Past Workshops and Open Spaces

You can find details of recent Workshops by clicking on items in the list below.

How can we develop the member network to contribute to the success of the CQI?

Making Quality Stick

Cutting Costs & Preventing Problems in your Processes

Traditional auditing is holding back business - let's do something about it!

How can we make continual improvement a way of life?

Using technology to improve effective communication about quality

What would make the perfect certification body audit?

What can we do to get the 'quality' message across more effectively to managers and other colleagues?

What are the benefits of the process approach to running the business?

A Project Management approach to quality improvement

How can we get our organisations to take quality really seriously?

How can we make ISO 9000 more effective for British industry?

Proving the value: saving costs in an ISO 9000 environment

How can we make ISO 9001 internal auditing more effective?

How can we improve the return on our investment in quality and excellence?

Also, you might like to take a look at the list of topics of past Workshops (which will be repeated according to Members' requirements) to get an overview of the sorts of subjects the Network addresses.

And you could also look into the advantages of hosting a Workshop.

An Open Space event on behalf of the Chartered Quality Institute

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How to get line managers to actively support the quality agenda

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A workshop designed to help answer questions such as:

"The credit crunch means we must cut costs"

"We screw up sometimes which costs the business time and money"

"How do we avoid future problems in our processes?"

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The intent of this event (sponsored and hosted by the certification body, UL) is to bring together quality, business excellence and improvement professionals who understand that change is needed, who want to share ideas and to work together to improve the effectiveness of auditing.

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Hosted by Computacenter at Hatfield Business Park, Herts, and run in Open Space format, this was a full and frank sharing of information and an exchange of ideas on how the organisations taking part can mutually support each other over time to make continual improvement a real way life.

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Hosted by by CA (Computer Associates), this workshop saw presentations by both consultants and representatives of user organisations.

We shared practical information on a variety of approaches to using technology to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of management systems.

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This Open Space gathering was sponsored by the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA) and hosted at the Institute of Quality Assurance - our last event there before it became the Chartered Quality Institute in January 2007.

Over thirty organisations took part and developed a body of ideas which has not only been used by IRCA in developing the new grade of ISO 9000 auditor qualification, but has also been made available to certification bodies.

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"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" -- George Bernard Shaw

This event, which took place in Bracknell, Berkshire on Tuesday 3 October 2006, used the powerful approach known as Open Space to maximise information sharing and learning.

The 35 participants created their own agenda for the day comprising a dozen topics including "What exactly do we mean by 'quality message'?", "How can we change perceptions that only the Quality Department owns quality?", "It's not about quality, it's about brand", and "What gets top management excited about quality?"

Proceedings for the event were captured in a mixture of text and mindmap formats and issued to participants the following day.

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Hosted, in Birmingham on 19 September 2006, by Beiersdorf, makers of Nivea and other innovative, high-quality products for skin and beauty care.

The switch in emphasis from procedures to processes in the 2000 version of the ISO 9000 standards has resulted in a lot of talk about the 'process approach'.

This workshop (a combination of brief presentations and free discussion) took a close look at just what it means to view the business in terms of its processes and the practical benefits that can be gained from that viewpoint.

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AMScott, of Mansfield Notts. is a joint venture between Alfred McAlpine and Scott Wilson that provides highways maintenance services across the East Midlands.

Our workshop of 8 September 2006 was hosted by Systems Manager Chris Morgan, well-known to readers of Quality World as a regular contributor to the Backchat column.

The workshop featured experienced Project Manager Richard Jones, Partner at Ventura Team LLP, who shared with us a number of insights from his imminent book Real World Project Management.

We discussed specifics of how basic general principles of good project management practice could be applied to projects related to quality improvement.

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The Open Space approach was ideal for the topic of this day, hosted by O2 at the Arlington Business Centre in Leeds on Tuesday 15 November 2005.

Other organisations taking part in the information sharing and idea generation included British Gas, Capgemini ASPIRE, Hallmark Cards, Imperial Tobacco and Siemens Communications.

Amongst topics selected by the participants for indepth discussion were terminology (including the dangers of the use of the Q-word), the engagement of senior management and how to achieve empowerment in practice.

A one day event, hosted and funded by Orange at the Hilton Metropole, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. Wednesday 21 April 2004

We investigated ways and means of making ISO 9000, and the associated certification mechanisms, more effective in meeting the needs of the organisations that use it.

The management of Orange in the UK have long believed that ISO 9000, and the mechanisms currently associated with those standards, are not wholly effective in meeting the needs of user organisations.

The company is committed to improve the situation. Specifically Orange wants to forge better relationships between the ISO 9000 supply side (ISO, TC176, IAF, accreditation bodies, certification bodies, quality associations, trainers and consultants) and the demand side, represented by a wide cross section of private and public sector organisations.

We brought together about 70 people (from both the supply side and the demand side) who share Orange's passion and commitment to this cause. That was the only qualification needed to be part of this free event and to begin the process of defining and implementing the necessary improvements.

Find details here

A one day workshop hosted by Computer Associates at their spectacular European headquarters at Ditton Park near J5 of the M4. Wednesday 12 May 2004

One result of the application of the ISO 9000 management principle of Continual Improvement is the reduction of costs. And one major benefit of the reduction of costs is that it is visible to, and welcomed by, senior management.

The savings can be enormous. Philip Crosby, the author of Quality Is Free, claimed that the cost of "doing things wrong" can be as much as 25% of the revenue of a manufacturing company or 40% of the operating costs of a service business.

This workshop, which involved a case study and group work, proposed a common approach for implementing cost reduction.

The workshop leader was Jeff Gargan, who has spent over 20 years leading cost reduction projects in both the private and public sectors, including blue chips such as GKN and Hewlett Packard.

Find details here

A one day Open Space gathering hosted by the British Standards Institution at its Chiswick, London headquarters. Wednesday 9 June 2004

A group representing Orange, O2, Vodafone, Kingston Communications, Siemens Business Services, Pitney Bowes (and more recently BSI) have been cooperating by sharing information and ideas about alternative and better ways of carrying out internal auditing - specifically in ISO 9001-certified situations.

This event included an update on the group's findings as well as several practical examples of alternative auditing approaches. The major part of the day was occupied by wide-ranging discussions on improving the effectiveness of internal auditing.

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A one day event hosted by the Royal Mail at its new state-of-the-art facility near Heathrow (close to J5 of the M4). Friday 2 July 2004

This unique Open Space gathering - organised by the Thames Valley Networking Group of the BQF (British Quality Foundation) - was designed for people who...

... are seriously interested in investigating ways and means of maximising the value of their organisations' investments in approaches such as ISO 9000, Investors in People and the Excellence Model.

... have strong opinions on the matter or burning questions that they'd like to discuss with others similarly engaged in the practicalities of implementing 'quality' or 'excellence'.

Find details here

The following list shows many of the topics that have been covered in in past Business Improvement Network Workshops. Several of the topics have been repeated, and may well be repeated again, depending on your requirements.