COMDTINST 5224.10
3 JUN 1991
3.
RECOGNITION. Although some TQM efforts are individual, most are not; hence, the focus
is on teams or groups and all the members thereof. Two systems are available: informal and
formal.
a.
Informal Recognition. As units start to use TQM, opportunities will constantly arise for
effective leadership to motivate our members toward our goal of TQM as our normal
way of doing business. Organization which have converted to TQM all note in the
critiques of their early days the importance of personal involvement and tangible
support by top leaders.
b.
Formal Awards. This section progresses from baseline recognition required in all
identifiable TQM activities to tools for rewarding extraordinary accomplishments.
(1)
Communications to each participant. TQM efforts should receive solid feedback.
Examples of such efforts would be membership on a Quality Action Team (QAT)
recommending a process improvement, or a Natural Working Group (NWG) team
recommending a problem solution, or a Guidance Team (GT) assisting a QAT.
The Executive Steering Committee (ESC) or Quality Management Board (QMB)
defined in reference (b) having immediate knowledge or supervision of these
efforts shall write a feedback letter from the ESC/QMB to each person on the team
advising them whether the solution their team recommended was adopted and its
real or anticipated results. Even if a team can receive informal feedback or can see
the obvious result of their effort, a formal letter is required.
(2)
Awards for Superior Teamwork. For TQM to succeed, we must reward teams, not
individuals. Rewards should be equal to each team member whether
active/reserve military, civilian or auxiliary. With the exception of unit awards,
our present awards program does not define equivalent awards across the three
systems. Some thought has been given to future awards for teams which would be
defined equally in references (d), (i) and (j), but this may not be necessary if we
can make our present system work. A change will be made to the references in an
attempt to define equivalent awards to provide the tools for giving equal awards to
each member in a diverse team. Nominations for awards to NWGs and QATs will
normally come from supervisors or commanding officers in their capacity as
chairperson or member of an ESC, QMB or GT.
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