Activity 3-5: Continuous Improvement and Quality Service

Purpose: Participants will describe what they do to provide quality service. They will identify specific continuous improvement strategies that they use to improve how they do their work.

Materials:
Handout 21: Individual Wheel of Quality

1. Explain that providing quality service means continuously looking for ways to improve how work is done. State that continuous improvement means always assessing how effectively work is done.

Emphasize that improvement occurs over time as people frequently evaluate and adjust their work performances and the services they provide.


2. Discuss answers to the following question:

What do you do to continually improve how you do your work?

Sample responses:

• Gather regular feedback from children and parents to find out what they think of the program.

• Teach a lesson differently to improve it.

• Prepare flow charts to track the steps needed to complete a job.

• Meet with staff to get their feedback on how to solve problems.

• Work together to develop a strategy to solve a problem.

Complete Wheel of Quality

3. Draw the Wheel of Quality on page 76 and use the illustration to discuss continuous improvement activities for a health specialist, education specialist, parent involvement specialist, and teacher. Distribute Handout 21: Individual Wheel of Quality and ask participants to write their job title on the hub (center circle) of the wheel. Tell each participant to write on each spoke an example of what they do to enhance the quality of the service they provide.

Discuss Wheel of Quality

4. After participants have completed their Wheels of Quality, discuss the following questions:

• What did you discover about your current role in providing quality service?
  

Sample responses:

--I should always consider what others might need from me.

--I should continuously consider how I can change the way I do things because changes in the program occur all the time.

• What overall management strategies must be used to continuously improve the quality of services provided?

Sample responses:

--I should continuously evaluate and assess family, program, and community needs.

--Strategic and operational plans should be developed to better meet the needs of children and families.

--I need to schedule follow-up evaluations to measure progress.

Summarize 5. To conclude this activity, say that everyone plays an important role in providing quality service. Therefore, staff must continuously evaluate the strategies they use to do their jobs. In addition, staff must always be prepared to change and continuously improve the way they do their jobs so they can respond to new situations.

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