Quality Moments

-->

In his blog,  A view from the Q, Paul Borawski invites us to share "Quality Moments" that we have had during the month of November, the Quality month.

A Quality time is a time when we enjoy what we do, and in turn we provide Quality service to other human beings.

I want to share the experience in the city of Riobamba, at the National University of Chimborazo (UNACH), in the Faculty of Engineering, November Thursday 21, where I had the opportunity to give a short talk to students, teachers and Faculty authorities on the meaning of the Quality and its impact on education, as part of the path to the ISO 9001:2008 certification of the Faculty.

In addition to talking about the concepts of Quality, Efficiency, Effectiveness, was the fact the cooperation of all to enjoy and learn and there are some lessons learned:

• It is very important to share our commitment and feel part of the process.

• We must keep the memories in our mind, have joy in our hearts , enthusiasm and humility to learn, but mostly always look forward to the future acting in the present.
• The best way to teach is by example.
• If you are enjoying what you are doing, you are on the right path .
• Everything that is worthwhile requires a sacrifice.

Thanks to everybody who by their actions contribute to building a better society.

Excellent Quality Month.

Cesar Diaz Guevara

Quality In Fields “Beyond” Quality: Universal Accessibility

-->

In his blog A view from the Q , Paul Borawski invites us to think  about what new fields or disciplines could most reap the benefits of quality tools and techniques.

In relation to this question I think there are needs on the issue of universal accessibility.

Universal accessibility aims to remove the barriers that might limit people to conduct their daily activities. This approach takes into account the needs of people living with disabilities, as well as the needs for anyone to have to deal with situations involving a deterioration of its capacity.

The principle of universal accessibility is essentially based on the idea of ​​creating a barrier free environment.

Faced with universal accessibility, I believe that the tools and techniques of quality have much to contribute, as professionals design homes, environments, businesses, thinking only of those who have all the skills or not considered that with age these skills are declining, although the potential of a person to contribute ideas remain intact.

Traditionally, when interacting with the environment arose barriers that restricted the development or social participation, was attributed to the age, health condition, or more specifically to alterations of this, ethnicity , language , to size , ability , sex of people affected by them.

Today it is recognized that the presence or absence of difficulties, barriers, in an environment depends on its characteristics, its design, construction or provision.

The current challenge is how to provide quality tools to professionals who design, build, and manage content filled environments in the task of ensuring equal opportunities for all people to facilitate the full exercise of their personal rights.

According to the study of the future of the ASQ in 2011, one of the global trends is the aging of the population, which creates challenges and opportunities at the same time, organizations need the talent and experience of older people and they in turn need a friendly environment for their performance. Demographers predict that by 2025 the majority of the population will be over 65 years, this is a challenge for professionals in charge of building houses, furniture, buildings and ensure accessibility and welfare of the population.

Many efforts are being made in the field such as ISO 170001, which consists of two parts under the general title Universal Accessibility :

- Part 1: Criteria DALCO to facilitate accessibility to the environment.

- Part 2: System access management.

The first part one identifies the requirements for the actions of deambulation, apprehension, localization and communication that must be met to ensure universal accessibility. DALCO is an acronym for:

Deambulation, D : Action of moving from one place to another. For example walk trough streets, hallways, corridors, offices, going up or down steps, stairs , ramps.

Apprehension, A: Action to take or grab something. Implies action to achieve what will be grasped.

Location, L:  Act of checking the precise place someone or something is in.

Communication, CO: Action exchange of information necessary for the development of an activity.

The second part defines the requirements of a management system accessibility, which is based in ISO 9001:2008 methodologies to design a management system.

I am convinced that all quality professionals we must support with our knowledge and experience to all efforts made to ensure a better quality of life for the population.

Cesar Diaz Guevara 

Quality Professionals and Social Networks

In his blog "A View from the Q", Paul Borawski invites us to visit the ASQ's online community, which has been redesigned and updated, and has discussion boards, forums, blogs. As a result of reading Paul´s blog I update my profile and found many friends in the world of Quality.

Now the big question is how we interact with social networks.

I remember some years ago somebody asked me why I participate in the World Congress of Quality and I answered: to learn, build professional networks and have fun. I think those are the same reasons because I participate in social networks.

I wanted to share a picture that has been given the name "The Conversation Prism" where we do see that there is a much larger world than we could imagine. There are networks for all.

Based on this prism, in which in the central part are ourselves,  I believe we need to have a clear vision of what we want to build, based on our values ​​and principles and considering that everything we publish is open to the world.

I use some of the tools inside the prism (and after seeing it I can explore new frontiers), including:

Blogs: Handling four blogs, each with specific objectives, but all interconnected. This particular blog in addition to writing, helps me reading trough it other influential voices. A learning point.

Linkedin: This professional network is very good, of course that if you get the full benefit you must invest time and some resources. I used to follow colleagues and also read about my areas of interest.

Facebook: For me I try to keep a professional profile, but at the same time show my human side and family, always publishing elements that add value. I use it many times as records of my ideas and thoughts.

Google +: It is a social network that look very interesting and I use consistently, and that allows me to act automatically with my Google accounts.

Twitter: The microblog which I spend less time, but so I have connected to my other social networks.

I have additional accounts on Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, others, that also consume some of my time.

Now the social networks follow us everywhere in our cellphones, computers, tablets I think that instead of opposing the wave, we have to gain  momentum and learn in the process.

Cesar Diaz