FIFTEEN STEPS TO LASTING QUALITY Joe Sensenbrenner knows firsthand that, just because a quality initiative gets launched, that's no guarantee of smooth sailing. In fact, when Sensenbrenner lost a re-election bid as mayor of Madison, WI, that city's quality effort rather quickly ran aground. You might recognize Sensenbrenner's name as an early pioneer in public sector quality. A three-term mayor from 1983 to 1989, he was the first public official to adopt and implement TQM on a citywide basis. In 1988 he was named one of the "Ten Most Influ- ential Figures in Quality Improvement" by The Quality Review. But when Sensenbrenner "came in second" in his last elec- tion, quality in Madison was at risk. In fact, as a sign of the immediate shift in emphasis on quality, Sensenbrenner's successor moved the quality improvement coordinator from space in the mayor's office into a space shared with the city's animal control crew. Today Sensenbrenner is a public sector quality consultant and a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences. One of his main messages: Quality practitioners can take steps to sustain quality despite changes in leadership. PSQR caught up with Sensenbrenner during his June 17 presentation at the Deming Forum's Fourth Annual Continuous Improvement Conference. There he offered 15 strategies for building a "robust" public TQM program. 1. Build TOM into day-to-day operations. "It's so important to see TQM not as a program or a project, but as simply the way we do business," says Sensenbrenner. "It becomes the way problems are identified, people are included in decision-making, both feet are planted firmly on the ground by the use of data, and so forth." 2. Focus on "real work." "Altogether too often, when a project is dreamed up, it's some kind of special pet idea, it's something the boss wants somebody to work on in response to a special cause that happens to be in the newspaper. What we need to do is to build our early examples on the real work of the organization." Examples: A team of Madison employees took steps to resolve citizen complaints about brush collection, improving service and saving money in the process. Chicago, with consider- able input from delivery drivers, reduced the time it took to move library books and payroll "around the system" from 5.8 days to less than 24 hours. 3. For starters, achieve an easily understood improvement in a widely recognized service. In other words, don't make revamping the entire budgeting process the first TQM project you tackle. He suggests, instead, going after "low-hanging fruit" or "fat rab- bits." How can you tell which projects are "low-hanging?" Among other criteria, they should have a short-cycle time (so results can be seen quickly) and involve a limited number of interrelated systems. It also helps if data already exists for analyzing the problem and measuring results. 4. Save money with early projects. There's nothing like cost savings to show uninterested or skeptical parties -- whether they be taxpayers, elected officials, or managers -- that TQM will help your organization provide greater value. 5. Give your TOM oversight committee or steering team ongoing duties. The committee will be more likely to keep meeting and working following a leadership transition if there's work to do (review progress of TQM teams, evaluate and appoint new teams, conduct quality award program, etc.) 6. Seek a champion of integrity and wisdom, and create a civil service position. Sensenbrenner is a believer in the value of a clearly-designated, full-time quality coordinator, rather than borrowing staff and divvying responsibilities among several individuals. 7. Establish a visible event not controlled by the "short termers." In Minnesota, a small group of state employees got together to plan an annual public sector quality conference. From just over 100 attendees in the first year, the conference has grown to more than 800 attendees last year. Other events might be an awards or recognition program, a planning retreat, etc. 8. Develop external support. Many cities, counties, and states have private-sector quality improvement organizations. Develop ties with those groups. Or reach out to local businesses for support/participation. Weaving government into the fabric of a community-wide quality effort makes it more likely your initia- tive will be valued and sustained. 9. Develop a critical mass of knowledgeable people across departments. Sensenbrenner says it's vital for two reasons: First, he notes, "almost any process of importance crosses departmental or divisional lines." Second, it gives you "indepen- dent facilitators" (people trained to guide the efforts of quality teams from other departments). What is a critical mass? Training involving 10 to 15 percent of the workforce might be a good short-term goal. 10. Seek labor's involvement. 11. Develop a program which the entire organization can support in the budget process. In Madison, individual employees, from top-level managers to front-liner, came forward to testify at budget hearings that the quality initiative was a great investment for the city. 12. Seek media coverage. When non-supporters read about the accomplishments of your TQM effort in the daily paper, they're more likely to come around. Sensenbrenner says he had more luck attracting coverage from business reporters/editors than from politics/government reporters. He notes that the first five major articles on TQM in government appeared in national business publications. 13. Don't let TOM be a political football. "I don't think it's yet credible to the general public for a person running for government to say they are knowledgeable in, and are able to bring to government, the world's best management practices. I think people think you're blowing a lot of not air. I don't suggest TQM becoming a political issue, because if the other guy or gal wins, they're going to have a natural incentive to dismem- ber the program, rename it, change it catastrophically, whatev- er." 14. Establish credible expectations. If you promise to trim the city's budget by half, train all employees in TQM, and improve service 100 percent within the first six months, chances are your effort will crumble under the weight of unrealistic expectations. "This is not the second coming, this is not the dawning of a new age," he says, "This is common sense with discipline. This is inching forward, being cognizant of the system we're part of, trying to make decisions based on data, and continuously doing better." 15. Be ready to answer when the new leader says: "OK. I'll try. Exactly what do you want?" "You've got to be able to turn that answer around," says Sensenbrenner. "It's not what I want. It's not what the workers want. It's what the organization needs to be able to accomplish the important tasks that have been proposed to us. By the way, after Sensenbrenner lost, both Madison daily newspapers editorialized in favor of continuing TQM within city government. In time, his successor was won over, to the point that Madison continues to serve as a model for TQM in municipal government. CONTACT: Joe Sensenbrenner, Sensenbrenner Associates, Inc., (608) 251-3100 [This text is quoted from the July issue of _Public_Sector_ Quality_Report_. For more information or to subscribe, contact: Public Sector Quality Report 17733 Kingsway Path Lakeville, MN 55044-5209 Phone: 612-898-5058 FAX: 612-892-7710]