive a report card, how do you think you’d do? Hopefully it won’t look like this! When it comes to labs, you already know it’s important to stay …read more »
Breakups. Resignations. Bad health news. Job terminations. Performance reviews. We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt that stomach-clenching, head-pounding, clammy-palmed moment when we needed to have a difficult conversation with someone. Having to do this in a workplace, particularly if you’re in a supervisory role, can be even more stressful. That additional power dynamic adds …read more »
Remember back in 2017 when the latest version of ISO/IEC 17025 was released? You might remember a feeling of anxiety about the changes and how they should be implemented. This was particularly the case for NATA accredited labs whose first assessment visits after the standard was implemented were sometimes nerve wracking! Four years down the track, …read more »
It’s Friday morning and as you walk out of your front door, you look up and think what a beautiful day it is. The overnight rain has left the air crisp and fresh. Stepping out onto the path, your foot slips on wet leaves and you feel yourself falling. You put your hand out to …read more »
Once you’ve completed your assessment visit, you may feel like you can take a deep breath and rest on your laurels for a while. And this is absolutely true. You certainly can do this. For at least a couple of hours. Because once you’ve waved goodbye to your NATA assessment team and closed the door, …read more »
Our guidance document Navigating the NATA accreditation maze was written to provide an overview of the NATA accreditation process. However, we thought that a little more detail would be helpful if you’re looking to start down this path. And for those labs already holding NATA accreditation, there’s some hints for you as well. Know your …read more »
You’ve received the notification. Your assessment is coming up in two weeks and the team will be arriving at 8:30am on the day. Deep cleansing breaths. With a bit of preparation, assessment day may not be a breeze, but you’ll definitely feel in control. Being prepared shows your assessment team that your organisation is professional …read more »
Happy New Year!! While a new financial year probably won’t see you popping champagne and singing Auld Lang Syne (unless you moonlight as an Accountant) it’s still an important time of year. For those very organised folks who regularly scan and file their receipts and make notes about expenses, end of financial year tax returns …read more »
We’ve all heard the expression knowledge is power. In the hands of cybercriminals, knowledge is also big business. In a lab setting, it’s understood that keeping information safe and secure is in the best interests of clients and your business. If you hold accreditation or certification, it’s also a requirement of the standard. ISO standards …read more »
We believe in seeking out and sharing ideas that will support your business to be better and smarter. Different perspectives on quality and business practices may provoke conversations in your workplace that lead to new and better ways of doing things. We reached out to our network of experts and asked for their perspectives on …read more »
Many organisations have a quality (or environment, or safety) management system. If you’re in one of these organisations, then I bet you’ve sometimes felt like the ‘system’ rules your life, rather than you ruling the system. How did it get to be this way? More importantly, how can you change this? It probably got to …read more »
Anyone who has ever been involved in quality or project management would have heard the names Deming, Juran and Crosby. Their contributions have had long lasting ramifications and made us all think differently about what quality is, what it means and how to achieve it. Over the coming months, we’ll be running a series of …read more »
According to the American Society for Quality website a quality management system (QMS) is defined as: ‘…a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organization’s activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous …read more »