What the word “quality” means to one person can mean something else to another. Why do people have vastly different measurements for quality? 

Some people strive to attain and maintain high quality; meanwhile, others only give medium or low quality. I, myself, shoot for high quality. I once had a history professor who told me, “your writing doesn’t always have the quantity I expect, but it always has the quality I want.” Therefore, I always got an A.

Today, we must perform at high standards and do high quality work to compete in our global society. Unfortunately, people often tend to turn in work with low or medium quality.

How can we bring the focus back to high quality? First, people need to slow down, put time and effort into their project or assignment, give their best, and be proud of their work. Also, I believe another aspect to this issue is that many bosses or professors don’t give enough praise for a job well done. Not only does praise make an employee feel good about their performance, but it also gives them a better indicator of what the boss really wants. Without praise, people tend to just put in the least amount of effort to get the job done.

Quality can be achieved through practice, pride in your work, and reward for your work. Each person has the ability to give a 100%, yet some try to slide through life giving 50% or less. In today’s global business world, we need to set our standards high. We need to compete and achieve high quality work by giving 100% on each and every project or assignment. The competition is high; therefore, we need to set ourselves apart from the rest. Next time your project is due, give it a second or third revision. This way you can raise your quality level and succeed. Good luck.

This think quality story brought to you by our friend Melissa P. Coyne.