General Skills Of A Quality Manager
Quality Managers need to have the following skills:
- Excellent analytical skills so that they can filter key points from complex details and develop plans accordingly. - Effective communicators and excellent motivators. - Good negotiating skills. - Good report writing skills. - They should be familiar with the methodologies, tools and concepts of quality management. - They should be able to interpret statistical data with the help of software packages. - Excellent planning skills; able to lead projects through to completion. - They should be customer oriented.
Major Area Of Work
More often than not, the type of company involved defines the role of a quality manager. However, the basic responsibilities in all companies are quite similar. The main job of a Quality Manager is to ensure the flawless production and marketing of products. They incorporate their knowledge and expertise in order to achieve set goals and always begin by first understanding and establishing their role and relationship with line staff. This gives them the inside knowledge on various processes and the way they work. Thus, they get insight into the amount of work that can be done during a shift, adhering to the highest standards of work.
A Quality Manager sets standards for policies and often works with the production manager to assure that the standards of production are up to the mark. They also review past records of quality production to check if current standards are suitable enough to maintain good customer relations. There are several organizations where teams of quality inspectors are allowed to check products as soon as they come off the production line. This helps to ensure that the goods meet the quality standards.
Quality managers are mostly in demand in the manufacturing and production sector, and mainly in support functions. Many times, department managers are put in charge of both production and quality standard maintenance. A Quality Manager plays a significant role in the success of a company.
Following are the basic responsibilities of a Quality Manager:
- To explain the requirements of clients to the sales and marketing department and identify the ways in which the organization can meet them. - To analyze various business statistics. - To determine the areas of improvement and document them. - Inspect, sample and test the entire production process, to check the quality of products. - Review existing policies and develop new plans to improve the existing quality system. - Ensure that procedures conform to legislation such as Equal Opportunity, Health and Safety and financial regulations. - Review and assess the effectiveness of changes made.
For candidates that have an eye for detail and penchant for continuous improvement, a career as a Quality Manager can be immensely satisfying.
About the Author
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
