Quality Assurance – Avoiding Gray Areas

By: Colin Taylor

When we are thinking about our Quality Assurance (QA) processes, we need to ask ourselves, “Are we measuring the right elements and in the right ways?” What I mean by this is “Are our measurements concrete enough?” If we are employing a 10-point scale, can anyone really explain and rationalize a 6 versus a 7? It is gray areas that cause problems in calibrations when providing feedback. Where ever possible the assessment should be as black and white as possible…”yes we did” or “no we didn’t.”

In terms of the right elements, there is always a danger that our internal scorecard becomes too inwardly focused and we lose perspective on what is really important to the customer. That is why QA programs need to be informed by Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and CX evaluations   to represent the customer perspective.