The Psychology of Quality and More

A Toolbook for Quality Improvement and Problem Solving (contents)

Voting: Examples

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When to use it | How to understand it | Example | How to use it | Practical variations

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Example

An improvement project team in the shipping department investigated goods that were going missing after despatch. It was believed that a significant proportion went missing some time after they arrived at regional distribution warehouses, but the warehouse managers did not believe this and were unwilling to cooperate. The group Brainstormed ideas for persuading these managers to work with them. They then voted, each person scoring 3, 2 and 1 for their first, second and third suggestions.

The results gave the following prioritized shortlist:

Further discussion revealed that higher management was currently embroiled in an annual planning cycle and would be unlikely to be much help at the moment. It was thus agreed to first present the results of the project so far to the warehouse managers, to show the how clearly the data pointed to this cause.

Other examples

• A marketing team used a Cause-Effect Diagram to identify possible causes of consumer rejection of a product. They voted on what were believed to be key causes. Later verification confirmed all but one key cause.
• A number of possible improvement projects were identified by managers of a small company. They identified selection criteria of, 'easy to do with a good chance of success' and voted on the projects to start up.
• A production team identified several possible solutions to address an overheating problem, caused by lack of localized ventilation. There was no clear best method, so they voted on which to test first.

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