How to build a culture of quality in your organization

How do you rate the quality of a product, organization or company? I recently heard a story about a man in the hospitality industry. He entered the hotel lobby and headed towards the public toilets. If they were clean and in good condition, the hotel would gain his approval. What is the rationale behind the toilet test? Many hotels will go the extra mile to maintain their lobby and rooms, but shared restrooms are a relatively hidden part of the building that many guests won’t ever see.

The theory goes that if hotel staff make every effort to keep even public bathrooms clean, it is secure to assume that the hotel is in overall good condition. As Henry Ford said, “Quality means doing it well when no one is looking.” Quality matters to all of us. We think about it in the decisions we make every day, especially when we are considering about purchasing a product. And the higher the price, the more necessary quality becomes – you would like to justify this premium. As business owners, we want to build our customers’ trust in the quality of our products so that they will determine to select our offer.

So how will you be sure that the quality of your products meets the highest standards? It starts with building a culture of quality in your organization. If you focus on quality in every aspect of your organization, from people to processes to the work environment and beyond, you might be well-prepared to create a high-quality product and a great overall experience for your customers.

Defining quality in your organization

It’s necessary to take some time to think about how your company defines quality so you may maintain accountability to these high standards. In some areas this is easier than others. For example, all programmers know that they have to avoid “spaghetti code” – disorganized coding that is difficult for other programmers to read, understand, and fix when mandatory. You need to write your code in a clear, clean and organized way that complies with internal R&D standards so that anyone can quickly understand it and edit it in the future.

In areas equivalent to content, where quality is much more subjective, clear company guidelines ought to be created and implemented. For example, you may create a design system and brand book to maintain consistent quality of design and text assets across your products and marketing materials.

You also need to define quality for specific domains that are necessary to your business. When we first began building our business, we had to create a standard for the songs in our catalog. We identified three areas to focus on: technical (mixing and mastering), production, and comparison to similar music on the market. Each of these areas has been clarified so that our entire music team can evaluate the music similarly and maintain the standard.

Creating an environment that supports quality

Quality is in the details and this also applies to your work environment. The right lighting, temperature and furniture can have a major impact on the comfort, concentration and productivity of your employees. There are many other areas where you may focus on refining the details. For example, the overall cleanliness of the office, products in the kitchen, corporate events and even branded goods. When quality is felt in every aspect of your organization, you create a culture.

It is also necessary to create an atmosphere conducive to continuous improvement. By providing your teams with actionable data and an environment that encourages people to act on those insights, you may empower them to improve their performance and that of your entire organization. By supporting balanced risk-taking, you’ll encourage people to try latest things and learn from their successes and mistakes. They will then apply what they have learned to their work, improving quality and giving them a sense of personal growth and achievement. And that matters.

Generally speaking, people want to feel like they’re doing a good job. So if you create a culture of quality, people will feel that they are doing high-quality work, which in turn will make them proud of their work. This makes them perform higher, which makes your product and brand higher. And the effect trickles down all over the place.

A quality product also improves customer support – their job is easier because they will confidently support the product and they get fewer tickets.

Building teams and processes with quality at the center

If a team has one outstanding star, it creates a bottleneck. You need to build teams with an evenly distributed level of quality, so that when people are sick or go on vacation, they do not miss them and do not feel the need to stop working. Here we come back to your definition of quality, which also needs to apply to your employees. You need to make sure you hire individuals who fit your definition so you have incredible bands and not solo stars.

Quality is also measured in places your customers won’t see, equivalent to in processes. Rigorous quality assurance (QA) have to be built into every aspect of the workflow. Encouraging peer-to-peer quality assurance in teams has the additional benefit of helping people grow based on the feedback of their peers.

If we apply the hotel toilet example to a SaaS company, I think the equivalent is customer support. I check what channels you may contact them through, how long it takes them to respond and how they convey in their responses. These interactions give an indication of the quality of the company. Consider that for every one who complains, there are probably tons of or even 1000’s of individuals who have the same frustrations but don’t have the energy to reach out.

In summary, quality drives impact. By providing users with the best content, tools and experiences, you’ll build a sustainable brand with quality at the heart. It is necessary at the starting of your company’s development to define what this implies in the context of your organization and to coordinate the activities of the entire team. This is something you will have to track and measure, and as you grow, you’ll probably need to update your definition.

By focusing on quality, you’ll have higher people working on higher processes and creating a higher product. You’ll give you the option to be more agile and adapt to latest challenges and opportunities. Most importantly, you may have happier customers who will trust your brand and change into your biggest supporters.