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Efficiency at work is not just a matter of meeting quotas or finishing tasks on time. More importantly, it is also about delivering high quality work. Work outputs that are erroneous, inaccurate or below standards are virtually useless. Either there is a need to polish them further or totally reject them and start all over again. Consequently, significant amount of time, effort and other resources will be wasted.
Quality vs. quantity
Regardless of the type of work, there seems to be an inverse correlation between quality and quantity. Given the same level of skills, work force, facilities and other resources, the quality of work outputs tend to decline as the quantity increases beyond certain range. Hence, there is an optimal level of productivity that can be accomplished for specific individuals and entities.
The basic reason behind the negative correlation is simple enough that it very obvious. Lighter work load means that individual workers or organizations can focus more on the tasks at hand. They can afford to be meticulous and review the quality of work.
Upper limits
Each individual worker has upper limit on the amount of work he or she can do without sacrificing the quality. For instance, a chef can only prepare specific sets of gourmet meals at a time. As the menus become complex and increase in quantity, there is a tendency to forget some ingredients, overcook or undercook the dish, and contaminate the food. This would be a case of a cook spoiling the broths because there are simply too many variations of the broths the cook can manage to prepare.
Saying no
Individual workers should avoid accepting workloads that are too much to handle. Otherwise, outputs will end up below quality standards. There is also the tendency for backlogs to pile up and become unmanageable.
Quotas should be reasonable and negotiable. Saying no to extra workloads is beneficial for both the worker and the quality of the work output. On one hand, a worker will not be over-stressed and overburdened. On the other hand, the quality of the work output can be maintained at high level.
Quality control
Manufacturing companies typically have specialized departments commonly known as quality control departments. These departments are also known as quality assurance departments. As the name implies, a quality control department is tasked of checking for possible mistakes or defect in the manufactured goods.
Aside from the manufacturing sector, other business and professional sectors also have their corresponding quality control departments of some sort. For example, an accounting firm has an auditing department that checks the accuracy of financial reports.
Quality control is not limited to institutional or organizational level. Individual workers must also have their own quality control system. It is just a matter of reviewing work outputs before submitting. Having a checklist of required standards or parameters can help. Case in point is a programmer that has to check for bugs before compiling programs.
