316 Monitoring Quality to Improve Outcomes

Unit Overview

316 Monitoring Quality to Improve Outcomes is a unit within the CMI Level 3 module that focuses on improving the quality of results and outcomes from activities within the workplace. In the modern world, quality management has become a critical aspect that influences the performance of the organisation both in achieving the desired levels of competitive advantage as well as achieving the desired goals and objectives that are set for the organisation. Leaders must be able to strategically position themselves in a place where they conclusively influence the process of quality management.

This involves overseeing the production to ensure that the employees are able to deliver quality products as well as ensuring that the services provided to the customers me the set and expected quality standards within the organisation and from the market level perspective. Quality management focuses on understanding both the standards of production and ensuring that processes within the organisation are monitored to facilitate success in the accomplishment of objectives and facilitating evaluation of the efficiency of the selected approaches and strategies for achieving quality standards. 

316 Monitoring Quality to Improve Outcomes is a unit that focuses on improving the ability of leaders and other learners within the workplace to maximise the quality of their outcomes. Leaders are guided to develop principles that are effective in building the ability to oversee activities in their areas of responsibility that result in quality outcomes and results. Additionally, the unit provides the learners with principles of monitoring their performance and ensuring that they are able to optimise on areas of weaknesses that could be identified hence continuously improving the quality of outcomes. The unit is taught in 24 hours of guided learning and contributes 5 credit values towards the completion of the CMI Level 3 module.

 Suitability of the Unit

316 Monitoring Quality to Improve Outcomes is a unit that focuses on achieving the desired goals in terms of providing the learners with the desired knowledge on approaches that boost their understanding and management of quality within the organisation and teams that they lead.

The unit is designed to cater to the learning needs of the managers in the lower levels of leadership. It perfectly suits the learning needs of first-line managers, junior managers, and team leaders within the organisation who lead project teams to ensure that they deliver products and services to the customers, both internal and external customers. The unit is also significantly suitable for other leaders within the organisation.

While managers on the first level of leadership are responsible for facilitating the performance of teams to deliver organisational services and products, executive managers and line managers have a duty of facilitating the establishment of practices and policies that focus on quality management in the higher levels of organisational leadership and could therefore contribute in improving the sustainability of quality management approaches. Other stakeholders, including employees and external consultants, can also benefit from the knowledge and skill acquired through the process of completing this unit.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Explain the significance of monitoring quality within the organisation

• Understand the consequences that are associated with failing to effectively monitor quality within the organisation

• Outline the accredited quality systems and standards used in the organisations to monitor and evaluate quality standards within the workplace

• Explain the internal systems that have been established within the organisation to check and measure quality standards

• summarise the tools and techniques that can be used to ensure that there is improvement of the quality based on the outcome that has been received from the workplace

• Understand the benefits and challenges of the different tools that can be used within the workplace

• Understand the process of monitoring quality in the workplace and identify the methods of reporting the outcomes

• Exhibit ability to effectively communicate with other stakeholders on the issues of quality within the workplace.

Key Learning Areas

316 Monitoring Quality to Improve Outcomes in the Workplace helps the learner to appreciate the role that effectively managing and handling quality plays in improving the performance of the organisation. The unit thereof recovers critical principles of quality management. Some of the main areas of focus in the unit include:

Understanding Quality

This area of learning helps the learners to understand critical principles that help to boost awareness towards quality management. The learners are introduced to the concept of quality and understand the role that improving the quality within the organisation plays in handling the process of meeting obligations to both internal and external customers within the organisation. They also helped to differentiate between various concepts such as quality assurance and quality control, design quality, and process quality standards. Through the unit, the learner is helped to appreciate the cost of quality and introduced to the term total quality management.

Principles and Theories of Quality Management

This area focuses on providing critical information and support on the concept of quality management. The area builds on Total Quality Management and introduces different quality systems, such as continuous improvement. Kaizen, Kanban and others. Within this area of learning, the learners are introduced to the different elements of quality standards, including the legal frameworks and the labeling of different quality standards within the market.

They are also helped to understand the advantages and benefits associated with accreditation against quality standards and the strategies that they can use to gain accreditations in their areas of responsibility. Lastly, the learners are guided to develop effective practical and actionable steps that they can use to implement the interventions that they have selected in determining quality practices and policies within the organisation. This involves being able to identify the levels of performance within the organisation and in their areas of responsibility as well as facilitate effective monitoring and improving quality within the organisation.

Evaluation

Upon completion of the unit, the learners are assessed to determine the achievement of learning outcomes in 316 Monitoring Quality to Improve Outcomes. The assessment involves providing responses to a template by addressing the questions provided. The learners are assessed on the theoretical knowledge and practical application of concepts in case studies, simulated exercises and supervised practice.