Activity 3-2: Quality Story

Purpose: Participants will describe their personal experiences with quality performance. They will identify the general characteristics of service excellence (quality performance).

Materials:
Handout 18: What Is Quality?
Chart paper and markers

Introduce Activity

1. Explain that we all have experienced quality performance or service excellence. Tell participants about one of your moments of quality service. Ask participants to take five minutes to think about their personal examples of service excellence. Tell them to think of one time when they were proud about the level of service they delivered.

Speparate into Groups

2.Separate participants into groups. Ask them to take turns sharing their personal service excellence stories.

Tell Stories

3. Reconvene the entire group. Ask volunteers to describe the highlights of their stories. As participants tell their stories, list on chart paper the key phrases that describe acts of quality service. For example:

• Helped implement general equivalency diploma (GED) classes at each center for Head Start parents, in collaboration with the local community education agency.
  
  
• Developed a customized handbook for parents.
  
  
• Worked on a committee that made recommendations on how to improve communication among service areas.
  

Analyze List

4.Using the Background Information describing the characteristics of a quality Head Start program, discuss the phrases listed on the chart paper. Emphasize that each program needs to use the Head Start Program Performance Standards as criteria to determine how it provides quality service. To help them analyze the list, ask the following questions:

• Who received the service?
  

• What was needed?
  

• How were these needs met?
  

5.Ask participants which examples on the list demonstrate activities performed by quality Head Start programs. Ask which examples demonstrate:

• Customer focus (children and families).
  
• Team approach.
  
• Effective leaders.
  
• Empowered staff
  
• Continuous improvement.
  
• Strong community partnerships.
  

Summarize

6. Emphasize that this activity reveals that everyone can provide quality service. Using Handout 18: What Is Quality?, summarize the characteristics of a quality program. Conclude by stating that everyone contributes to a quality program. Achieving excellence begins with individual responsibilities and the Head Start Program Performance Standards. The performance standards are the guiding steps to quality. Programs use them to determine how to continuously improve the services that they provide.

Activity 3-3 | Activity 3-1 | Module 3 | Index

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