BP Refocus On Purpose And Potential Of Quality

When Dr David Newey took up the post of Quality Manager at BP Oil's Technology Centre he soon realised that the Division's BS5750 quality scheme had lost what little momentum it had developed during its two years.

"We were clearly a long way from achieving accreditation and making no progress. We had gone straight into the mechanics of the scheme without trying to win the "hearts and minds" of the sceptical technologists. The introductory course had not been made relevant to our operations and the scheme had started while the business was undergoing significant restructuring. We needed a fresh start."

Having been on a SyCon - The Sporting Bodymind Group teambuilding course and aware that the consultancy had experience of Quality related projects, Dr Newey invited Christopher Connolly and John Syer of SyCon - The Sporting Bodymind Group to review the problem.

Syer and Connolly identified that the new approach had to underpin the scheme firmly with appreciation of the benefits of quality, particularly customer driven attitudes, and must avoid focus on implementation.

Christopher Connolly explained the thinking behind the course: "Underlying the failure of most quality schemes are two common features - management and staff insufficiently clear about the purpose of their schemes, and of their true potential benefits. We refocus thinking on these points and try to establish them firmly. It was also planned that the SyCon - The Sporting Bodymind Group team would train a group of trainers within BP who would lead courses once the model was refined and proven.

Under the title "Making Quality Work For You" we ran a specially developed pilot course. The strategy was to concentrate on simple messages, to be interactive and using proven elements such as the Kano model and case studies developed by Dr Newey from BP's own experience to make sure they were relevant. These highlighted the costs of not having appropriate attitudes, systems and procedures and not focusing on customers. They were explored in depth through syndicate groups.

Subsequently BP took 150 people through the course in three months before restarting its quality initiative. Ultimately the BP Oil Technology Centre achieved ISO9000 accreditation within 8 months. BP has since developed a course of its own covering Customer Focus based on the structure and principles upon which SyCon - The Sporting Bodymind Group created the original course.

Dr David Newey says: "Sporting Bodymind gave the new phase of our quality scheme a good kick start and push in the right direction, with the momentum to keep going. It ultimately helped us achieve our overall objective - establishing a Quality Culture."

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