Continuous Quality Improvement Master Plan

Glossary

Actions: Activities, to improve a process, which are measurable and achievable.
Active Listening: Preparing to listen, showing sensitivity, asking the right questions, and paraphrasing if necessary.
Adams, Gary: Founder of a company called Total Quality Dimensions that teaches quality management.
Amnesty: Being allowed to admit to and discuss mistakes without fear of retribution. Suggesting process improvement ideas without fear of job loss.
Annual Performance Appraisal for Technical-Service Personnel: The tool used to evaluate technical-service personnel at OPP.
AVP: Assistant Vice President for the Office of Physical Plant.
AVP/Deputy: Assistant Vice President and Deputy for the Office of Physical Plant.
Basic Principles: A set of principles, developed by Zenger-Miller, that guides the process of interacting with people and working together.
Benchmarking: Measuring and comparing our organization against other organizations, based on a defined set of criteria, to improve our product or service.
Charter: A document that defines the boundaries within which a Process Action Team can develop a solution for their problem statement. Sometimes this is known as the "charge."
Climate Survey: A survey used to determine how employees feel about their work environment.
Coaching: Helping and encouraging people to accomplish their work instead of telling them what to do and how it should be done.
Continuous Quality Improvement: A continuous, systematic method of identifying, quantifying, and eliminating all forms of waste in work processes.
Conway Quality, Inc.: A company founded by William Conway that teaches quality management.
Conway, William: Founder of a company called Conway Quality, Inc., that teaches quality management.
CQI: Continuous Quality Improvement.
CQI Coordinator: The person responsible for coordinating the Continuous Quality Improvement effort within the Office of Physical Plant.
CQI Master Plan: A document that defines the path the Office of Physical Plant will take on its Continuous Quality Improvement journey.
Current Assessment: Describing the environment or situation as it actually exists at the present time.
Customer: A person or company that uses or purchases our services or products. Customers can be both "internal" to OPP and "external."
Customer Expectations: What the customer of our services or products expects to receive when he/she utilizes our services or purchases our products.
Delegation: Empowering someone to act on your behalf.
Empowered: Given the responsibility and authority to make decisions, within defined parameters, regarding one's work environment.
ESG: Executive Steering Group.
Executive Steering Group: A group of individuals that is responsible for leading the overall organization.
External Customer: Customers outside the Office of Physical Plant.
Ethics: A set of moral values or principles.
Facilitator: Someone who works with a team to help guide the process of the team meetings.
"Frontline Leadership": A training course developed by Zenger-Miller dealing with leadership.
Honesty: Telling the truth.
HRDC: Human Resource Development Center.
Integrity: Adherence to a code of moral values or principles.
Internal Customers: Customers within the Office of Physical Plant.
Just-in-Time Training: Training provided just before it is needed rather than in advance of its need.
Leader: A person responsible for accomplishing an objective through the work of other people.
Main Event: Identifying, quantifying, and eliminating waste through continuous process improvement as represented by Conway's model.
Management: AVP/Deputy, directors, managers, and supervisors responsible for making the ultimate business decisions regarding what the organization should be doing and how it should be doing it.
Mission: A statement defining the purpose of an organization's existence.
Motivating: Instilling a need, desire, or incentive in people to get them to react.
OFI: Opportunity for Improvement; a formalized employee suggestion program for OPP.
OPP: Office of Physical Plant.
OPP Guiding Principles: A set of principles that guides and defines the process of accomplishing the Office of Physical Plant's mission and vision.
Paradigm: The accepted perception about the way things are.
Partnering: Working with people or organizations, outside your own organization, to create a working environment that is mutually beneficial.
PAT: Process Action Team.
PAT Test: A process of determining whether a group's existence meets the criteria of being a Process Action Team.
Process Action Team: A team of experts established to analyze and improve a process to eliminate the waste in the process.
Process: The steps involved in accomplishing a task.
Process Expert: The people closest to or working with a process.
Process Owner: The person or group responsible for the accomplishment of a process.
QMB: Quality Management Board.
Quality: As defined by William Conway, quality is achieved by continuously improving all work processes.
Quality Management Board: A group assigned the task of ensuring completion of a strategic goal.
Recognition: Paying special notice or attention to a person or group.
Respect: Showing someone, through actions and words, that they are worthy of your attention.
Self-Directed Work Teams: A group of individuals working as a team that is given the responsibility and authority to make decisions within defined parameters regarding the accomplishment of work.
Sponsor: The person responsible for approving the charter for Process Action Teams and ensuring that resources are available.
Staff Review and Development Plan: The tool used to evaluate staff personnel at Penn State.
Strategic Plan: A plan that defines the organization's Mission, Vision, and strategic goals.
Team Leader: The person responsible for leading a Process Action Team.
Team Member: A person who is a member of a Process Action Team.
Teaming: See Partnering.
The Right Way to Manage: A book written by William Conway that defines his approach to Continuous Quality Improvement based on the Deming philosophy.
Total Quality Dimensions: A company founded by Gary Adams that teaches quality management.
Trust: To place your confidence in someone.
Unit-Specific Factors: A defined set of factors that are used in the process of evaluating someone's performance.
Vision: A definition of where an organization aspires to be in the future.
Waste: The difference between the way things are now and the way they would be if everything were perfect.
Zenger-Miller: A company that has developed a set of training courses dealing with leadership and teamwork.