In this global economic change you probably want to take advantage of this opportunity to reach your dreams by recharging your batteries and your enthusiasm to project yourself image and your business image for success. When you are selling and providing services, you are not only selling your products or providing services but you are also selling yourself image. You need therefore, to project an image that attracts your potential customers.

Imagine that you need your conservatory to be built. The salesman you were expecting to give the quotation of the work to be done rings your door bell. You look at the person in front of you and you don’t trust him. Why? Because the way he is dressed is not presentable. He doesn’t have an appropriate quotation book. The vehicle he is driving is very messy and dusty inside and outside. He talks in a rude way. Are you going to trust him with your conservatory? The first impression is really important!

How you project your business and yourself is crucial for your business success. Your image is about all the details concerning you such as your business dress etiquette, the way you hold yourself, your online presence, your business premises, your marketing campaigns, your products and services. Therefore quality is paramount! When changes occur, it is important to evaluate the impact of that change or your decision and create options. You need to decide what is more important to achieve. Is your project cost more important to achieve, is it the time or quality more important? Cost and schedule are easy to achieve but not quality.

These three components namely cost, time, and quality are called the iron or golden triangle in project management and also called the triple constraint. They constitute the priorities you and your project team needs to decide on. They are in the centre of your project’s success; you will therefore need to balance them.

What is quality?
In life, quality is the standard of how you live your life in terms of your overall health, comfort, and your ability to participate and enjoy events in your life. The higher the standard is, the higher is the quality of your life. This quality includes the standard of your physical and emotional states, the standard of the material things you possess, and also the standard of your social life.

However, the quality we are talking about here is the quality of your products and services. The quality of your products or services is how it satisfies the need of the users, customers, and stakeholders and also what is the value it delivers to them. Therefore, users, customers, and stakeholders are the ones who will decide if your product or service is of good quality or not. Poor quality products and services have a direct impact on your customers’ satisfaction, business costs, and profitability.

There are many reasons why you may produce poor quality. It can be that you don’t have enough resources to provide proper tools, machinery, or material necessary to produce quality products and services. It can be the result of poor planning, lack of specification of the quality standard expected, and enforcement. Or a lack of communication, skills, and training in producing the product or providing the service.

Project quality matters. When you are cutting costs, rushing to complete your project on time and you fail to meet your project’ quality requirements your project is a failed project because your customers will reject the project result if it is not fit for purpose. Many businesses conduct their projects by cutting costs and working fast to meet their project deadline. You cannot focus on achieving your project’s cost and time and neglect its quality. When you fail to achieve quality, your product or service will be rejected by your customer and causing delays because the product will be reworked and therefore increase cost and time. This is why quality management is crucial in your project.

Why manage quality?
When you focus on achieving quality right from the beginning of your project, you will control the cost and deliver your project on time because the product or service will be fit for its purpose and meet your customer’s requirements. Therefore it will be accepted by your customers and you will save money for redoing the work. Managing quality will help avoid safety failure as the product of poor quality can create safety issues.

Who is responsible for quality?
It is the business top management who are responsible for quality; you cannot delegate the quality responsibilities. The quality department’s activities are to report performance and the top management should take action. Good quality management delivers better products and services, improves customer satisfaction because they will return to buy more and spread the information to their family and friends and therefore there will be an increase in sales, market share, and profitability. There will be a decrease in cases of poor quality and lead to an increase in employees’ productivity and overall morale. Quality is not only about the product; it is also about the benefits the benefit you will deliver to customers. The customer expected benefits are things like professional staff, responsiveness, reliability, good price etc. The extending benefits are unexpected extra benefits or values that you deliver to your customers.

In order to achieve high-quality products and services, you need to organise and manage well your processes and use appropriate tools and techniques. Added to that, you need to set your business core values or culture that will specify how you and your staff will behave, do business, or the way you interact with your customers. Your team can deliver quality if only they are driven by the need of the users, customers, or stakeholders. Your business environment, your self-image, and customers’ satisfaction play a big role in customers’ loyalty and more publicity through word of mouth. A neat and presentable business premises together with your unbeatable professional image drive your business results and increase your brand loyalty.

Your business image is vital when it comes to grabbing success on the global stage. Your business image is your business personality. It should reflect your personality as well because you’re the business owner. It should also represent your business industry and the value of your products and services.

Your business products and services should be recognisable on the market place. This is why you need to be you, know your colours and use your creativity skills. In order to be creative and produce quality products and services you need to be very passionate about your job! Do you know how many people are not satisfied with their jobs or business status?
If you are in this category you are not alone.

We will show you how to have clarity in your choices and decisions so that you choose projects that are relevant to your career, business, or dream goal. We will also show you how to start and deliver your project successfully and monetise it so that you move to the next level and live a happier, more successful, and healthier life. Please get in touch by visiting https://lqic.co.uk/my-courses/ If you like our content; please like, comment, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Facebook, like our page, and join our community

Annie Ka Wenu Dip, BSc, MSc

Project Management Coach, Speaker and Author