The Fusion of Technology and Technique

I was recently asked the questions: "How do you apply the TQM process in church-based/Faith-based organization?" and "how do you apply the power of Alignment in developing leaders is established denominations in a Church that is 60 years old today with so many challenges especially in the area of Management and Administration?".


NOTE: This inquiry is from a leader honest enough to admit that he is troubled about the way the organization is being run and managed from the top down and may have lost the way. I would not be surprised that the motivation to ask the 2 questions might well be due to events impacting customers or parishioners-the ultimate concern of good leadership!


I responded  that these are two complex questions usually asked by leaders struggling to find the most effective path to efficiently meet their customers’ needs. Issues most common to "finding the way" seem to be found in organizations where business systems are misaligned,  people are uninvolved and uncommitted, and there is a weak communication policy in place.There is an overwhelming need for a strong vision and defined strategy for people to rally to divert away from the siloed leadership hierarchy. A church-faith based organization, which is trying to run efficiently, has the same characteristics and leadership restraints as any other type of business. Alignment analysis is the best way to crystallize a new path or reestablish a good path; then the use of a Diagnostic will blueprint the statistically calculated treatments. (Alignment defined: http://www.orgdynamics.com/odi_demo/odi.html)

Alignment is a very powerful process in analyzing causes and impacts. Its starts by dissecting a troubled or uncertain business strategy into its basic Alignment components, including the assessment of the current state, confirming the business purpose with the strategy to get there, insuring it's contemporary to the current economy and customers/prospects, then to making sure the organizational culture encourages or engages its people to support and execute that strategy.

This Alignment approach is exceptionally effective if the process is being championed by and partnered with the senior team. The actions to be taken by leadership, and expected to be executed by the people cannot be deemed as simply "another flavor of the month". Unfortunately, this has become the common practice, sponsored by so many, with diluted, disappointing and ineffective results.

So change starts at the top. The Alignment Process is the way to answer your second question, the Diagnostic answers the first

The activities are to be phased:


ALIGNMENT STEP: ( Delivered by Dr. George Labovitz, Author of Power of Alignment)

1. Articulate where you and your senior team want the organization to be in the next 12 months. Get consensus amongst the senior group. This 1-3 day off site session is the core to aligning the senior team around the agreed upon business purpose; the essence for sustained change.

2. Get agreement that, within the culture of your organization, what is needed as to how your organization will get to the goal in the #1 above, along with the barriers you expect along the journey. This prerequisite demands an honest consensus from the team. In the Alignment Analysis, each of the six critical Alignment components will be examined and becomes the core of the Diagnostic Survey Tool. Power of Alignment, Wiley 1999,Dr. George Labovitz
DIAGNOSTIC STEP:

3. The Diagnostic becomes the tool kit to path the way to align the rest of the organization and path to execution of the strategic goals established in #1 and #2 above.


A well-designed diagnostic survey illuminates, through the lens of each work group, the barriers and strengths specifically established in 1 and 2 above. It will reveal silos that exist between critical and related workgroups, identify alignments and misalignments between leadership and rest of staff, reaffirm processes that are working well and those not, illuminate obstacles to achieving desired results, determine whether your culture is toxic and validate effective leaders and managers. Determine whether your customers are receiving your promised value from your brand marketing, measure integrity and value behaviors, measure the values and integrity of your brand to the employees, and so much more-by each workgroup. Remember, each question asked in the Diagnostic must be directly correlated to the goal achievement in 1 and 2 above.
The diagnostic delivers individual action steps for each workgroup and each manager. Now, each work group manager will have their own individual road map for action taking, correlated to support the business purpose. This is Dr. Deming’s "Continuous Improvement" theory.


Lastly, the Diagnostics. Internally calculated correlation analysis delivers to leaders the precise organizational action steps needed to achieve the corporate purpose. This will be the fast track to rapidly align the organization and achieve your stated goals. In a short time frame, you have a reinvigorated corporate goal along with the blueprints to achieve success.
Now the TQM work begins...